seeking solutions & preserving icons
case studiesWorking to find feasible alternatives to demolishing historic buildings.
portfolio of work
Our Success Stories
We work with neighborhood associations and developers to find a way to preserve our history for the future.
changing the conversation
Assisting the Land Use Committee of the Board of Representatives to establish an unprecedented voice within City government with identifying and advising historic resources.
changing perceptions
In this era of seemingly endless intrusive construction and encroachment into our neighborhoods, there is a lot still left to preserve and save from urban renewal.
changing ECONOMICS
Historic preservation is a proven engine of economic development, generating jobs for local and small businesses while contributing to quality of life.
CIRCA 1914
Winski Drugs
ITS HISTORY
Former store of pharmacist Frank Winski, the unofficial “mayor” of the South End and one of Stamford’s first Polish American entrepreneurs, marks the rise of this large and important community in the twentieth–century city.
OUTCOME
Threatened by demolition to widen an intersection, HNP and members of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone negotiated an alternative with the City and CT DOT that kept the historic building and retained on-street parking.
circa 1906, 1936
S. Post Office
ITS HISTORY
An exceptionally fine example of a Federal public building built from a confidant era, our post office was also a place of significant technological innovations in mail handling resulting from Pitney Bowes’ presence nearby in the South End.
OUTCOME
Plans filed in 2014 to redevelop the parcels north and west of the post office called for demolishing the architecturally distinguished 1939 rear addition. HNP negotiated an alternative with the developer which was approved by the zoning board.
CIRCA 1770
Andrew Dogherty House
ITS HISTORY
The Colonial-era center–chimney, timber–framed house was built by a veteran of the French and Indian War and American Revolution, and perhaps Stamford’s earliest Irish American citizen.
OUTCOME
Threatened by redevelopment, HNP requested a demolition delay to discuss alternatives with the developer. The developer ignored our overture and the City “overlooked” our delay request. The building was unfortunately demolished in October 2013.
Circa 1907
Bedford Hall
ITS HISTORY
Built as a single–family home for a prominent local attorney, the house was frequented by generations of Stamfordites as it changed use to a fashionable inn, colorful restaurant, funeral home and professional offices. Stamford bid farewell to many of its residents, including Benny Goodman, from this place.
OUTCOME
The endlessly adaptable landmark building was demolished in May, 2014, after the developer, F.D. Rich, refused to discuss any reasonable alternatives suggested by HNP, obtained zoning approval over our strenuous protest, and waited us out in seeking a judgment in court.
CIRCA 1980
The “Farmhouse”
ITS HISTORY
The small gable-ell house at 108 Seaside Avenue is all that remains of a large estate, surviving the mansion and open grounds where its first occupants worked, reminding us of the late nineteenth–century land use patterns in the Cove neighborhood.
OUTCOME
HNP assisted abutting property owners and members of the Cove Neighborhood Association to negotiate preserving the neighborhood landmark and reducing the size of a proposed redevelopment under section 7.3 of zoning.
CIRCA 1875
Roxbury Methodist Parsonage
ITS HISTORY
A modest single–family dwelling expressing Yankee values of temperance and piety that conveys an authentic sense of life in rural Stamford before the automobile era.
OUTCOME
The loss of the adjacent Methodist church to fire in 1997 left the parsonage in good condition but vulnerable to tear-down on the large site. HNP assisted Juner Realty at Finch’s Corner to relocate and adapt the house for office use under Section 7.3, Historic Density Bonus, of the zoning code.
current projects
Our Preservation Efforts
We collaborate with civic organizations to preserve and restore irreplaceable cultural assets and livable neighborhoods.
current project
Main Street Bridge
ITS HISTORY
This graceful lenticular (lens-shaped) iron truss bridge was produced in Connecticut by the Berlin Bridge Co. and is emblematic of Stamford’s industrial era. It replaced a wooden span on what was then Stamford’s most critical road connection to New York. The double-form was unusual in its time and is very rare today.
OBJECTIVE
The City-owned bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in the early twenty-first century and barricaded by Jersey barriers and chain link fencing just when historic lenticulars were being meticulously restored around the world and the lens form was being reintroduced in new bridges in Paris, London and New York. Slated for replacement a decade ago, HNP is working with the Mill River Collaborative and the City to secure restoration funds to adapt the National Register of Historic Places-listed bridge to a pedestrian span.
Circa 1917
The South End
ITS HISTORY
BLT has filed applications to demolish the 19th Century Blickensderfer Typewriter factory building (650 Atlantic Street) and 2 wood frame multi-family houses (79 Garden Street and 130 Henry Street.) All have been deemed “contributing” buildings to the historic district. Against previously articulated city goals, BLT now intends to demolish existing affordable housing in historic buildings and clear their sites without informing the public of its plans. They want to replace the historic district with construction similar to what they have built in previous buildouts.
OBJECTIVE
Delay demolition and save the Blickensderfer. To Sign our petition on change.org, click here.
circa 1958
First Presbyterian Church
ITS HISTORY
The “Fish Church” is a major world monument of modern religious design by Wallace K. Harrison, a towering twentieth-century American architect. Conceived as an acoustic vessel with a Gothic sensibility, the unprecedented extensive use of colored dalles de verres (slab glass) creates a stunning jewel-like sacred interior.
OBJECTIVE
Faced with significant repair needs, HNP is assisting the Fish Church Conservancy of the Highland Green Foundation, a friends’ group supporting preservation, to develop a strategic plan and capital campaign to restore the exterior and upgrade the interior systems for extended use.
historic reference
Hubbard Heights
ITS HISTORY
One of Stamford’s most desirable neighborhoods, Hubbard Heights was developed in the early twentieth century by subdivision of a large nineteenth–century estate west of the growing downtown. Its well–preserved single-family homes represent a broad range of historic architectural styles.
OBJECTIVE
HNP assisted the Hubbard Heights Neighborhood Association to seek recognition as Stamford’s fifth State and National Register historic district. Listing is expected in early 2015, joining the South End, Downtown, Old Long Ridge Village, and Revonah Woods.
Circa 1910
Ferguson Library
ITS HISTORY
Situated as the focus of the long view at the north end of Atlantic Street, the Ferguson’s graceful Georgian Revival portico and façade are the closest realization of “City Beautiful” urban planning in Stamford.
OBJECTIVE
After one of the wood portico columns was damaged by fire, HNP assisted the Ferguson in securing a grant commitment of $200,000 toward restoration of the National Register of Historic Places-listed building.
Circa 1800s
Glenbrook
ITS HISTORY
Glenbrook, the first of Stamford’s distinct satellite neighborhoods beyond the limits of an easy walk to the center of town, grew up around the New Canaan branch line in the late 1800s and street railroad along Hope Street in the early 1900s. Its historic buildings and streetscapes represent a broad diversity of styles, forms and uses which convey Stamford’s evolution as a commuter suburb.
OBJECTIVE
Assist the Glenbrook Neighborhood Association to obtain grant funding to conduct an inventory of historic properties in the neighborhood and training for volunteer surveyors.
Address
65 High Ridge STE 368, Stamford, CT 06905