Supporting History

First Steps on the Road to Preservation Success

If you are thinking about applying for a grant from the Colorado Historical Society’s State Historical Fund to do any kind of “brick and mortar” work, you may want to look into conducting a Historic Structure Assessment first.  An HSA provides the building owner, consultants, and others with a comprehensive understanding of a building’s physical health.  Just as you would see your family doctor to assess your health before surgery, you should perform an HSA to obtain a report on the health of your building before you proceed with a preservation project.  Frequently known as a good “first step” on the road to a full preservation project, these reports are valuable and comprehensive planning tools.  They can give you information about the building’s historic character and significance, its features, existing condition, and a prioritized list of items that need attention.

If you are concerned about finding someone with the expertise to conduct such a technical study, don’t worry.  The SHF provides grant money to hire licensed Colorado architects and other experts that specialize in historic structure assessments.  And because applications for these special grants are accepted year round, you will have lots of flexibility and time to write the grant.

The SHF can award up to $10,000 in grant funds to hire an architect to complete the HSA, but not all HSA studies will cost exactly that amount.  If the HSA is estimated to cost more than $10,000, feel free to contact the SHF applications staff to discuss your options.  You may be able to provide matching funds to make up the difference, or you may apply for a general grant.  Typically, private owners of historic structures supply at least 50 percent of the study’s cost, but matching cash funds are not always required.

The time needed to complete a study of this type depends on a number of factors, including your architect’s schedule, the building’s needs, and your own schedule.  Some buildings will need to be watched for changes over seasons and some buildings may require less time for scrutiny, but most of these projects will take anywhere from several months to about one year to complete.  During this period, if your building is not already listed on a historic register (or listed within a historic district), you might want to pursue designation before the HSA is complete.  The staff at the Society’s Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation will be happy to help you with nomination assistance.

The HSA is a living document that can serve as a checklist as you inspect your building every year.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed by a fear of the unknown about your building, you can rest easy knowing exactly what is wrong with your building—and what is right with it, too!  In both cases, you’ll have a list of items to keep your eye on, which can help you to plan everything from fundraising to knowing how to phase the work.

If your building needs help soon and you are trying to get a general idea of how much the work will cost, an HSA’s “estimate of probable cost of construction” will help.  It will tell you whether your window restoration will be a $1,000 job or a $100,000 job.  However, the estimate generally is not sufficiently detailed to give you a real budget to work from (you won’t have construction documents, etc.).  You might need to conduct a little bit more planning before you have those kinds of hard numbers.  Since the HSA prices age quickly in the construction industry, the numbers in your HSA estimate generally should not be used to set definitive construction budgets.

Once armed with a good HSA report, you’ll be ready to apply to the SHF or other funding sources for money to carry out your preservation projects.  If you have any questions about any SHF grants, feel free to contact the SHF Applications Staff at 303/866-2825.

BY RACHEL SIMPSON, SHF Technical Advisor