The City of Green Bay is launching a multi-year, multi-phase update to our Intensive Resource Survey Report, last updated in 1988, used specifically to determine the historical integrity of properties in our city. This is being done through grant funding. The City was awarded $33,000 in Historic Preservation Fund subgrants from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office during the 2020 grant cycle to begin this work. We have also been awarded $50,000 for the 2021 grant cycle. This funding source does not use taxpayer dollars, so this Survey update will be at no cost to local, state, or federal taxpayers. 

Intensive Resource Surveys are a means of helping communities incorporate historic preservation in their planning process by identifying significant properties and districts by examining them within their historic context. The data collected during this process helps create a blueprint for local preservation efforts. Properties that are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places can participate in historic preservation tax credit programs, as well as the City’s Historic Preservation Revolving Loan Fund. These funds have been used as an incentive for rehabilitation and a catalyst for redevelopment.   

Survey work for Phase 1 of this project will begin this week on the City’s west side.  Phase 1 survey areas includes the area north of Velp Avenue as well as the area between the Fox River and Norwood, Oakland, & Ashland Avenues. This includes parts of the Northwest Railway Gardens, Fort Howard, Seymour Park, Tank Park, and Olde Norwood Neighborhood Associations. Consultants will be photographing all buildings in these areas as part of this project. Neighbors and neighborhood associations have been notified of this survey work, as well as a description of the vehicle being used for surveying. 

More information on the Historic Preservation Subgrant fund program administered by the State Historic Preservation Office is available here: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4324

Additional information about preservation in the City of Green Bay and survey area maps can be found here: https://greenbaywi.gov/540/Historic-Preservation. For additional information or questions, contact Stephanie Hummel at Stephanie.Hummel@greenbaywi.gov or 920-448-3424.