Present: Jack Alvarez, Bill Barry, Burt Bauer, Matthew Bronski, David Coe, Kathryn Coggeshall, Christina Contis, Ann DiLucia, Jack Glassman, Chris Hanlon, Susan Hollister, Kim Konrad, Ellen Lipsey, Marcia Molay, Henry Moss, Ivan Myjer (for 90 seconds), Chad Perry, Lance Robson, Deborah Robinson, Brian Roche, Deane Rykerson, Susan Schur, Malcolm Smiley, Jonathan Smith, Laurie Soave, Robert Thomas, Erin Tobin, Eric Ward, Sara Wermiel, T. Luke Young 1. Historic Massachusetts, Ten Most Endangered (Historic) Resources: Since 1993, HMI has provided a mechanism for people across the Commonwealth to identify and publicize threatened historic sites and structures in their locales. Scores of nominated resources are visited, evaluated and debated by an experienced, disinterested panel assembled by HMI. The accumulation of eight years' of consistent, enthusiastic responses, supported by documentary research, clearly marks trends in preservation needs by linking severe threats to their frequency of occurrence. Kathryn Coggeshall of HMI presented the list for 2000 to our committee. It includes dairy farms, bridges, cemetery sculpture, 17th century houses, and three separate buildings on the site of Mission Church in Boston. HMI's efforts reveal the overlapping pathologies that affect specific types of historic buildings and landscapes in an uniquely lucid, collective manner. This year, architect, engineer, and apologist for Jersey cows, Matthew Bronski represented our committee on the selection panel. 2. Recent Past Preservation Network: T. Luke Young and Kimberly Konrad have helped to found a nationwide network to encourage advocacy for historic resources less than 50 years old. Every year, the window of consideration ratchets forward. The Recent Past Preservation Network (RPPN for short) is web based and will incorporate CD technology to make information available both on- and off-line. Luke said a difference between the RPPN site and the one started a few years ago by The Society for Commercial Archaeology is that the latter's strength is "roadside" resources. Malcolm Smiley encouraged RPPN to give plenty attention to Cold War Modern sites and artifacts. [These developments suggest a curious cycloid movement in the history of the preservation movement as one might argue that the pressure of tourism and educational visits is transforming Mount Vernon from a shrine of the Daughters of the American Revolution to a mythological site with similarities to Graceland. The conflicted optimism of the Post War period with its twin paranoias (nuclear holocaust and creeping communism) have left a strange batch of relics that Gen-X preservation theorists should be better placed to address than those of us already past the 50 year threshold.] 3. BSA Preservation Awards: Henry asked that the committee bring good, debatable ideas for recipients to the February meeting. 4. Recent Preservation Press Items: Matthew Bronski raised the subject of Robert Campbell's piece, "the Mummification of America," that disparaged the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Project, a $10 million annual allocation for the National Park Service to help preserve the road's "idiosyncratic nature." A Cityscape piece in the Boston Globe Magazine by Campbell and photographer, Peter Vanderwarker compared 1900 and 2000 views down Main Street in Charlestown. Campbell notes the massive turnover in population, skyrocketing house prices, solecisms and anachronisms in retro street furniture and compatible infill buildings, but concludes that the current version of this neighborhood has a kindlier, more human scale- largely the result of trading an elevated railway for 30' tall London Plane trees. The committee's discussion noted that the motives and environmental effects of preservation activism are being questioned in new ways, especially now that the standard preservationists' agenda seems to have moved from a countercultural (or at least a minority) position to something of a majority view. Susan Schur and Jonathan Smith raised points similar to Campbell's about the recent conference at Yale that was dedicated to examination of Post War buildings that belong to the General Services Administration. Other exchanges included both appreciation and attacks on Herbert Muschamp's strange puff piece in the New York Times for DOCOMOMO's elusive activities, illustrated with a photo of the newly restored Reliance Building. 5. Architecture Boston: Sara Wermiel introduced the idea of our producing an issue of the BSA's magazine built around historic preservation. The range of ideas could move from global planning questions through examples helping less experienced owners and designers understand more archaeological approaches to their projects. Several technical sections could bridge across to structural and environmental topics. Elizabeth Padjen and her editorial board plan each issue months in advance, so we would have time to assemble a potent collection of essays. Sara suggested that we bring ideas about topics and authors to our next meeting. Each essay could become the basis of a Build Boston workshop, an MHC Statewide Conference session, or a special BSA event. |