Sarah Colvin

City of Annapolis, Department of Planning and Zoning: Historic Preservation Division

In one of the earliest cities of this country, there is much history to be preserved, and many efforts to keep a community moving into the future.  The City of Annapolis Historic Preservation Division has been making an effort to be aware of information at hand, and what is currently missing.  My position during the summer of 2011 was to survey various sources of information for immediate and future use.  This included looking up current violations for the Historic Preservation Commission to review, photographing sidewalk furniture that will be regulated in the next year, and sifting through project files to see what information may help property owners 10 years from now understand the significance of a structure.  It was also a great experience helping to coordinate an energy audit survey which hopefully may bring new ideas on how to promote and accomplish energy efficiency in historic homes.  In the midst of this I learned many things about how a city works with organizations and individuals to keep an historic community thriving, even in poor economic situations.  With so many efforts being made during this summer term, I learned to be adaptable while still maintaining a high quality of work, while soaking in as much of the process as possible.   It was a wonderful experience and greatly increased my understanding of how historic preservation in a city works.