Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey and Planning Grant Program

Fiscal Year 2018

The Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey and Planning Grant Program is a federally funded, reimbursable, 50/50 matching grant program to support historic preservation planning activities in communities throughout the state. For Fiscal Year 2018, eligible applicants for Survey and Planning Grants will be limited to the Certified Local Government municipalities of Boston, Bedford, Brookline, Danvers, Eastham, Easton, Falmouth, Framingham, Gloucester, Grafton, Hingham, Holyoke, Lexington, Lowell, Medfield, Medford, Methuen, New Bedford, Newton, Plymouth, Quincy, Salem, Somerville, and Worcester.

Under federal law, MHC is required to pass through grant awards representing 10% of its total annual federal funding allocation to Certified Local Governments.

Eligible Activities

As the State Historic Preservation Office, the Massachusetts Historical Commission is responsible for administering the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service and State Historic Preservation Offices, to grant funds to communities and private non-profit organizations for a wide range of preservation-related activities. These include:

  • Completion of cultural resource inventories;
  • Nomination of significant properties to the National Register of Historic Places;
  • Completion of community-wide preservation plans; and
  • Other types of studies, reports, publications and projects that relate to the identification and protection of significant historic properties and sites.

The goal of the Survey and Planning Grant program is to support efforts to identify and plan for the protection of the significant historic buildings, structures, archaeological sites and landscapes of the Commonwealth.

Application Process

Fiscal Year 2018

Pre-application (letter of intent) deadline:

November 20, 2017

Invitations for full applications issued:

December 13, 2017

Full application deadline:

February 5, 2018

Award selection:

March 14, 2018

Project end date:

June 30, 2019

Guidelines and the pre-application form for 2018 Survey and Planning Grant applicants have been sent directly to the Certified Local Government coordinators for eligible municipalities.

If you have any questions regarding the Survey and Planning Grant program or the application process, please contact the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Massachusetts Historical Commission
Massachusetts Archives Building
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3314
Phone: 617-727-8470
Email: michael.steinitz@sec.state.ma.us