I went to listen to Vince Michael speak about sustainability and preserving community Thursday evening. A lot to think about.
A few points:
• He said there are four factors that play into sustainability: environmental, economic, cultural and social.
• It's better environmentally to update old building than to tear them down and build new ones. It's more efficient than hauling old material away and bringing in new stuff.
• The trend has moved from preserving old buildings to preserving communities.
• Sustainability is not just about preserving buildings or landscape but keeping them in use, not museums.
Seems like every time an old building is vacated, someone suggests turning it into a museum. How many historic museums can a city have? Las Cruces wanted to preserve its old railroad depot. It ended up some kind of railroad museum that no one goes to. The old Amador Hotel is being turned into some kind of museum. J. Paul Taylor's home in Mesilla is supposed to become a museum after he dies. Preservation is good, but it would be nice if the building were more sustainable.
I think NMSU is better at sustainability than the city. The old YMCA building, built in 1909, was once nearly unsalvageable. But today is the Honors Center. The original president's home is today used as the Center for Latin American Studies. Williams gym, where the Aggies played basketball before the Pan Am Center was built was turned into the Art Department.
• Historical districts are a kind of community planning – the community deciding what it wants to be – what is worth keeping.
• Sometimes a community means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's not just a few select buildings that are worth preserving. It's the whole area.
• Historical districts were a reaction to urban renewal.
• A community is an organized sense of place. Democracy of built environment.
Examples of preserving communities: the old Alameda district, downtown Main Street and the Mesquite district.
• Georgetown was one of the first historic districts that wasn't about tourism. It was a community deciding it has the right to be beautiful.
• National Heritage Areas were developed as a way to preserve special areas. They are locally driven and not owned by the federal government.
• There are 40 plus National Heritage Areas in the U.S.
• NHAs involve four factors: historic preservation, natural beauty, recreation/tourism and economic development.
• Authenticity can't be re-created. If an old building is torn down. Rebuilding a duplicate doesn't work. It's not authentic. You can't fake authenticity.
I'm reminded of the log cabin that was erected in Las Cruces for the nation's bicentennial or something like that. I don't know whose bright idea that was. But it was moved here from the mountains a hundred miles away. There were never any log cabins in Las Cruces. I never got the connection.
I saw new city councilor Greg Smith at the Vince Michael talk, which I was glad to see. It would be nice if other city leaders could have heard the message.
Something that bothers me about Las Cruces is it is growing so fast, it is losing the sense of community. When I drive along Sonoma Ranch Blvd, I regret the loss of open space and wonder what these neighborhoods will be like when they are no longer brand new. Will there be anything worth preserving? Will we regret filling up our open spaces with ticky-tack houses? But it's hard to get elected on a no-growth platform.
