Community Development

ROBERT MCBRIDE OF BELLOWS FALLS, VT APPOINTED CHAIR OF THE NORTHEASTBOARD OF ADVISORS OF THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION (Washington, DC, November 16, 2009)... Robert McBride of Bellows Falls, VT has been appointed Chair of the Northeast Advisors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP).

http://www.smartgrowthvermont.org/toolbox/casestudies/downtowndesignationbellowsfalls/

Bellows Falls has been a hub for southeastern Vermont and neighboring portions of New Hampshire for well over two centuries. In years past, its regional leadership was based on manufacturing that grew up in the mid-1900s along the canal around the nearby falls on the Connecticut River. Several decades later, railroads replaced rivers and canals as the primary mode of transportation, but Bellows Falls remained a major hub thanks to the narrow gorge at the falls, which made it the best place to build a railroad bridge across the river. Today, though, Bellows Falls is more a cultural hub than an industrial one. Community leaders in this village of 3,500 residents were among the first in Vermont to recognize the value of taking advantage of state incentives for downtown revitalization, and over the last decade or so, they have brought the village out of a period of decline by repositioning it as a vibrant community that can attract twenty-first century high-tech industries looking for great places to relocate.