Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey and Planning Grant Program

Fiscal Year 2020

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 2020 eligible applicants for Survey and Planning Grants include all local historical commissions, local historic district commissions, planning offices, and other eligible public and non-profit historic preservation organizations. The target planning figure for this FY 2020 matching grant round will be contingent on MHC's FY 2020 federal budget allocation, which has not yet been determined. 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 2020

Pre-application (letter of intent) deadline:

November 18, 2019

Invitations for full applications issued:

December 11, 2019

Full application deadline:

February 10, 2020

Award selection:

March 11, 2020

Project end date:

June 30, 2021

Please see the Guidelines for Survey and Planning Applicants for more information on eligible projects, selection criteria, and the application process.  The Guidelines and pre-application form (letter of intent) can be downloaded below and viewed using Adobe Reader.  A Word version of the pre-application form is also available for downloading.

Guidelines for Applicants and Pre-Application form (PDF)

Guidelines for Applicants and Pre-Application form (DOC)

If you have any questions regarding the Survey and Planning Grant program or the Pre-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@state.ma.us