HISTORY AND PRESERVATION OF PROPERTIES IN MIDDLETOWN

The Main Street Middletown Design Committee has been working on a booklet that discusses the rich architectural history of Middletown as well as provides information on best maintenance practices for historic buildings.  The booklet presents a brief history of Middletown and examples of the various architectural styles that are found in Middletown.  There is also a question based worksheet for property owners to use to help identify stylistic features.  Once the stylistic features are identified, the booklet presents best practices on maintaining those features.

What is nice about this particular booklet is that it bridges information on how to maintain the character of a historic building as well as explaining what are the green and sustainable options for property maintenance.  More often than not, maintaining the historic features is the more sustainable option.

In addition, there is a large portion of Town that falls within the Middletown Historic District that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  Properties within National Register Historic districts are eligible to receive state and federal tax credits when repairs are made to maintain the historic features of that property.  This booklet is a resource to help the citizen undertake repair jobs in such a way that if they choose, they can apply for these historic tax credits.

Main Street Middletown Design Committee is chaired by Kirk Denton with Tim Coakley, Cynthie Corcoran, and Becky Reich as Committee members.   The Committee is currently looking for graphic designers to layout the booklet, and anticipating publication in the Spring of 2013.