Saving Historic Places: A Short Guide for Citizen Advocacy

by CARISSA DEMORE, Team Leader for Preservation Services

An eighteenth-century barn tilting pathetically on its foundation as vines grow through the roof. A notice in the window of a nineteenth-century commercial building that the owner has applied for a demolition permit. There are so many forces working against preservation in towns across New England. What can concerned citizens do to preserve the history in their communities in the face of such challenges?

Gone are the days of members of determined women’s groups chaining themselves to buildings or staring down wrecking balls. Preservation in the twenty-first century requires planning and vision, and starts well in advance of construction vehicles arriving on site.

1. Understand the place

The first thing a community advocate needs to know about saving a historic place is why that place matters and to whom. Not all buildings are historically significant and some historic buildings deserve a more sensitive preservation approach than others. There are many sources available to research a property, starting with municipal tax assessors’ records, which detail who owns the property, the approximate square footage of buildings and land, and the property’s estimated value. Searching the local history section of the community library, the state’s historic resources inventory forms, and the National Register of Historic Places database may yield

information about the architectural and social history of the property and its historic value within the neighborhood. Online resources like Google Books and Ancestry.com can provide important background information about the memories, traditions, history, and beauty represented by an old building.

2. Build a team

Preservation advocacy does not occur in a vacuum, so it is important to build a team of support for any endeavor to save a historic place. Additional voices, expertise, and perspectives are critical to any successful preservation effort. Fellow advocates might include neighbors, community leaders (such as representatives of churches, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and schools), architects, developers, attorneys, real estate agents, and people with experience in finance and economic development. It’s important to establish a point person for the group who will coordinate everyone’s efforts and make sure that the group is speaking with one focused, consistent voice. It’s also important to recognize the capacity of the group to work on this issue and to manage expectations and responsibilities carefully.

3. Develop a vision

Community advocates need a clear vision for what “saving” a historic place means. This starts with a reality check: How imminent is the threat and what can realistically be achieved in the time available? Some properties may benefit from a short-term solution—persuading the municipality to impose a delay on demolition, encouraging an owner to address deferred maintenance, or even purchasing the property. While these strategies will not address the ongoing preservation of the property, they will buy time while longer-term solutions are developed. More sustainable, long-term approaches might include protecting the property with a perpetual preservation easement, creating a local historic district, or developing adaptive use models that support the continued maintenance and use of the property in a sensitive way.

4. Communicate effectively

When building a case for preservation, community advocates must consider the audience they will try to persuade. While educating people about the history of a place is worthwhile, decisions on whether and how to preserve a place are often made based on economics and regulatory requirements, so advocates must focus on bringing practical solutions to the discussion and be flexible when confronted with opposing viewpoints.

Approaching a property owner, developer, or elected official with respect and seeking to understand their priorities and values will help facilitate an open dialogue and lead to the best chance of a successful outcome. Allies in statewide preservation advocacy organizations, the State Historic Preservation Office, the local historical commission, or elected officials may be able to assist in refining an approach or overcoming obstacles.

5. Succeed (or fail) forward

Finally, whether or not a community advocate succeeds in saving a historic place, it is vital to recognize the awareness and momentum created by the effort and to use that momentum to help preserve other significant places in the community. This is the opportunity to lay the groundwork that the group wished was in place before the last challenge. Engage in a survey of local resources to determine which merit preservation, document places that may become threatened, work with the municipality to strengthen local regulations, educate elected officials about the value of historic places, and build a coalition of engaged citizens to carry forward the charge. Because, ultimately, being a preservation advocate and saving historic resources is a task that is never finished.

Photograph by Zinetv1 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode)