Neighbors of Watertown

Neighbors of Watertown (N.O.W.) is a non-profit organization whose goals are to provide affordable housing and also to restore decaying and historic structures within the City of Watertown. The organization was incorporated in 1969.

The organization provides many programs to the community, including home rehabilitation, assistance to first time home buyers, low to middle income rental properties and property development services. N.O.W. has restored numerous houses throughout the city, and many of these are sold to new homeowners.

Perhaps N.O.W.'s most publicized program is the restoration of historic buildings.These restoration projects rely heavily on state and federal grants for funding, and much of the work must conform to standards set forth by state and federal historic preservation guidelines. N.O.W.'s current restoration project is Public Square's Franklin Building, which is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Some of N.O.W.'s notable restoration projects include:

The Brighton Building, Court Street

The Buck Building, Public Square

The Burdick Building, Franklin Street

The Lillian Street Fire Station, Lillian Street

Emerson Place, State Street

The Marcy Building, State Street

N.O.W. also provides a facade restoration program, which helps owners of historic buildings restore their building's facades. Two businesses have so far benefited from this program, Abbey Carpet on Court Street and Avon Shoes on Public Square. The organization currently has funding in place for facade restorations on five buildings on Public Square, to coincide with the work being done on the current Streetscape Project.