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From: DRypkema <[log in to unmask]>
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Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 08:16:14 EDT
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Economics of Preservation
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Ilene Tyler writes "Well, friends, it was depressing, as I expected, and we
lost another building to the pressures of economic threats and ignorance....."

A sad but all too common tale. Again, the economic arguments for historic
preservation are far less important than the cultural, aesthetic,
sociological, historical or psychological ones. But while we preservationists
are making those arguments to each other and to the garden club, buildings are
being lost for economic reasons. That's why the premise that "too much time is
being spent making the economic case at the expense of the other reasons for
preservation" misses the point. In the Platonic world of the ideal the
economic arguments have little or no significance. But in the real world of
the bulldozer those who have the authority to make decisions (elected
officials, building owners, bankers, the real estate community) listen first
to the economic arguments. If there were really too much time being spent on
preservation economic analysis then there would be far less of the
"...economic threats and ignorance" Ilene writes about.

Sorry about the lost battle, Ilene. You probably know about the incorporation
of a wonderful Deco bus station here in Washington into a new development. It
might be worth at least a photograph of how that can be successfully
accomplished for your next challenge.

Donovan D. Rypkema