How Historic Preservation Benefits West VIrginiaHistoric preservation is defined by the Secretary of the Interior as the act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property.
There are financial, cultural, and environmental incentives for incorporating historic preservation practices into any historic building project, whether for residential, commercial or religious purposes. Historic preservation makes use of historic buildings, infrastructure and investments. Historic buildings often lay vacant, are adaptable and built to last, making them great incubators for small businesses. And compared to the rents of new buildings, which are subject to new construction and materials costs, older buildings frequently maintain affordable rents. When local residents and governments occupy historic buildings they show an active commitment and interest in the historic neighborhood, spurring additional investment and interest. Singular rehabilitation projects in historic areas incite other rehabilitation projects in those areas, thus creating a domino effect, which brings life and money back to the area. This was the result in Charleston’s East End Historic District. Now flourishing from physical revitalization of historic buildings, investment in downtown businesses, and growth in arts and cultural activities, Charleston’s East End is benefiting from the historic preservation ethic initiated through the East End Main Street program. Historic preservation attaches people to the community, provides a sense of place, and encourages public participation through the preservation and consequential demonstration of pride in the historic built environment. Sustainability is our capacity to meet our needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Historic preservation is about sustainable development through the reuse of quality, durable resources that are also historically valuable. When a historic building is razed, this puts a tremendous strain on scarce resources. Not only are we throwing away thousands of dollars of embodied energy (the total expenditure of energy, both manual and mechanical, involved in the creation of the building and its constituent materials), but we are replacing it with materials vastly more consumptive of energy. |
Benefits of Historic Preservation
Historic Preservation has a multitude of benefits to not only the owner of the historic property but also to the community at large as well as to the economy. Some of the benefits of historic preservation include:
- Historic preservation activities create jobs – Preservation activities, such as restoration or rehabilitation, can create jobs especially in the manufacturing, retail trade, services, and construction industries. In 2008, projects approved for federal tax credits had average budgets of $4.58 million and generated 55 jobs each.1 A 2008 study found that in Oklahoma, “a total of $357 million annually in direct spending (including rehabilitation of historic structures, heritage tourism, and the Main Street program) created more than 8,000 jobs in Oklahoma. These jobs generated $460 million in output, $166 million in labor income, $243 million in gross state product, and $25 million in Oklahoma state and local tax revenues.” *1
- Historic preservation increases property values – Properties located within locally designated historic districts are worth more, appreciate faster, and retain more of their value.
- Historic preservation is the vehicle for heritage tourism – Heritage Tourism resulted in $544 million in revenues in 2008 in West Virginia and created 44,000 jobs. *2
- Historic preservation spurs downtown revitalization – Downtown Revitalization in turn helps to build the economy of the downtown.
- Historic preservation provides tax benefits – 10% State income tax credit for the rehabilitation of income-producing commercial buildings combined with the 20% Federal income tax credit equals a total of 30% of income tax credits. Additionally, there is a 20% State income tax credit for the certified rehabilitation of qualified historic private residences.
- Historic preservation can provide affordable housing – Adaptive use of former middle schools, for example, turned into affordable housing is one way historic preservation is being used to provide affordable housing to low-income and senior populations.
- Historic preservation can attract tourists and enhance community pride – a historic downtown or district that is aesthetically cohesive and well promoted can be a community’s most important attraction.
- Historic preservation retains history and authenticity – by commemorating the past, providing visitor/pedestrian appeal, and retaining the aesthetics.
- Historic preservation helps to retain building materials – Reusing the building materials already present in a structure helps to reduce construction and demolition debris, reduces the hazardous waste debris, and requires less use of newer materials.
- Historic preservation uses what already exists – Historic properties are already serviced by infrastructure that was put in place to service those properties originally, therefore existing infrastructure can be reused without the expense of developing new infrastructure.
- Historic preservation is energy efficient – Energy is not expended for demolition or new construction and the embodied energy in the building materials of the historic property can be reused.
- “Economic Reasons for Investing in Historic Preservation.” Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. April 14, 2009. Website. <http://www.achp.gov/recovery/economic.html>
- Sizemore, Tricia. “Study Shows Growth of Visitors’ Economic Impact in West Virginia.” West Virginia Government. September 21, 2009. Website. (No longer available.)<http://www.wv.gov/news/tourism/Pages/Studyshowsgrowthofvisitors%E2%80%99economicimpactinWestVirginia.aspx>