The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended 14 properties to the National Register of Historic Places Friday, including three in the Finger Lakes. The “Polvino Building” on Central Park in Rochester, the Clyde Downtown Historic District in Wayne County and the Park Avenue neighborhood made the cut.
There’s an added bonus for the owners of these homes. They’re eligible for tax credits to preserve the properties. That program covers 20 percent of qualified home rehab costs of owner-occupied historic houses up to $50,000.
Caitlin Mieves is a preservation planner the Landmark Society of Western New York. She’s been helping neighbors in the Park Ave neighborhood with this process.
“We’ve been working with neighbors for several years on this project, fundraising and spreading info, getting everyone on board and this is really a major step forward and now we just have one more step,” said Mieves. “It’s a great marketing tool for neighborhoods. It helps increase community pride. But the tax credits are really the big carrot.”
That last step is to get the sites approved by the national register. Mieves says it’s rare for recommended places to not be approved by the registry but she says they will know for sure in a couple of months.
