I agree with Citizen Ken's remarks about preservation conferences.  The "party
line" that runs through the preservation movement, although it continues to
lessen, is still a leaden presence (except in the hands-on, craftsman-type
conferences).

Note that, in New York's earliest preservation battles (like Penn Station), it
was not the existing preservation establishment that entered the contest -
they remained silent.  Rather it was the >>architects<< - Johnson, Franzen,
Gruzen, Samton, White, Willensky, Machlourides.  I still do not see a place
for the free flow of ideas in the preservation movement - to wit, the recent
post from a west coast SHPO.  They had decided to oppose a certain kind of
development in the downtown area - and had now decided to seek facts which
would support of their position.  The other kind of facts were not wanted.

Christopher Gray