PreservationNation

Written by Pat Lally 

Ronald Martin, Robert Patterson, and Mark Martin at the Woolworth's counter during the second day of the sit-in on February 2, 1960. (Photo: Library of Congress)

When President Obama sent his Budget Request up to Capitol Hill on Monday, he effectively placed much of the preservation community in defense mode with the most significant funding cuts since the 1980’s. At the very same time, 310 miles to the south in Greensboro, North Carolina, preservationists were cutting the ribbon to the new International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The restoration of this 1929 former Woolworth’s building, where exactly 50 years ago the Greensboro sit-ins of the civil rights movement began, was made possible in part through a Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant – a program now proposed for elimination in this Budget Request. 

Projects like this make me realize why I originally got involved in historic preservation 24 years ago, and why the fight to preserve our heritage is far from over. The International Civil Rights Center and Museum is more than just an old Woolworth’s building and lunch counter designed to house historic exhibits and artifacts. It is a place to witness, to experience, and to discuss how to effect social change in our own nation and around the world. A half century ago, this place stood as a reminder of segregated life in the South. Today, it stands as a monument to the power of human courage and its ability to change society. As I mentioned in an entry I posted on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I don’t remember segregation, but I live in a formerly segregated city. The preservation of places like these makes what I’ve read in history books tangible, real, and alive. 

In 1993, Woolworth’s closed and the building was going to be torn down. Local preservationists collected 18,000 signatures to save it and to redevelop the site into a museum. Like many preservation and rehabilitation endeavors, the International Civil Rights Museum project was fraught with difficulties, and raising funds to complete it was tough. The SAT grant of about $150,000 came at a critical time for the museum, and called local, regional, and national attention to the restoration efforts. While the total project cost was $23 million, the early SAT grant helped leverage the remaining 98.5% of the funds needed to open the museum. 

This is the beauty of SAT; for a comparatively minor federal investment, millions over the government’s share in non-federal and private funds were raised. 

And talk about unlocking the economic power of preservation. This one project created over 150 jobs – about 100 for construction and about 50 in exhibit fabrication/design. The effect in downtown Greensboro was similar to what happens on Main Streets all across the country. The initial building rehabilitation of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum has spurred many other job-producing revitalization developments nearby. It has also fostered a growing market for heritage tourism. 

Over the next several weeks, Congress is going to respond to the President’s Budget Request, and the appropriations committees will be developing their bills to fund the government in fiscal year 2011. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and its partners are mounting a national grassroots campaign to let the House and Senate know how relatively small investments in programs like SAT, Preserve America, and National Heritage Areas reap big benefits in cultural value, job creation, and economic revitalization. 

We’re going to begin next week by asking folks to contact their Members of Congress in opposition to eliminating and cutting vital preservation programs. We’re going to ask preservationists to meet with their federal elected officials – either at home or in Washington during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week – and ask that funding be restored as Congress develops its response to the President’s Budget Request. Will you pitch in? It is not too late to join us in Washington, and we’d love to know if you get the chance to talk with your Members of Congress at home. And, as we build the case for preservation funding, if you have examples of preservation projects like the museum I described above, please share those with us by leaving a comment below. 

Fifty years ago, four students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University initiated a daily sit-in at the once-segregated Woolworth’s counter in Greensboro. These students, those who joined them, and others around the county, were part of a movement that changed the face of this county. Preservationists should get a lot of inspiration from them as we prepare to fight a Budget Request that does little to recognize the value of preserving our heritage. 

Now, for next week at a glance: 

Jobs Bill – The Senate is hoping to bring a jobs bill to the floor next week. This should be the first part of a series of employment stimulus measures. We are making the case to include broad energy efficiency retrofit incentives for home and commercial property owners. We are also trying to amend the historic rehabilitation tax credit to provide a boost in the credit for making historic building more energy efficient. 

Appropriations – As the appropriations process moves forward, we are planning a major grassroots campaign to oppose budget cuts in valuable preservation programs. It will start with a letter from National Trust President Richard Moe to House and Senate appropriators. Check out developments on PreservationNation.org. 

Civil Rights Trail Bill – We are making a push to build support for Senator Burris and his National Civil Rights Trail Bill by meeting with Senate staff to request co-sponsorship. Check out National Trust President Richard Moe’s letter supporting the bill and requesting a hearing – an important step in getting the bill passed. 

Pat Lally is the congressional affairs director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes look at how preservation policy is made through his weekly posts from the Hill.

Post Updated on February 3, 2010

Written by Pat Lally

Remember my comments in the blog I posted last week on the State of the Union? That the President’s address sets the stage for his budget? That the three-year freeze he proposed could lead to cuts? Well, the White House sent its Budget Request to Capitol Hill yesterday, as it typically does the first Monday in February. How did preservation fare? Let’s just say that it wasn’t a very good day for us.

Save America’s Treasures (SAT), the nation’s only bricks-and-mortar grant program, is proposed for elimination. Not since the 1980’s has there been such an assault on the programs that protect America’s heritage. Since 1998, SAT has been the federal government’s most successful tool to preserve the important places that tell our nation’s story. Due to the broad, bi-partisan Congressional support it has on the Hill, the program has saved over 1,200 of America’s most significant places in all 50 states, supporting jobs and economic development in every single project it covers. 

The elimination of SAT would represent a 25% reduction in the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), the account that funds the core activities of the national historic preservation program. How ironic just as preservationists have mounted a nationwide campaign to get the HPF fully funded. Even though it is supposed to get $150 million annually, the fund barely sees half that from Congress. If the House and Senate go along with this Budget Request, the HPF will now get only a third of what it should receive.

But here’s the biggest irony in the President’s Budget Request (and a little-known fact). Technically speaking, SAT and the other core national preservation programs under the HPF cost the American taxpayer nothing. You see, this account, by law, is funded by the revenue  received from offshore oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. Years ago, Congress had the foresight to place historic preservation in this dedicated account along with other “conservation” activities. Their rationale was that as non-renewable resources are expended (such as fossil fuels), some of the associated revenue should help pay for the conservation and preservation of other non-renewable resources, such as sensitive ecosystems and nationally-significant buildings, collections, and objects.

Makes sense, right? Well, the problem is that both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue have budgeted much of this money for purposes other than historic preservation, and that simply has to stop. In fact, some of the other conservation activities that are funded by oil and gas leasing revenue are increased substantially in this Budget Request, just as we were slashed. It seems to me that preservationists need to make it loud and clear to their lawmakers as to why we need every penny of the $150 million that we’re supposed to get from Washington every year.

The final irony is that, among federal programs, SAT stands out as a model of efficiency and effective spending. You see, every grant recipient under this program is required to find a dollar-for-dollar, non-federal match. To date, SAT at the National Trust has raised almost $57 million in non-federal and private matching funds. As a result, SAT has been enormously successful in leveraging private-sector financing and creating  productive and sustained partnerships with large corporations, foundations, and individuals that provide matching contributions. Here is just a small glimpse into some of the places and things that SAT has helped preserve for future generations: Ellis Island, Mesa Verde National Park, Valley Forge, Thomas Edison’s Invention Factory,  and the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the “Star Spangled Banner.” 

Now, I’ve placed so much emphasis on SAT because, in the grand scheme of things, it make no sense at all to eliminate. But it is also important to know that this Budget Request would cut and eliminate  other worthy and valuable preservation programs if adopted. Preserve America, a sister program to SAT for preservation education and outreach (funded out of the National Recreation Account), would be eliminated. National Heritage Area funding would be cut by half. And lastly, for the State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers who are the backbone of the national historic preservation program – level funding from last year. What this really means is that they will continue to be inadequately funded and often unable to keep up with their enormous workloads.

In just four weeks, preservationists will be coming to Washington to meet with their elected representatives during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. We’ll be making a full court press on the Hill to oppose the elimination of SAT and Preserve America. We’ll also oppose other cuts to important preservation programs, and lobby for increased funding for State and Tribal Offices. In the meantime, stay tuned for our call to action to engage your Member of Congress; we need everyone to express their opposition to how this Budget Request treats critical historic preservation programs.

Are you concerned about how this Budget Request would adversely affect the preservation of our national treasures? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Pat Lally is the congressional affairs director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes look at how preservation policy is made through his weekly posts from the Hill.

Written by Pat Lally 

During his remarks, President Obama gave a shout-out to historic Galesburg, Illinois, where the Carl Sandburg House currently faces critical budget shortfalls that have severely affected its ability to keep its doors open. Historic places like these add valuable jobs and tourist dollars to local economies.

President Barack Obama covered a lot of ground last night in his first State of the Union address – the dire budget landscape, the plight of Main Street, chronic unemployment’s debilitating effect on economic recovery, and the need to create new employment opportunities in areas like energy efficiency. As a precursor to the release of his 2011 budget, I want to highlight some items from his remarks that relate to historic preservation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s legislative agenda in Washington.  

But first, I need to chew on something he said: “We must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists…” Ouch! Someone please pinch me the day the cohort of nonprofit historic preservation influence-peddlers has the national capital by its throat. Oh well. 

Budget Freeze 

Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years. Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will not be affected. But all other discretionary government programs will. Like any cash-strapped family, we will work within a budget to invest in what we need and sacrifice what we don’t. And if I have to enforce this discipline by veto, I will. 

Since the President’s State of the Union address usually provides a glimpse into his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year – typically released the first Monday in February (stay tuned on this) – there is no single item in his speech more important than his proposal to freeze discretionary spending. Funding for the national historic preservation program, as measured by the Historic Preservation Fund, has been inadequate for years. This affects State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and their ability to conduct reviews critical for all sorts of historic preservation programs. Needed brick-and-mortar grant monies for local preservation projects through the Save America’s Treasures program may also be reduced. In fact, we have joined with our national partners in historic preservation to mount a grassroots effort to get full and permanent federal funding for historic preservation, which receives (annually) less than half the amount Congress originally intended. 

A budget freeze would effectively undermine our ability to get more funds. In a worst-case scenario, a budget freeze may even translate into cuts for already scarce preservation resources. 

Our Main Street Communities 

So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They’re not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for President. These struggles are what I’ve witnessed for years in places like Elkhart, Indiana; Galesburg, Illinois. 

Wow, the President mentioned historic Galesburg! Here’s a place where budget cuts have forced the Carl Sandburg Historic Site to curtail its operations markedly, diminishing a noted tourism venue and its related job and economic activity. The President’s remarks last night portend a lean budget for the coming fiscal year, but let’s hope we’ll be successful in getting some of that money to states so that places like this remain part of local employment and reinvestment activity. The bottom line is (repeat after me): Historic Preservation = Jobs. Don’t you remember that from my last post?  

Also, President Obama called out historic Elkhart, Indiana, by name. After the mayor initiated demolition proceedings on its historic 1923 school, preservationists fought for two years to save the building and to create the 35 units of affordable housing that opened in 2009. It is now 100% leased – irrefutable evidence that preservation is inherently sustainable.  

Window Replacement and Jobs 

Talk to the window manufacturer in Philadelphia who said he used to be skeptical about the Recovery Act, until he had to add two more work shifts just because of the business it created. 

While the manufacture and installation of new replacement windows may have added jobs in Philadelphia (and other places around the nation), the National Trust is asking the Obama Administration and Congress to consider the option of saving historic windows by retrofitting them with storm windows and other components that allow them to achieve energy savings on par with that of new windows. Right now, the emphasis is on the expediency of replacement, replacement, replacement, and preservationists need to make their voice heard that we want a choice which includes the retention of historic materials where practicable. Check out this great windows article from Forum News for more food for thought. 

In fact, the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia just listed historic windows on its endangered list, and has long touted the win-win alternative of achieving energy efficiency in older buildings while creating long-term jobs and training for people to do those jobs. The Alliance has developed an aggressive educational and outreach component of its Neighborhood Preservation Programs, with over 2,000 people learning from a broad variety of preservation professionals in workshops on a range of topics including historic windows; working with architects and contractors; roofing on historic buildings; and masonry and pointing.   

Take a look at Michigan as well. The Michigan Historic Preservation Network, in partnership with the State Historic Preservation Office and the City of Kalamazoo, recently offered a two-week energy efficiency window retrofit training program for 36 unemployed or under-employed contractors and carpenters. More such programs are planned for 2010. Thirty-six long-term jobs in making valuable old windows perform better? Not bad if you ask me.   

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