FORUM
Sessions

Public interface in Historic Preservation can be challenging with financial constraints, regulatory needs, and local politics. Recent changes in grant availability and priorities are straining funding availability and engagement with underrepresented communities. Preservation professionals are observing changes in public discourse, with some interactions around local administration and review processes becoming more contentious than in years past.How do we sustain best practices in this new environment? What strategies can you enlist to stay focused on long term goals if the short term environment isn’t supportive?

Few places capture the American imagination like “Main Street.” Both a real place and a powerful cultural symbol, Main Street reflects shifting design trends, economic forces, and community values. This session traces its evolution—from 19th-century commercial corridors to nostalgic recreations like Disney’s Main Street, U.S.A.—and examines its decline and revitalization through the National Main Street Program. Presenters will explore how Main Street’s imagery continues to influence preservation, planning, and new development today. Participants will gain fresh insight into how this enduring icon continues to shape American identity, urban design, and the future of historic downtowns.

Is your preservation ordinance frozen in time? Pip up your morning and join three local governments (Frederick County, Maryland; Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania; The City of Erie, Pennsylvania) as they talk about their varied experiences re-writing their preservation ordinances to suit their communities’ contemporary needs. Attendees will learn about modernizing ordinances, varied community engagement strategies, politicking, and creating relevancy in an historic preservation program that achieves local goals. Come ready for conversation with the panelists and fellow attendees as we explore best practices and make great expectations achievable.

Preservationists often debate at commission hearings while bigger battles—and opportunities—are happening elsewhere. Historic preservation is impacted by more than preservation-specific laws. Many of the most powerful levers that impact preservation often exist in municipal, state, and federal policies designed for zoning, housing, economic development, climate resilience, and more. This session will explore how tools like landbanks, receivership, building performance standards, and more can advance or undermine preservation goals. Attendees will explore ways to harness these tools to protect heritage and drive local outcomes, positioning preservation as a catalyst for vibrant, resilient, and equitable communities.

Three case studies will explore the role of emerging technologies in documenting historic environments for preservation and analysis.The first focuses on the Fargo–Moorhead area along the Red River of the North, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is implementing the Fargo–Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project. The project will result in the demolition or relocation of several historic properties. To mitigate these impacts, the team is combining traditional documentation—such as architectural recordation and oral histories—with LiDAR scanning and drone photography to capture personal stories and digitally recreate a virtual landscape of places that will be lost.The second and third case studies examine historic buildings in Missouri, demonstrating how LiDAR scanning can document buildings of varying scale, from complex landmarks to modest structures. Presenters will show how point-cloud models can support preservation planning, restoration of missing elements, and structural assessments, while also discussing when professionals can use these tools themselves and when to engage technical specialists.

History is context-based and changes depending on the place, people, and the property. Historic integrity can seem vague and/or rigid, but it is all context-based. Why THIS place and how can we tell? In this session, we will break down how to approach assessment of integrity and discuss tips for articulating your argument. What exactly are the character defining features of a property? What does the latest guidance from the National Park Service say? What approaches have we seen used successfully in the past? How do these decisions apply to real-world projects?Using a worksheet we developed, this session will work through examples with participants. This will include research strategies, navigating integrity, and how it affects actions on a property. We will apply the key features identified in the worksheets to various real-life projects using typical applications our offices encounter and examples from participants. At the end you’ll have a greater understanding of how to apply the aspects of integrity to places that matter to you.

Historic Context Statements (HCS) are a critical tool for identifying and evaluating properties for historical significance. With meaningful community engagement, historic context statements can become living tools for preservation change. Presenters from Minneapolis, MN; Fayetteville, AR; and San Francisco, CA will share their respective experiences with integrating community engagement in the development and application of HCS. Case studies will focus on neighborhood level and citywide historic context statements for underrepresented communities including African American and LGBTQ. Historic preservation gains strength when communities lead the way, and this session highlights collaborative approaches, with an effort on underrepresented voices.

Public history storytelling can be to preservation what wrecking balls are to demolition. Narratives nurture a sense of place, which drives our ideas of historic preservation as a way of building communities. This session will share how public history and preservation are connected, and get you started with research in your own community. How do profiles of people buttress preservation of place? When does multicultural history of a building help as a bulwark for its retention? From walking tours to pbs documentaries to social media, learn how communities have utilized public history narratives to save places.

Women represent over 50% of our population, yet women appear in less than 5% of historic designations at local, state, and national levels. This disparity underscores a critical gap in how the preservation field defines significance, evaluates resources, and memorializes our shared past. Join panelists from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the LA Conservancy, the Lincoln, Nebraska Preservation Planning Department, and Post Oak Preservation Solutions for an interactive discussion about the importance and the practice of documenting women’s history. Panelists will share challenges as well as tools, methodologies, and policies they have used and implemented in documenting women’s history at varying scales and in different parts of the country. Participants will learn about adaptable research strategies, documentation methodologies, policy interventions, and funding opportunities to support a more comprehensive preservation practice that recognizes all aspects of our history.

The modern preservation movement came about because federal projects threatened historic resources. Preservation commissions can use Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act as both an advocacy and a legal tool to make sure local concerns are considered. This session will review the four basic steps of Section 106 and how to build effective coalitions to preserve resources. Specific examples of Section 106 related to larger cultural landscapes, viewsheds and large infrastructure resources along with creative mitigation and litigation approaches from around the country will provide insight on how commissions and staff can strengthen the process

Beginning in the early 1980s, Phil Thomason worked with communities across the country to prepare design guidelines for residential and commercial historic districts. Reviewing the design of new buildings in historic districts has consistently been a challenge for preservation commissions. Phil will look back at the various approaches to approving infill, and how they have evolved over the past four decades. Also presenting will be Melissa Baldock from the Historic Zoning Commission in Nashville, and Beth Johnson, Executive Director of Cincinnati Preservation. Melissa and Beth will present examples of infill projects in their cities and the review process for their approval or denial.

NAPC’s Commission Assistance & Mentoring Program (CAMP) Legal Trainers will lead an interactive discussion on current and emerging legal issues affecting historic preservation commissions. This session invites participants to share real-world legal challenges facing their commissions and explore practical strategies for addressing them.Topics may include economic hardship and affordability concerns; blight, receivership, and eminent domain; affirmative maintenance and demolition by neglect; owner consent provisions; religious liberty considerations; impartial decision-making; due process; compliance with sunshine laws; resilience and climate adaptation projects; and potential de-designation of properties at risk from climate change.

Take your advocacy to the next level by exploring historic preservation at local, state, and federal levels. Dive into real-world case studies — from state legislative initiatives to grassroots campaigns — and learn how to leverage effective advocacy to amplify your preservation mission. Tackle emerging historic preservation challenges as you craft compelling messages for elected officials and diverse stakeholders. A high-level overview of the latest federal policy developments will equip you to move beyond traditional advocacy and expand your reach and impact. You’ll also explore advanced tools, including forming a political action committee, legal action to prevent demolition, and establishing a state historic preservation caucus.

How do you pick out the ranch house where Prince grew up in a sea of other ranch houses? How do you find the field where a new sports form sprang to life? Developing historic contexts early in the preservation planning process is key to successful identification, designation, and stewardship of historic places, especially those considered commonplace, from the recent past, or less visible than high-style architecture. Learn how historians have been researching and celebrating Minnesota’s unique sports and music history through regulatory review processes, grant opportunities, and building relationships with community members and fans.

While many cities have recently developed historic contexts highlighting historically excluded communities, few have focused specifically on American Indian and Indigenous histories. This session spotlights several pioneering city-led projects—including those in Minneapolis and Denver—that are beginning to change that. Panelists will discuss how these efforts document Indigenous connections to place, acknowledge difficult histories, and center traditional knowledge and community voices. Participants will learn how context studies can inform planning, guide designations, and foster collaboration with Tribal Nations and urban Native communities—offering inspiration and practical strategies for other cities seeking to make preservation more inclusive and representative.

Nearly every locality has National Register of Historic Places properties that were listed in the 1960s-1980s. Updating older nominations to today’s standards entails a complete makeover – adjusting boundaries, updating architectural descriptions, expanding historical information about underrepresented communities, and more. Virginia Beach is completing an initiative to update its pre-1990 nominations. The speakers will discuss the rationale for updates and details on the process including costs and funding, and the challenges associated with both technical and substantive issues. Completing such revisions can be complicated but rewarding. Get the basics and include these updates in your community’s preservation and disaster planning initiatives.

Along the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, shared community engagement needs and overlapping project timelines have fostered mutual understanding and amplified cultural narratives. Attendees will get a detailed look into Oheyawahi, Wakan Tipi, and River Learning Center projects and design processes. Sharing lessons learned from one project to another while defining the similarities and remarkability of each site, cultural knowledge, and expression have had a broad reach and impact. These sites have a common cultural thread linking cultural places while celebrating the distinctive nature and purpose of each site as part of Dakota Homelands, setting the stage for future Indigenous leadership.

Focused on the nuances, process, and outcomes of the recently completed Historic Preservation Plan for St. Cloud, Florida, this session will offer an in-depth look at the project’s development and impact. In an interactive format, the City’s Community Development Director, the Main Street Executive Director, and project consultants from Ayres will highlight the plan’s key features, examine the city’s historic and cultural context, and outline implementation strategies. The discussion will also address the plan’s community benefits and its alignment with local aspirations. The project focuses on downtown St. Cloud and includes one of Florida’s oldest and most successful Main Street programs.

This session features three case studies—from Wildwood, Missouri; Russellville, Arkansas; and Fredericksburg, Virginia—that highlight both the challenges and successes of educational outreach in historic preservation. Speakers will focus on the practical logistics of building partnerships with schools and universities while balancing planning and preservation goals.Drawing on experiences working with students ranging from middle school through college, and from novices to experts, presenters will share strategies, lessons learned, and successful approaches for developing programs that engage and inspire the next generation of preservationists.

Historic preservation is often sidelined in political discourse—until it’s too late. This panel brings together successful candidates and grassroots advocates who have made preservation a central issue in political campaigns. Through candid conversation, they’ll share how they framed preservation as a public good, built coalitions, and navigated the political landscape to protect historic places. Whether attendees are considering running for office or want to influence policy from the outside, this session will inspire and equip them to bring preservation to the forefront of civic life.

The Rio Grande Valley is one of the most historically significant borderland regions in the United States, yet its cultural heritage is underrepresented and at constant risk from neglect and developmental pressures. Earlier federal and state preservation efforts, like Los Caminos del Rio, were left unrealized, resulting in a fragmented preservation infrastructure. Now, a new generation is rebuilding that foundation by encouraging local governments to adopt preservation programs and utilize Certified Local Government. Presenters will share their experiences and offer attendees practical strategies to launch similar preservation movements in their own communities.

In 2024 the City of Lake City, Minnesota transferred a Native American burial site to the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC). Concern for the protection of the site, which had come into city ownership, led the Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) to recommend to the City Council that the site be transferred to PIIC. Steps in the process included establishing a relationship with PIIC, and going through administrative and legal steps unique to each government entity. Through the process the HPC came to understand how deeply meaningful ownership of sacred sites is to native communities.

A fundamental requirement of preparedness for disasters and climate-related threats is having ready access to detailed and up-to-date cultural resource inventory and survey data. The session will convey how the open-source Arches Heritage Data Management Platform is being utilized for these purposes by historic preservation organizations and professionals through case studies highlighting how the City of Los Angeles, City and County of San Francisco and the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) are using Arches to inventory historic resources, record impacts to them, and to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and sea level rise.

This presentation highlights emerging efforts to document and preserve deaf and disability histories. Presenters will showcase digital tools like ArcGIS StoryMaps that make these histories more accessible and share how a study of Seattle’s disability activism offers a model for Minnesota initiatives. The presentation will preview a new collaborative project with advocacy organizations to identify key historic sites and conclude with best practices for engaging stakeholders of all abilities. Attendees will leave with strategies to integrate disability heritage into preservation practice and stimulate future initiatives.

Buildings have lifespans. In the U.S., 38% of housing stock and 50% of commercial buildings are at least 50 years old. While adaptive reuse is the gold standard for historic preservation, many old buildings lack the structural integrity necessary for this approach. Many sit vacant until they are inevitably demolished. Deconstruction offers a sustainable alternative, one that respects the historic and material value of old buildings. In this talk, you will learn how deconstruction is a natural ally to preservation, barriers to integrating salvaged materials into new builds, and how to advocate for change.

The Minnesota Modern Registry (MMR) is an undertaking by Docomomo US/MN, led by its developer and creator Bobak Ha'Eri, to document over 10,000 buildings, sites, landscapes, and neighborhoods of the Modern movement in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. This ever-evolving resource distills an immense amount of data, drawn from thousands of sources, into something comprehensible for an audience ranging from researchers, enthusiasts, advocates, property owners, journalists, and those with a casual interest in modernism. Learn how this resource has directed internal organizational programming and research as well as providing support to researchers and organizations across the state.

Intimidated by the thought of developing landscape design guidelines, commissions run the risk of reducing their historic districts to mere collections of historic objects. To some degree this reflects the architectural bias of preservation practice, but in many cases it also reveals a lack of cultural landscape knowledge. Beginning with the catalog of landscape characteristics developed by National Park Service, this session will offer tools for establishing appropriate landscape design guidelines for any historic district. The challenge of establishing guidelines in the context of climate change will be discussed.

Postwar multifamily housing is often pushed to the margins of historic preservation. Nevertheless, the apartment blocks and townhomes that appeared, seemingly overnight, in the postwar landscape reflect complex social shifts in the period.This presentation will explore how multifamily housing in the period, far from being historically marginal, is vital to understanding the fabric of midcentury communities, the government’s role in housing its citizens, and the changing ideas about what makes a “good home” in the postwar era.