While the movement to preserve historic buildings has widespread support, it also has some sharp critics with well-funded opposition groups springing up in recent years.
Some opponents are linked to the Stand Together Foundation, founded and bankrolled by the Koch family’s conservative philanthropic organization, according to a column in Governing magazine. Many critics see historic preservation as a threat to “precious individual freedoms.”
A Stand Together senior fellow cited some preservation actions to bolster his case: An effort in San Francisco to convert a laundromat into an eight-story apartment building was stalled for eight years while city officials try to determine if the laundromat should be protected. In Denver, preservationists delayed the conversion of a 1960s diner into a new mixed-use retail/residential development.
Other critics, including some academicians, have criticized historic neighborhood preservation as “a stalking horse for gentrification and displacement of impoverished residents,” the column reads. Despite these critiques, the columnist makes a compelling case for preservation.
“Preservation serves the vital purpose of helping people to understand, appreciate and connect with their local history at a time when historical awareness is a missing element in much of America. If preservation has gone too far, it has gone too far in the right direction. We ought to be able to manage it without denigrating the things it has achieved.”
Related Stories
Airports | Jan 15, 2024
How to keep airports functional during construction
Gensler's aviation experts share new ideas about how to make the airport construction process better moving forward.
Adaptive Reuse | Jan 12, 2024
Office-to-residential conversions put pressure on curbside management and parking
With many office and commercial buildings being converted to residential use, two important issues—curbside management and parking—are sometimes not given their due attention. Cities need to assess how vehicle storage, bike and bus lanes, and drop-off zones in front of buildings may need to change because of office-to-residential conversions.
MFPRO+ News | Jan 12, 2024
As demand rises for EV chargers at multifamily housing properties, options and incentives multiply
As electric vehicle sales continue to increase, more renters are looking for apartments that offer charging options.
Student Housing | Jan 12, 2024
UC Berkeley uses shipping containers to block protestors of student housing project
The University of California at Berkeley took the drastic step of erecting a wall of shipping containers to keep protestors out of a site of a planned student housing complex. The $312 million project would provide badly needed housing at the site of People’s Park.
Giants 400 | Jan 11, 2024
Top 20 Convention Center Construction Firms for 2023
Clark Group, PCL Construction Enterprises, AECOM, Hensel Phelps, and Gilbane Building Company top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest convention center and event facility general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
AEC Tech | Jan 8, 2024
What's driving the surge of digital transformation in AEC today?
For centuries, the AEC industry has clung to traditional methods and legacy processes—seated patterns that have bred resistance to change. This has made the adoption of new technologies a slow and hesitant process.
Giants 400 | Jan 8, 2024
Top 60 Senior Living Facility Construction Firms for 2023
Whiting-Turner, Ryan Companies US, Weis Builders, Suffolk Construction, and W.E. O'Neil Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest senior living facility general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
K-12 Schools | Jan 8, 2024
Video: Learn how DLR Group converted two big-box stores into an early education center
Learn how the North Kansas City (Mo.) School District and DLR Group adapted two big-box stores into a 115,000-sf early education center offering services for children with special needs.
Green | Jan 8, 2024
DOE releases RFI on developing national definition for a Zero Emissions Building
The Department of Energy released a Request for Information (RFI) for feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on a draft national definition for a Zero Emissions Building.
Codes and Standards | Jan 8, 2024
Australia to be first country to ban engineered stone countertops
In 2024, Australia will be the first country to ban engineered stone countertops. The ban came after a years-long campaign supported by doctors, trade unions, and workers over concerns that the material was causing increased silicosis cases among workers cutting and handling it.
