HISTORIC PRESERVATION EXPERT, DONOVAN RYPKEMA, COMING TO WEST VIRGINIA THIS SEPTEMBER

We are pleased to announce that Donovan Rypkema will be a workshop instructor at the 2013 Statewide Historic Preservation Mini-Conference to be held in Morgantown, September 20-21, 2013.   Rypkema will bring a fresh voice and extensive experience to how historic preservation can address the many economic development and revitalization challenges West Virginia faces.  Government officials, developers, and planners are encouraged to attend, as are historic preservationists, architects, and community citizens.

The workshop will focus on bringing investments to West Virginia and will cover three different but interrelated elements of historic preservation: incentives, adaptive re-use, and rightsizing.  Specific attention will be paid to what historic preservation incentives are, how they work, and the public policy justification for providing direct or indirect public resources for private assets.  Additionally, Rypkema will explain how historic preservation works for the private sector and ways to re-use historic buildings when they no longer meet the needs for which they were built.  The final segment of the workshop will look at the challenges of a declining population and if and how historic preservation is part of the efforts for rightsizing.

Rypkema is an expert in the economics of historic preservation and is the Principal of PlaceEconomics, a real estate and economic investment firm based in Washington D.C.  He has given workshops in 48 states, and this September will be his first workshop in West Virginia.  This workshop will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2013 from 9 am – 5 pm at the Monongalia Arts Center in Morgantown.  AICP certified planners can earn 6.5 Certificate Maintenance credits during the workshop.  Register before September 6th, and the cost of the workshop for PAWV members is $25.  Nonmembers can attend the workshop for $40.  Online registration information is available at http://www.pawv.org.

PAWV will host other activities over the weekend, including a Civil War Walking Tour of downtown Morgantown and the annual Historic Preservation Awards Banquet.  The banquet will be held at the historic Hotel Morgan, and Rypkema will join participants for a keynote speech.  For more information on activities and registration, visit www.pawv.org, email [email protected], or call 724-322-8959.  There are also volunteer opportunities for discounted entry.