Category: Public Policy

by Michael R. Allen

Efforts to secure Congressional passage of a fully funded Historic Preservation Fund have changed direction (see “More Federal Money for Historic Preservation Exists, Needs to be Appropriated”). Now that it is clear that the majority Democratic Party will not support full funding, the Coalition for Full Permanent Funding of the Historic Preservation Fund is pushing for annual allocation of the $50 million that Congress has appropriated to the fund since its creation.

Please contact your Congressperson today to state your support for full funding and urge as a minimum support for the same allocation level as last year.

Despite the impossibility, on January 22 the Coalition announced that the Coalition for Full Funding now has 111 members from 42 States and the District of Columbia. These preservation-related organizations and businesses are endorsing full funding. Perhaps in the future the Democratic majority will embrace funding the Historic Preservation Fund to the level authorized by the Reagan administration in 1982. The administration of President Barack Obama, who is a champion of public policy that encourages sustainability, would be the best time for full funding.

by Michael R. Allen

Today President Barack Obama spoke in favor of an energy efficiency program dubbed “Cash for Caulkers.”

Where did this speech take place? Outside of a Home Depot store in Virginia. Not a good sign. Where does the program leave the millions of Americans who resident in historic houses?

We aren’t sure yet. The Climate Change bills that stalled in the House and Senate actually included a bikk called Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) that provided specific incentives for achieving energy efficiency in historic buildings.

The new administration program should carry over language that allows historic building owners to get incentives for making more sensitive and effective repairs to their buildings. Home Depot is a fine place to buy caulk, but it is also fairly useless to someone who wants to retain and repair a wooden window made from 125-year-old virgin growth timber.

If the new incentive would reward someone for removing a window that could be as old as a century and replace it with a window that probably won’t last 20 years, but won’t reward someone for retaining and repairing existing windows, then it should be called “Cash for Home Depot.” Removal of existing building material that can be saved is a waste of natural resources. Replacement of that material with materials designed to last less than two decades increases one’s carbon footprint in the long run.

Historic windows are often the first things to be removed in a rehabilitation project. They almost never get replaced with anything that will have the same durability or longevity. A wooden window can be maintained for well over a century, and can be kept weather-tight with proper glazing, weatherstripping and the presence of an interior or exterior storm window. The thermal properties of wood are actually quite good, especially when that wood has the dense grains found in the old-growth wood available to builders in the 19th and early 20th century. Your windows are second-nature natural resources, and their destruction has an environmental impact no matter how “energy efficient” contemporary windows’ manufacturers claim they can be.

Scratching your head at my logic? I offer a Energy Efficiency Tips for Historic Homeowners, a document published by the City of Albany, New York. There is also a short article by architect Curtis Drake entitled “Making Your Historic Home More Energy Efficient” that appeared in Save Our Heritage Organisation Magazine.

Hopefully President Obama will support an energy efficiency program that makes sense for all buildings and all remedies — even those that can’t be purchased at the Big Orange Box.

by Michael R. Allen

Today’s Preservation Online includes an article that illustrates the importance of legal standing to historic preservation advocacy:

A last-ditch effort to save America’s first Lithuanian Catholic church, located in Shenandoah, Pa., failed this week. Schuylkill County Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin ruled Dec. 1 that parishioners of St. George Catholic Church have “no standing,” or no legal right, to file a lawsuit to halt the current demolition of the historic 1891 sanctuary.

There are familiar elements in the story: an unbending Catholic diocese, an inflated estimate of repair costs and wide support inside and outside of the Church for preservation. The plaintiffs are contemplating appeal, but demolition now has a green light to proceed no matter what the outcome of the appeal.

Of course, unlike the local effort of the Friends of the San Luis, the Shenandoah effort hinges on the basis that parishioners have standing to sue their own Diocese. What is clear is that having legally-defensible standing to bring forth lawsuits to halt demolition is crucial to preservation efforts. When the eleventh hour comes — and it often does — the courts provide recourse.

by Michael R. Allen

In 1976, the U.S. Congress created the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Funded by offshore oil leases, the $150 million fund is supposed to be available for matching grants to state and territorial historic preservation offices, tribal historic preservation offices, historically black colleges and universities and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Recipients must provide a 40% match for preservation planning, bricks and mortar projects, resources and neighborhood surveys and educational programs.

Furthermore, 10% of each state’s allocation must be passed through to certified local governments (CLGs). In the St. Louis area, CLGs include the City of St. Louis, Chesterfield, Cottleville, Ferguson, Florissant, Kirkwood, Manchester, Oakland, Pasadena Hills, St. Charles, University City, Webster Groves and Wildwood. Imagine what a source of new funding for surveys and education could do for preservation efforts in these cities.

In 1980, Congress authorized deposit of the full $150 million annual revenue amount into the fund. However, since then, Congress has never appropriated more than one-third of the fund for its intended use. In this Congress, we have a chance to change that.

Over 40 organizations and companies in 26 states have joined the Coalition for Full Permanent Funding of the Historic Preservation Fund. (The Preservation Research Office, the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation and the Friends of the San Luis from St. Louis have signed on.) The Coalition is seeking more support to show Congress that there is wide support for full appropriate; contact the Coalition at infor@fullyfundhpf.org to sign on.

The bill that could cut through 29 years of Congressional neglect is the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act of 2009 (H.R. 3534). The bill was introduced into the House Natural Resources Committee by Democratic Congressman Nick Rahall from West Virginia. Currently, it includes full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which draws from the same off-shore oil revenues and has traditionally been appropriated at the same time as the Historic Preservation Fund. The Coalition hopes to add a provision for full funding of the Historic Preservation Fund.

Congressman Rahall is friendly to the Coalition, but needs support to bring forward the necessary amendment to fully fund the HPF. Contact Rahall online, by phone at (202) 225-3452 or by postal mail at:

Hon. Nick Rahall
2307 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515

by Michael R. Allen

This month, the Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE) has turned its attention toward the role that building rehabilitation plays in renewing the Rust Belt. Perhaps not surprising is that GLUE co-founder Sarah Szurpicki was inspired to examine the policies that shape rehabilitation after a recent visit to St. Louis.

Readers not familiar with GLUE should peruse the organization’s excellent website, which features a blog that chronicles efforts across the larger Great Lakes region — large enough to include St. Louis — to promote economic and cultural development, public policy change and inter-city dialogue.

GLUE’s mission statement starts with the goal “to bolster regional identity amongst older industrial urban centers in the American Great Lakes region by connecting the people who love them to each other.” Second is “to advocate for policies that promote sustainable and equitable growth for Great Lakes cities.” Clearly, in St. Louis we see how rehabilitation serves both of these goals.

As part of the feature on rehabilitation, Sarah interviewed me on historic preservation efforts in St. Louis, Missouri’s model historic rehabilitation tax credit and federal legislation that would make existing rehabilitation tax credits more useful to older cities. That interview can be found here.

by Michael R. Allen

Yesterday’s issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune carried a commentary by State Senator Tom Bakk. Bakk’s commentary focused on ways to get Minnesotans back to work. Among his ideas is a state historic rehabilitation tax credit.

Writes Senator Bakk:

A historic building rehabilitation tax credit would create jobs immediately, spur economic development in our communities and help develop affordable housing — not to mention preserve some of our state’s most beautiful heritage.

Missouri legislators should be pleased that a state often cited as more progressive than us wants to emulate one of our economic development incentives.