George Cassa

Board Chair, Morris County Trust for Historic Preservation

Heritage Consulting Inc. responded immediately to our request for guidance in reorganizing our regional historic preservation group to prepare for its acquisition of a historic property in Morristown, NJ and related assets.  Donna Ann Harris facilitated in-person and Zoom meetings with the board of trustees in which we considered our vision for the organization’s future and developed strategic planning objectives and milestones on the basis of anticipated resources.  Donna provided advice on governance, and proposed revisions to our by-laws that were adopted unanimously by the trustees. Donna is a skilled, efficient communicator;  as she listened to us at our first meeting, the depth of her experience and its relevance to our needs quickly became apparent.  As a result, we can look forward with confidence to accomplishing a transition that we were not prepared to undertake on our own.

Carol Larro

Chair, Haddon Heights (NJ) Historic Preservation Commission

Haddon Heights, New Jersey, has had a historic preservation ordinance since 1975.  So, for almost 50 years, this Borough has believed that preserving our history and community character is essential.  The Haddon Heights Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) with its dedicated members over these many years, has worked hard to designate the eight individual landmarks and the Historic Districts along parts of First Avenue, Fourth Avenue, East and West Atlantic Avenues, the White Horse Pike, and along Station Avenue in our downtown.  However, the HPC never had a Design Guidelines book for the structures in our Historic Districts.  

For four months in 2021, Donna Ann Harris worked with the Haddon Heights HPC to create Design Guidelines for the Historic Districts in our town.  As a long-standing Certified Local Government (CLG), we wanted to have, as required, a design guidelines book written specifically for Haddon Heights.  We were able to secure grant funding from the NJ Historic Preservation Office to create this Guideline and Ms. Harris submitted the winning proposal in January 2021 to write and design it.  During this period, Ms. Harris has proved knowledgeable, focused and easy to work with, and she worked in a very timely and efficient manner.  It was a true cooperative effort.  

This Design Guidelines is a tool for property owners, to help them manage change and protect Haddon Heights' architectural and historical resources. The Guideline book presents preservation treatments and activities that our HPC does, and does not, recommend throughout its 160 pages using more than 225 contemporary and historic photos, text, and drawings to educate and explain these treatments and activities.  

We are just delighted to finally have this handsome document to help us further preservation activities in our Borough.  Donna Ann Harris did a marvelous job in creating our Haddon Heights Design Guideline Book.  This project won the 2022 Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia Preservation Education Award and the Preservation New Jersey Historic Preservation Commission Award in 2022. 

Patrice Bassett

Records Manager & Archivist, CMR, MA City of Camden Office of the Municipal Clerk Records Management Unit

Donna Ann Harris has worked with the City of Camden over the last two years to help us conceptualize and fundraise for the Heritage Tourism Interactive Touch Screen Kiosk recently unveiled in City Hall Camden. Donna serves as the historian for all three phases of the project and worked with me to prepare three successful grants of over $135,000, to three government funders to support this project. The first phase is now complete and explores 300 years of City of Camden history through an artist drawn digital mural and a series of illustrations and 150-word stories that Donna wrote about important, people, places and events in Camden history.

The next two phases will begin this year (2022). The second phase will add visitor information about 50 historic sites and history organizations in Camden County associated with the Camden County History Alliance, a project of the Camden County Historical Society. The final phase of this kiosk project will showcase the 39 Revolutionary War battle sites and skirmish locations in Camden County as we prepare for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026.

We could not be happier with her assistance on this project. I literally would not have been able to do it without Donna. Thank you again.