Milton, De. --- The town of Milton is expanding the historic district to preserve the town's rich history. Most people are on board with the expansion even if it does create some inconveniences. The proposed expansion would include 417 buildings, structures, and sites. Milton's preservation commission is collaborating with the University of Delaware to preserve the town's history. Milton's mayor, John Collier, says he wants to keep the town's history a priority.
"Well, historic resources are just that and if we don't do the work to preserve them we lose them," Collier said. "And there has already been enough lost history through progress and we're not trying to make the town stand still we just trying to protect its historic heritage. "
And the mayor also says he wants to keep the town's history by preserving more of the structures that lie within.
"A lot of what we are trying to preserve is the historic detail," Collier said. "If you look around at some of the historic houses you'll see versions wood are other elements and architectural elements and that what we trying to preserve because that's really where the history lies."
Nancy Edwards is a homeowner in the historic expansion area. She has an appreciation for history and when she made changes to her home she made sure to keep the historic elements.
"The structure of this house if we're taking this off you would see the original wood from this house and I thought that was important because that way if somebody that has a little bit more money than I did," Edwards said. "When they buy the house and they want to redo it they're going to have the original under there."
There are concerns for some homeowners because the changes to their structures have to be approved first.
"There are concerns I'm not going to lie some people up on a federal street that's already in the historical district we're trying to replace their windows and it costs them a lot," Edwards said. "Not just a lot of money but to find somebody who would have the craftsmanship to be able to do it."
So even though there may be a few concerns, some people in Milton are excited to keep history alive.
