« Accomplishments

« Jones Trust

« Faulkner's Light Brigade

« Shoreline Greenway Trail

What has the GPA done? The following is a list of GPA accomplishments that have spanned from 1981 to 2003 (in chronological order):

• Published an inventory of 450 architecturally and historic significant structures in Guilford: Survey of the Historic Architecture of Guilford, Connecticut .
• Established an annual awards program to recognize outstanding achievement in preservation.
• Established the Hugh McKay Jones Trust Fund for Historic Preservation, a revolving loan fund.
• Used the Guilford Preservation Alliance's Trust Fund for Historic Preservation to provide assistance for the restoration of the Griswold House, water tower and bowling alley on Broad Street, the restoration and preservation of the Dudley Farm in North Guilford and in financing the initial efforts of the Faulkner's Light Brigade to preserve the island and Connecticut's second oldest lighthouse, and various other landmarks in Guilford.
• Published the Master Plan for Preservation and Scenic Conservation
• Participated in the establishment of the Guilford Town Center Historic District.
• Inventoried all public street trees and published the Town Survey of Public Trees and Tree Planting Guide .
• Placed North Guilford's Meeting House Hill, Route 146 (with Branford Land Trust) and Dudley Town (Clapboard Hill) on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Initiated the Church Street and Water Street Tree Planting Projects for 22 streets within the Borough of Guilford to restore the charm and grace of the town center trees. Commissioned landscape Rudy Favretti to develop a street planting plan for the borough of Guilford. Four hundred forty one trees have been planted to date.
• Purchased, and re-sold with protective easements the Kingsnorth- Starr house, one of Guilford's most significant historic structures.
• Published Guilford: A Walking Guide-The Green and Neighborhood Streets , by Sarah McCulloch.
• Published A Guilford Bibliography , compiled by Nona Bloomer.
• Collaborated with historic organizations, teachers, administrators of Guilford grade schools to enlarge the Colonial Studies program "Early Guilford Days."
• Sponsored numerous public awareness and educational activities such as walking tours of the town, guided auto tours of North Guilford, and student tours of the Kingsnorth-Starr House.
• Sponsored and won approval by the State of Connecticut designating Route 146 as a Scenic Road.
• Sponsored and won approval from the state designating Route 77 as a Scenic Road.
• Wrote and secured enactment of a tree ordinance which helps to protect Guilford's huge inventory of street trees and provides for a tree advisory board.
• Advocated and lobbied for a paid tree warden.
• Worked with town officials to preserve the historic stone bridge on Great Hill Road in North Guilford.
• Participated in the Scenic Corridor Study Plan and establishment of a Scenic Roads Advisory Committee to oversee Routes 146 and 77.
• Established an open space acquisition study which resulted in town-appointed committee for acquisition of open space in Guilford.
• Underwrote the second printing of Around the Guilford Green - A Children's Walking Guide by Joann Carmody Corlett .
• Advocated and lobbied for passage of various statues which protect trees on state roads.
• Advocated and lobbied for financial assistance for the restoration work on the Henry Whitfield Museum.
• Initiated an administrative study committee to organize information needed for site plan application process that resulted in the handbook Town Hall South Handbook: Planning & Development Application Process .
• Advocated and lobbied for passage of flexible design standards for roads and bridges while enabling town to continue to receive funding from state and federal sources.
• Provided financial support for the on-line cataloging of the Guilford Free Library's Historical Room Collection.
• Purchased signs indicating the inclusion of the central village to the National Register of Historic Places.
• Established a tree-planting fund.
• Participated in the Design Guideline Study for Route One East and West Commercial Corridor, which resulted in zoning analysis and the establishment of the Design Review Committee for the Town.
• Sponsored public meetings to hear renowned authorities on preservation and conservation.
• Provided funding for the creation of the second local historic district.
• Provided assistance for the development of the Shoreline Greenway Trail.
• Supported the establishment of the Village District Act.
• Co-sponsored with the Guilford Historic Commission, the Certified Local Government designation for Guilford (this is a companion program to the National Registry of Historic Places).
• Produced the brochure, Guilford's Historic Heritage: What Exists, Where to Find it & How to Protect It , compiled by Jennifer Allcock and Robert Gordon.