Dear Chris, I am also interested in such figures. We are just beginning work
on creating a science/technology Museum out of an abandoned Water pumping and
Filtration plant in New Jersey. Would love to get some figures to give local
governments about the positives of cultural sites. As I was writting this, I
remembered a report we did 3 years ago for Bergen County. Here are some
quotes and references which might be helpful to you.
A. One essential reason is ECONOMICS:
1. Real economic development is about creating jobs, and historic
preservation creates jobs. It begins by creating construction jobs.
a. Dollar for dollar, historic preservation is one of the highest
job-generating economic development options available. In Michigan, $1
million in building rehabilitation creates 12 more jobs than does
manufacturing $1 million worth of cars. (The Economics of Historic
Preservation, by Donovan D. Rypkema.)
b. “Each $10 million in [historic preservation] expenditures creates
285 jobs in Rhode Island and an additional 65 jobs outside of the state.
Of in-state jobs, 129 are construction workers, 50 are for services provided
by engineers, architects, attorneys, accountants, preservationists, etc., 37
retail, 23 manufacturing and 19 are in the fields of finance and real
estate.” (Preservation Forum, Edward F. Sanderson)
2. Historic preservation has significant and ongoing economic impact
beyond the project itself. Bergen County will benefit economically from
Historic Site preservation.
a. “More than ever, cultural and natural assets form the basis for
economic development in small communities. The greatest attractions for
economic growth in many towns are their quality of life, natural
environment, historic legacy and cultural context. Protection need not be a
limitation on development , rather, it can be the basis for it. ( Saving
Place: Ĺ Guide and Report Card for Protecting Community Character, National
Trust for Historic Preservation, 1991)
b. “In the final analysis, the economic impacts of preservation in
the five study cities are greater and more far-reaching than first imaged.
Preservation does not operate within its own isolated sphere but touches many
areas of the local economy and affects different sectors of community life.
It touches finance, real estate, and government. It affects retailing,
employment, and tourism. It impacts the mayor, the merchant and the
homeowner. (Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation: The Impact of
Historic Preservation on Local Economies in Georgia)
c. “The economics of preservation help cities as well as rural
areas. Outside metropolitan centers, economic growth has not always been
easy to build and maintain. By putting their inherited assets to work,
however, small towns, groups of small towns, and even regions can generate
new prosperity to attract other forms of economic development along with
tourism.” (Getting Started: How to Succeed in Heritage Tourism)
d. “Beauty is, indeed, our money crop, and that beauty, as amenity
resources, is much more than parks, coastal areas, mountains or wildlife.
Beauty includes old stone barns, rusty cotton gins, coastal black-water
rivers, thriving small towns, old rice plantations and, yes, local blacksmiths
and fields of cotton or tobacco ready for harvest, and beauty depends on the
context of the rural communities where it is found. (Enhancing Rural
Economics through Amenity Resources by Robert Becker)
3. Historic Preservation is vital to the economic future of the towns in
Bergen County.
a. “ Cities that ignore their historic preservationists and do not
pay attention to the revitalization and economic development that can follow
from their efforts are almost certain to suffer a dollar loss. (Travel
Holiday by Arthur Frommer)
b. Across the country, mayors and planners feel that preserving
urban historic character is vital to a city’s economic competitive edge over
other areas. (Save our City: A Case for Boston)
c. High rates of innovation depend primarily on brains, not land or
harbors or cheap labor. The key to attracting brains is to offer quality,
not cheapness. The successful, innovation-based company will, in general
,settle in an environment that bright, creative people find attractive...They
want an amorphous thing called quality of life. (Job Creation in America by
David Birch)
d. When the preservation ordinance was first proposed, opponents
said they feared it would hurt property values. Our study shows that it not
only did not hurt them, but that by far the biggest increases in property
values have been in the historic districts.
(The Athens Observer by Phil Sanderlin)
e. A major trend in place revival is heritage development, the task
of preserving the history of places, their buildings, theirpeople and
customs, the machinery, and other artifacts that portray history.
(Marketing Places by Kotler, Haider, Rein)
f. It is widely acknowledged in the travel industry that the
character and charm of small cities is a major factor in [attracting] tourism
to them, or to the state in which they are found. People travel in large
part to visit the past, or to experience a form of rural or small -town life
unavailable in their own home cities...This is one of the reasons why the
movement for historic preservation is so avidly supported by tourist bureaus
and travel companies all over the country. (Testimony before the State of
Vermont Environmental Board by Arthur Frommer, 1994)
These all came from some books and pamphlets on Histroic Preservation that I
received from PRESERVATION NEW JERSEY, Pat Huizing, President. E-mail:
[log in to unmask]
Hope this helps a bit.
Maggie Harrer
President
The Water Works Conservancy
Box 714
Oradell, NJ 07649
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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