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Original Article from Mercer County, Pennsylvania:
http://www.mcc.co.mercer.pa.us/renovation/preservmatters.htm
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Why preserve old buildings and neighborhoods? |
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To begin with,
we preserve them simply because they're good to
look at. Older buildings are a feast for the unhurried eye, a welcome diversion
from the glass - and - steel banality that casts a pall over too many
communities. Author Judith Waldhorn has called them, "a gift to the street" - a
gift of beauty, texture, variety and detail that our communities need badly.
Besides that, they work. Countless reuse projects have shown that old buildings can function in ways their original builders never dreamed of. In St. Louis, for example, a grand old railroad station now houses a hotel and a shopping mall, an award-winning transformation that has changed a shabby white elephant into a bustling marketplace that is a major generator of tax revenues. In Columbus, Georgia, a former iron mill has been turned into a convention center. An old high school in Seattle is now highly desirable condominiums, and in Louisville, Kentucky, what was once the county jail is now an office building.
Preserved buildings and neighborhoods attract tourists. Travel expert Arthur Frommer says, "Tourism simply doesn't go to a city that has lost its soul." What visitors want is the sense of being Someplace, not just Anyplace. They aren't interested in visiting communities that have transformed themselves into a sad hodgepodge of cookie-cutter housing tracts, cluttered commercial strips and bleak downtowns -but they flock to places like Charleston and San Antonio that have preserved their historic character ... and saved their soul.
A final -and perhaps the most important -reason for saving old buildings is illustrated in a statement by John Ruskin: "Architecture is to be regarded by us with the most serious thought. We may live without her and worship without her, but we cannot remember without her." We save old buildings because we need to preserve the marks left on our national landscape by the many people who have shaped it. We need our collective memory.
Preservation strengthens a partnership that makes for orderly growth and change in our communities: the perpetual partnership among the past, the present and the future. This dynamic partnership encourages each generation to utilize the best of contemporary thought and technology without rejecting the history, culture, traditions and values on which our lives and our futures are built. When it's allowed to work as it's supposed to, this partnership shapes the sense of continuity that art historian Sigfried Giedion says is "part of the very backbone of human dignity."
Historical and
Cultural Significance
Courthouses were among the first permanent structures in many Texas counties.
They were often the grandest building in town, and many Texas communities
literally grew up in their shadows.
Courthouses have been the visual, and often the emotional, center of communities
for decades. These structures are closely tied to important and historical
community events. Marriages, trials, deaths, elections, markets, festivals,
meetings, community celebrations, campaign rallies and other such events have
historically taken place on the courthouse square.
Many Texas courthouses offer superior examples of architectural trends and styles. They also provide examples of technological advances in building methods and showcase the work of designers and builders who had statewide and sometimes national reputations. Architectural styles reflected in historic courthouse design include Gothic Revival, Art Deco, Neoclassical, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival and Second Empire. A total of 86 Texas courthouses have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, 78 are Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks and 62 are State Archeological Concho County Courthouse Landmarks. Many more courthouses are eligible for these historical designations.
Economics of Fiscal Responsibility
Preservation and rehabilitation are fiscally responsible approaches to facilities management. Historic courthouses were built at great expense to Texas counties. Many issued bonds or levied taxes to pay for construction. Building materials and construction methods used on historic courthouses would be extremely costly today, which would make construction of a comparable structure financially infeasible.
The original designs of historic courthouses have economic advantages, in addition to their aesthetic value and historical significance. Most were designed to be cost-effective with thick masonry walls to conserve heat, large open spaces to allow good air circulation and tall windows and sky lights to let in plenty of natural light.
Every business day, courthouses located in downtown business districts draw hundreds of employees, visitors, citizens, lawyers and jurors, all of whom are potential customers for downtown merchants.
Historic courthouses are potentially eligible for rehabilitation grants from public and private foundations, and from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund, which is administered by the Texas Historical Commission.
Of recent years, Texas courthouses have received state and federal rehabilitation grants, including Federal Highway Administration ISTEA grants, totaling almost $30 million.
State law allows money from local hotel/motel taxes to be used for tourism- related historic preservation projects. Because historic courthouses are statewide tourist attractions, courthouse restoration projects should be able to tap into that local funding resource. Construction of new courthouses would not benefit from hotel/motel tax receipts.
Historic Texas courthouses have become popular locations for major films, television movies and commercials. Courthouses featured in recent movies include the Maverick County courthouse in Lone Star, the Fayette County Courthouse in Michael, the Caldwell County Courthouse in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, the Grimes County Courthouse in Hope, the Harris County Courthouse in Pointman and the Wharton County Courthouse in Powder. These production projects instill community pride and help boost local economies.
Rehabilitation is a labor-intensive process rather than a material or energy-based process. Local laborers hired for rehabilitation projects will spend their income in the local community. Material purchases for new construction are likely to be purchased outside the county, causing minimal impact on the local economy.
When an existing building is demolished, the community loses the value of materials, energy resources and labor used to design, build and maintain the structure.
The Economic Impact of Tourism
Heritage Tourism has become one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry. Promoting a restored historic courthouses as heritage tourism destinations could impact local economies statewide.
Texas ranks second as a pleasure travel destination for U.S. residents, and the State is a leading destination for international travelers. Tourism is the third largest revenue-generating industry in Texas. Domestic and international travelers generated almost $28 billion in revenue for Texas in 1996. In 1995, direct travel and tourism generated more than $4.2 billion in tax revenue for federal, State and local governments. Travel spending supported almost 450,000 Texas jobs in 1995. Those employees earned nearly $8.5 billion in wage and salary income.
Texas ranks fourth in the U.S. in the number of cultural and historical travelers. Of travelers in Texas who participated in cultural activities in 1996, 48 percent said they visited a historic site, according to the Texas Department of Economic Development (TOED). Nationwide, more than 65 million Americans said they had visited a historic site or museum or had attended a music concert, arts performance or other cultural event in 1996. Cultural and heritage tourists generally spend more per day while traveling than purely leisure travelers, according to a study sponsored by TDED. Cultural and historical tourists spent an average of $89.20 per day, compared with the $78.90 per-day average spent by all leisure travelers. Heritage travelers take longer trips and spend more per trip than average U.S. travelers. Cultural and heritage travelers spent an average of $6l5 per trip, compared with $425 spent by all U.S. travelers, and heritage travelers spent an average of 4.7 nights away, compared with 3.3 nights for all U.S. travelers, according to a recent study by the Travel Industry Association of America.
Environmental Responsibility
Preservation protects and extends the environmental investment a community has
already made in an existing building. Preservation eliminates the excessive
waste of construction materials and resources. Rehabilitation reduces the cost
of demolition and the impact on landfill space. Less energy and materials are
needed for rehabilitation than for new construction, and this reduces the need
for new construction materials whose production is costly to the environment.
Demolition and new construction may At threaten the large, older trees that
often dominate public squares that surround county courthouses.
New construction can create problems. The overall quality of new buildings is
generally less than the construction quality of historic courthouses, which
means newer structures have a much shorter life span and could potentially
require more maintenance and upkeep.
Intangibles
Courthouses are legacies bestowed by previous generations. Current courthouse
occupants are brief parts of the building's history.
Preservation of a historic county courthouse demonstrates long-term vision on the part of the community and its elected officials. Such a project represents a commitment to the past and the future.
Historic courthouses are traditionally the grandest and most prominent buildings in the county.
Due to the high cost of new construction, annexes and new
courthouses are usually more modest with fewer visual amenities than their
historic predecessors.
The methods, quality and value of courthouse construction can no longer be
duplicated by today's building practices. The finely carved masonry, ornamental
and sometimes exotic stones, wood flooring and paneling and extensive
embellishments crafted in plaster, wood and stone all convey a message of pride
and purpose that could not be replicated in a modern structure.
The act of demolition is irreversible. No amount of community regret will ever
bring back a historic courthouse once it has been demolished.
Historic courthouses are structures that help give counties and communities
their unique identities. Not every community has a historic courthouse, and no
two historic courthouses are exactly alike.