Survey of Downtown Buildings to Make them More Flood Resilient

Montpelier must be able to bounce back from future floods more quickly.  After the waters recede, building owners, business owners, shopkeepers and residents must be able to resume normal operations with as little delay as possible. This means making sure that all flood-prone buildings in Montpelier are better able to withstand future events.

The good news is that there are proven methods to make our historic buildings more flood resilient. The first step to implementing those methods is to understand what each building needs. 

To that end, MCRR will coordinate a project to survey all downtown buildings. The project will review each building, look at existing conditions, and then outline resilience improvement measures for each.

To date many building owners have taken on this task individually. But some are getting inconsistent and inaccurate findings.

This proposed MCRR project intends to look at resilience in a more comprehensive and consistent manner. This city-wide approach will ensure more consistent results for all involved and help to secure more funding to support all necessary improvements.

Additional Details:

The proposed project scope will:

  • Reference existing building floor and / or basement elevations and related site-specific FEMA flood data  

  • Review building layouts - including basements, construction type, utility entrances, and location of mechanical and electrical services  

  • Recommend a conceptual resilience approach* for each building once existing conditions are identified. These will be informed by:

    • Proven techniques

    • References such as the “Secretary of Interior Guidelines on Flood Adaptation for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings”.  

  • Present a user-friendly, individualized report and recommendations for each building to each building owner

  • Outline potential funding sources for property owners who wish to improve their buildings based on their report

    *The building reports will identify applicable and conceptual resilience strategies that will need to be followed up with more detailed specifications and implementation documents.