NORWICH – At last week’s common council meeting Norwich resident, Karol Kucinski, reminded the council about the importance of historical preservation.

Kucinski had visited city hall to find records about the 1925 election for a college assignment, and was perturbed when he couldn't gain access to the documents due to how they were stored.

After reviewing the city budget, and finding the historian section stripped of funding, he knew he wanted to bring this to the attention of the common council.

“This struck me as something needs to change. Hopefully next year we can work together and try to improve the situation in terms of the cities archives of public documents,” said Kucinski.

Alderman Zieno was the first to be in favor of a historical revamp committee, and commented on how having a volunteer historical group would be an added asset.

“If we have volunteers who add additional historical information as they come across it,that would benefit city records. Maybe add some interesting information on our city website, maybe an annual publication. A volunteer group like that could add some positive benefits that I think would be a big help,” said Zieno.

Alderman McCracken was also in favor of the committee, offering to join himself.

“My background is in history. If theres any way that I can help, I would be glad to do that in the new year,” said McCracken.

Mayor-elect Shawn Sastri was also excited for the formation of the committee, stating this would be something he will look into once in office.

The last time the historical department received funding was in 2015. Currently the Norwich deputy city clerk holds the responsibility of accessing public record, but as Alderman Zieno says, the clerk is already overloaded with responsibility.

Kucinski hopes that with the formation of a volunteer based committee, it will spark the community to take interest in its cities history.