Traditionally historic preservation has been associated with efforts to capture a building or a place, arrest its ongoing evolution, and prevent new uses or modern interpretations of how it can serve today’s needs. That model doesn’t work and we need to move forward.

 

Historic preservation needs to be every bit as much about the future as it is about the past. We save buildings and places not for the structures themselves, but for their importance to us. We save them to tell our stories, to remind us of our histories, and to serve as cultural touchstones. But we also save buildings and places so they can be transformed into useful and beneficial tools to meet the needs of today’s communities, and those of tomorrow. That’s the New Preservation.