The Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office announced yesterday that Fenway Park "has been added to the National Register of Historic Places," according to Martin Finucane of the BOSTON GLOBE. The Massachusetts Historical Commission, chaired by Secretary of State William Galvin, "approved the nomination for the listing in December." It also means that "any work done in or around the park requiring federal or state funding or permitting has to be reviewed by the commission to determine its effect on the historic nature of the park." Secretary of State spokesperson Brian McNiff said that it "makes available certain federal tax incentives for rehabilitation work done there according to National Register standards." More than "70,000 properties in Massachusetts are listed in the National Register program, which is administered in the state by the historical commission" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/8). In Boston, Greg Turner notes the Red Sox are "closer to scoring $40 million in federal tax credits" with the designation secure. The team has been "pursuing historic-preservation tax credits of up to 20 percent from both the state and federal governments." About $200M of the Fenway work "qualifies, so the Sox stand to bring home as much as $80 million." Red Sox Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Zineb Curran said, “It’s basically reimbursing us for some of the money we’ve spent." Red Sox officials said that engineers "expect Fenway to remain structurally sound for another 50 years or so" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/8).
