CALLICOON — Town of Delaware Councilmember and Historian Cindy Herbert hopes to see the Hamlet of Callicoon earn a National Register Historic District nomination later this year.

“I applied for a Preserve NY Grant to hire consultant Neil Larson of Larson Fisher Associates, Inc. for preparing a National Register Nomination Form for a potential historic district in Callicoon,” said Herbert. “Neil Larson was recommended by Sullivan Renaissance and Ethan Cohen of the Sullivan County Division of Planning & Environmental Management. Neil is familiar with our area and in 1988 had worked on the Jeffersonville Central School, which was put on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We were awarded the grant on September 5, 2014 and Larson Fisher Associates will have the National Register Nomination Form completed by June 30, 2015,” added Herbert.

The Preservation League of New York State, which dispenses the grants, awarded $4,200 to support the cost of completing the application.

“We also received a grant from Sullivan Renaissance in the amount of $2,500 to help pay for the consultant,” Herbert said. “We will be setting up a meeting for everyone that would be in the historic district in the spring so all questions/concerns can be answered.”

The Callicoon Business Association will also be contributing $500.

According to a press release, “All of the buildings within the survey area fall within a New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credit-eligible census tract. Historic District designation would open doors for financial incentives for rehabilitation of commercial and residential properties.”

The Town of Delaware was one of 15 applicants in 12 counties around the state selected to share $100,000 in funding. “As always, the competition for these funds was intense,” said Erin Tobin, the League's Regional Director of Technical and Grant Programs in eastern New York.

“Our estimated number of resources in the Hamlet of Callicoon include 75 commercial, religious and residential properties, as well as a section of the railroad corridor containing an historic depot,” said Herbert.

For more information on the Preserve New York Grant Program, please call 518-462-5658 or visit the League's website at www.preservenys.org.