Forum Blog - Preservation Leadership Forum - A Program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Taliesin Preservation: 2019 Trustees Emeritus Award for Historic Site Stewardship

By Special Contributor posted 4 days ago

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By Carrie Rodamaker History surrounds us, each and every day. But what does it teach us? How do we use the past to guide our future? That was a common theme at the 2019 PastForward Conference in Denver, Colorado, where Taliesin Preservation received the Trustees Emeritus Award for Historic Sites Stewardship. For over a century, Taliesin and the surrounding Driftless hills and valleys in southwest Wisconsin have served as a laboratory for living. This is where Frank Lloyd Wright spent over ...

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Forum Webinar: Transforming Digital Engagement at Historic Sites

By Forum Online posted 10 days ago

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As we all know, preservationists and history professionals across the country have been forced to shift overnight the way they share, engage, and tell their stories from in-person programming to the digital realm. We recognize this has not been easy. On April 19, Preservation Leadership Forum hosted a webinar that focused on this transition. In this webinar five dynamic speakers talked through the process of transformation—how to develop a strategy, what lessons have been learned (so far), and gave ...

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Forum Webinar: Coronavirus Response: the Historic Tax Credit as An Economic Recovery Tool

By Forum Online posted 11 days ago

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On April 24 th , Preservation Leadership Forum (in partnership with the National Trust Community Investment Corporation and the the Historic Tax Credit Coalition), hosted the webinar “ Coronavirus Response: the Historic Tax Credit as An Economic Recovery Tool ” for preservation leaders and the rehabilitation industry to hear about efforts to promote the federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC) as a crucial component of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our nation’s economic recovery. ...

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Building Tomorrow’s Heritage: Making Places For All, By All

By Special Contributor posted 12 days ago

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By: Michael W. Mehaffy and Nikos A. Salingaros Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final essay in a series about recent lessons from the sciences for historic preservation and compatible new development. The authors—an urban researcher and philosopher, and a mathematician/physicist— explore emerging scientific findings about historic structures, and discuss lessons for generating more sustainable and resilient human environments. LEFT: The historic context of a new Nobel Museum ...

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Looking Beyond the Architecture at the African Orthodox Church in Highland Park

By Special Contributor posted 20 days ago

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By Curtis Maxwell Perrin In 2018 Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood learned of a developer’s intention to raze the historic African Orthodox Church at 56 Cedar Street and replace it with condos. It seemed an uphill battle when the Highland Park Neighborhood Coalition (HPNC), of which I am the co-chair of the Preservation Committee, decided to try to save this church building beloved to the neighborhood: The building was in a poor state of repair, which did not help claims to preserve it, and the ...

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Forum Webinar: Leveraging Insurance to Aid Your Organization During the Coronavirus

By Forum Online posted 24 days ago

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On April 29, Kevin Sullivan from the National Trust Insurance Services joined Preservation Leadership Forum for a webinar " Leveraging Insurance to Aid Your Organization During the Coronavirus. " This webinar discussed a wide variety of insurance and risk management related subjects that may help organizations during this time of crisis. Kevin covered a range of topics including, Business Income/Interruption insurance that may be available, how organizations could be protected with General Liability ...

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More than Maintenance: Replacing the Glass of the Glass House

By Special Contributor posted 25 days ago

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By Ashley Wilson and Anna Blyth Philip Johnson’s Glass House , the National Trust for Historic Preservation Historic Site in New Canaan, Connecticut, spans 49 acres that once belonged to one of the United States’ prominent modernist architects. Johnson used the property as a playground for his imagination, where he created 14 structures that allowed him to experiment with form, material, and their interaction with nature. Like all historic properties, these buildings require continued maintenance ...

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Preservation Easement Stewardship during the time of Coronavirus

By Special Contributor posted 27 days ago

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By Raina Regan and Casey DeHaven How does the coronavirus impact preservation professionals responsible for ongoing easement stewardship? In the short-term, being unable to visit easement properties may delay project reviews and defer cyclical easement inspections. At the National Trust, while we are unable to travel to visit our easement properties in 25 states and Washington D.C., we’re largely continuing our office-based program operations while working on long-term projects to improve our ...

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Honoring James M. Vaughan: Leader in Re-Inventing Historic House Museums and Historic Sites

By Tom Mayes posted 05-01-2020

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The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the preservation and historic house museum fields, remember and honor the life and career of James M. Vaughan, who served as vice president for Historic Sites at the National Trust from 2000-2011 and executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission from 2011 until his retirement in 2017. Previously executive director of The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson in Tennessee, and the head of the San Diego Historical Society ...

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Preservation Community Outlines Priorities to Congress During the Coronavirus Pandemic

By Pam Bowman posted 04-30-2020

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Many of us are approaching the two-month mark of a new way of living, working, and responding to the lifestyle and economic conditions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Nonprofit organizations and others continue to operate in a state of economic crisis due to the loss of revenue from closures, event cancellations, and a decline of charitable contributions. The preservation and arts and culture sectors are defining this impact with research and data from their networks and the findings ...

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Carrying On: Local Preservation Through Virtual Meetings

By Special Contributor posted 04-30-2020

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By Anne Nelson and Jim Lindberg Elected officials at all levels are struggling with how to conduct the business of government at a time when many state capitols, city halls, and council chambers remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since it is unlikely that large public meetings will be allowed in these spaces any time soon, what are the alternatives? How can diverse opinions about important decisions be heard if public meetings are held “virtually” on cell phones and computer screens? ...

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To the Moon and Back: Preserving Mission Control in Houston, Texas

By Forum Online posted 04-28-2020

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In July of 2019, NASA’s Johnson Space Center completed a $5 million restoration that returned the Apollo Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, to its former midcentury glory—just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The mission control room is where NASA’s flight control team made history planning, training, and executing numerous internationally significant space missions. Last year at PastForward 2019 in Denver, Colorado, the team behind the preservation of Mission ...

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A Preservation Pause: Irene Hirano Inouye, Virginia McAlester, and Inspiration for the Future of Preservation

By Priya Chhaya posted 04-23-2020

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Every morning for the last four weeks, I have stood on my balcony and taken a single moment, a breath, before I start the day. Like many of you, I find the current state of the world overwhelming, and this moment, this pause, helps clear my mind to find order in the chaos in which we now live. Starting my morning with a view of the world beyond my home. | Credit: Priya Chhaya For me, part of the chaos is the uncertainty around the cultural heritage sector—museums, historic sites, preservation, ...

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Forum Webinar: Communicating and Fundraising for Preservation in a Time of Uncertainty

By Forum Online posted 04-21-2020

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Editor’s Note: This webinar was part of a series presented by Preservation Leadership Forum in response to the coronavirus crisis. To learn more about future webinars, visit our Forum Webinar page and sign up for updates . For more resources and materials for non-profits and historic sites visit our coronavirus resource page . On Tuesday April 14, Preservation Leadership Forum hosted a webinar “ Communicating and Fundraising for Preservation in a Time of Uncertainty. ” The speakers were ...

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The Resilience of Older Neighborhoods

By Jim Lindberg posted 04-21-2020

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For years preservationists (myself included) have touted the connections between older buildings and urban vitality. We have talked about the “vibrancy” of bustling historic blocks lined with small businesses. We have photographed crowded sidewalks and pointed with pride to the “hidden density” of older neighborhoods. Are these messages still relevant? Or has everything changed? Every day there are new maps showing the impact of the coronavirus across the country. The numbers change, but ...

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New Report: The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Businesses from Main Street America

By Special Contributor posted 04-16-2020

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Editor's Note: This piece is cross posted from Main Street America. You can read the full piece and take a closer look at the data for the report on their website. If you want to learn more you can listen to their webinar from April 16 that goes deeper into the report. By Main Street America Last week, Main Street America conducted an online survey to assess the impact of the COVID-19 on the approximately 300,000 small businesses across the network. Specifically, this survey ...

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Forum Webinar: Federal Policy Response to the Coronavirus and Implications for the Preservation Field

By Forum Online posted 04-08-2020

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Editor’s Note: This webinar was the first in a series presented by Preservation Leadership Forum in response to the coronavirus crisis. To learn more about future webinars, visit our Forum Webinar page and sign up for updates. The next webinar, " Communicating and Fundraising for Preservation During Uncertain Times " will take place April 14. Update 4/15/2020: One additional area of discussion during the webinar was the inclusion of a limited exemption to applicability of Section 106 of the ...

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Designating Culturally Significant Properties at the Local Level from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

By Special Contributor posted 03-31-2020

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By Timothy Frye and Kate Lemos McHale Editor's Note: With the coronavirus changing the very way we live our lives, Preservation Leadership Forum is committed to providing new content and information for preservationists as they work within a very different world. With that in mind we wanted to balance pandemic-related resources with a few stories we already had in progress so as to inspire and remind us why our work matters. The New York Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is ...

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On the Hill: Summary of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)

By Pam Bowman posted 03-27-2020

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Editor's Note: As the preservation community grapples with the changes to how we do our work during this time, we at Preservation Leadership Forum are here to support you. Check out our resources , and share your problems and questions with others in the preservationists community on Forum Connect. For more information on the recently passed CARES Act and its implications for historic preservation, watch the recording of our April 2 webinar. On Wednesday, March 25, the Senate unanimously ...

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On The Hill: The Coronavirus Federal Legislation and Advocacy

By Pam Bowman posted 03-24-2020

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Editor's Note: As the preservation community grapples with the changes to how we do our work during this time, we at Preservation Leadership Forum here to support you. Check out our resources , and share your problems and questions with others in the preservationists community on Forum Connect. The National Trust for Historic Preservation continues to closely monitor legislative developments responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and we are actively engaged in efforts to sustain ...

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