Preservation Planning
ACORN Heritage Planning is primarily a preservation planning consulting group. We will work cooperatively with your community or organization to understand their needs and create a product that will serve the community or organization for the long term. Our options are as follows:
Management Plans
ACORN HP can develop large scale management plans for new initiatives- such as heritage areas, museums, and historic sites. Our staff can conduct large scale charettes, input gathering, and organizational meetings to develop consensus around these concepts. We will analyze organizational strengths and weaknesses and provide input on best practices for the management entity. These plans will meet the needs of your enabling groups or for grantmakers.
Organizational Planning
ACORN HP also provides a variety of organizational and strategic planning. We can help your organization understand its basic mission, goals, and action points. ACORN HP can develop an input process to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. We will develop stronger 1-5 year plans with deliverable actions. We can develop internal policies to help guide your organization towards the future. Additionally, we can analyze your programs and activities to seek methods for achieving deliverable changes.
Local Preservation Plans
Your community is special. The history of the community gives local community members the opportunity to understand the past and move their community forward. Acorn Heritage Planning researches and documents the history of your community and then build upon that information to analyze current trends. We generally use public input meetings to collect community comments, but we also can tailor a mailing or calling plan to gather input. ACORN Heritage Planning will then use this information to create a series of recommendations – alongside local planning and advocacy groups – for the future of the community. We ensure that the document is illustrated with local images and incorporates local history. We provide the document in a variety of formats, including on CD and online.
District Surveys
One of the most complex, but rewarding, projects are the cultural resources survey. These surveys, which often require long periods of on the ground documentation, can use up the resources of a community. For this reason, a consultant is a natural choice for a community seeking to better understand the cultural fabric in their town. ACORN Heritage Planning will work with a variety of local volunteers and subcontractors to document the history of a community or district through photography, survey forms, and databases. Our final document will not only satisfy your State Historic Preservation Office’s survey unit but will also provide your community with a comprehensive overview of the historic resources that are easily accessible to all. The final version will include a paper version and a digital database of the same information.
State & National Register Nominations
State & National Register Nominations form the core of a historic preservation program. Listings for state or national recognition as historic will provide your organization or community with a better understanding of the history of a locale or building. ACORN Heritage Planning creates documents that are clear, concise, and meet the regulations set forward by the National Park Service (who oversees the National Register Program) or your local State Historic Preservation Office. We specialize in a wide variety of time periods – include the “recent past” or those buildings under 50 years of age. Acorn Heritage Planning uses the same knowledge that is necessary for Historic Structure Reports – photography and historical research – to create a standardized document that can then be used to apply for National Register of Historic Places status.