If you ask me what the Guilford Preservation Alliance does, I may have to pause and think: our programs and activities run the gamut from traditional historic preservation to sustainable development and environmental issues. But ask me what the GPA stands for and I can give you a one-word answer: partnership. From the time the organization was founded in 1980, we have taken the “alliance” in our name as a guiding principle. Over the years, we have partnered with the Town of Guilford, with state, regional, and national agencies, and with many other community groups (some of whose websites can be visited through the links elsewhere on this page) to help articulate and realize a broadly inclusive vision of Guilford’s past, present, and future.
You might say partnership is in our organizational DNA. It has been a key ingredient in many of the GPA’s proudest achievements: in our efforts to lobby for funding to restore the Henry Whitfield State Museum; in our leadership role in securing scenic road designation for Routes 77 and 146; in our initiation of and ongoing support for the popular “Early Guilford Days” program in the Guilford Public Schools; in our collaboration with Town officials on the installation of traffic-calming crosswalks, sidewalks, and traffic islands; in the founding and eventual spinning off of Faulkner’s Light Brigade to save the historic Faulkner’s Island lighthouse; and in the grants and loans we make to various local organizations through the Hugh McKay Trust Fund for Historic Preservation.
And partnership is the very essence of the GPA’s current initiative to enhance the economic potential of some of Guilford’s most precious resources–our historic neighborhoods and five house museums, our vibrant Town Green, our recreational trails and unspoiled shoreline, and our home-grown shops and businesses. The benefits of well-planned “heritage tourism” can already be seen in the hundreds of people who have enjoyed GPA-sponsored walking tours of the historic town center, led by enthusiastic Guilford High School students and supported by both the Town and the Guilford Foundation. In collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a wide array of local groups, the GPA is spearheading an ambitious long-term effort to promote cultural and heritage tourism. As announced elsewhere on our website, we recently received a major grant from Connecticut Humanities to develop plans for an interactive tourist kiosk to be sited near the Green.
Photo by Ellen Ebert
I am also pleased to report that the GPA has received preliminary approval from the state Department of Transportation (CDOT) to install a permanent historical exhibit at the Shore Line East Commuter Rail station. Timed to coincide with the celebration of Guilford’s 375th anniversary this year and next, this informative and eye-catching display of photographs and text will help focus attention on the 1870s-vintage station buildings that are valiantly fighting for life on the north side of the train tracks. The GPA is redoubling its efforts to create a viable plan for the renovation and adaptive reuse of these iconic structures, working with the State Historic Preservation Office, CDOT, Amtrak, the Town of Guilford, the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, and other interested parties.
While I’m on the subject of partnerships, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the gifted and dynamic duo who are succeeding me as leaders of the GPA, Shirley Girioni and Rob Vavasour. Shirley really needs no introduction: with deep roots in Guilford, she has served on many local boards, commissions, and volunteer organizations, including a previous stint as GPA president in the 1990s. Rob is a relative newcomer; he moved here from the West Coast three years ago after scouring the country for a community that satisfied his desire for a sense of place, an actively involved citizenry, and a vibrant local economy. I know I speak for the entire board when I say that the GPA couldn’t be in better hands.
Best wishes,
Harry Haskell
Outgoing President
