Institute for Classical Architecture & Art

If you are involved in any aspect of the traditional building industry and you are interested in networking with other like-minded professionals, you owe it to yourself to check out the Institute for Classical Architecture & Art.  There are fourteen Chapters throughout the Country, each with their own regional flavor and activities.  The organization is "dedicated to advancing the classical tradition in architecture, urbanism and their allied arts.  It does so through education, publication and advocacy." 

I've attended several events organized by my local group, The Chicago-Midwest Chapter, which have been excellent...I really look forward to chatting with fellow attendees before and after the presentations as much as the presentation itself.

Save any buildings lately?

At a Historic Preservation Workshop I attended in Chicago, Robert Myers, Planning Manager for the City of Urbana Illinois, gave one of the more entertaining and informative presentations I've seen in a while.  He wasn't just talking about what we could do to save endangered homes...he was sharing with us what he's already done.  House by house, year by year, he has methodically saved numerous historic houses from the wrecking ball.  Here are five strategies he outlined that might work in your town:

1. Hammer home the point to your local governing bodies that historic preservation is economic development.  Show them examples of how it's worked elsewhere.

2. Realize that a change in ownership is usually the only way to save an endangered (usually vacant) historic structure.  If the present owners really had any interest in saving the home from demolition, they probably would have already done so.

3. Cast a wide net to find potential buyers of historic homes that are in need of restoration.  Find out why people relocate to your town and where they are coming from.  Robert pointed us toward a really unique interactive tool that shows human migration patterns as assembled by the IRS using tax records from the year 2008.  He cited numerous examples of how someone's relocation decision actually started with them falling in love with a picture of a house.  Here's the link: (you might have to press "continue to site" in the upper right hand corner of the page that loads)

http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/04/migration-moving-wealthy-interactive-counties-map.html?preload=17043

4. Convince owners of historic homes that their property is more valuable as a potentially contributing structure than just another piece of vacant land.

5. And finally, reintroduce the recently forgotten value of good old sweat equity.  Restorations are more manageable and affordable when broken down into smaller pieces...even over the course of many years, through different owners.