 Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon Denver. Some of you will know I'm from Los Angeles. I'm from California And it usually takes about six weeks to even begin to believe or figure out that the seasons are changing And I see in Denver here. It takes about six hours. So it's quite impressive But as chair of the National Trust Board of Trustees I'm delighted to welcome you here to this opening plenary session of Passed forward the National Preservation Conference here in Denver, Colorado as ever It is great to fly across the country to arrive in a new city to find the present preservation community enthusiastically assembled in one place to take on its important and essential work I'm delighted to be with you all here Denver has its own unique story and we are honored that some of its influential leaders are here and will Be here on the stage later this evening to share this story with us This evening you'll also witness the decades of dedicated preservation work at the historic Denver Union station I hope you'll be inspired to see how this historic landmark has been transformed into an award-winning transportation hub and cultural center in the low-dough neighborhood as You explore this week you will note Denver is a fast-changing city By a show of applause now, how many of you were in attendance here in 2003 the last time we held the conference at Denver? I was there as well and you can see the change here is palpable Denver has evolved since then an historic preservation Once again has been an instrumental strategy for making it the healthy sustainable and thriving city that it is From historic tax credit projects that provide affordable housing To recognition and celebration of the diversity of history of the city Denver is leading the way and is a perfect venue for the nation's preservation community to gather this week Successful preservation work extends well beyond the boundaries of Denver though Colorado has a very strong preservation ethic statewide as Demonstrated by the most highly attended state preservation conference in the United States through power sessions Learning labs field studies and intensive trainings We will learn from our friends and partners in Denver and around Colorado About innovative tools and approaches they are using to advance preservation goals in saving urban areas and revitalizing small communities two of our themes for the conference We will also get a chance to compare notes on our work from coast to coast on key topics that all of us here face affordable housing equity Development pressures climate change and fostering an inclusive preservation movement and On Saturday, we'll have a special focus on celebrating women's history Which will mark the beginning of an exciting multi-year initiative Now none of this happens without the generous and innovative sponsors who make past forward 2019 possible The conference is generously supported in part by a history Colorado State historical fund grant In addition generous support has been provided by our long-serving partners and friends from American Express and the treehouse foundation The field of preservation benefits mightily from their support. So please give all of our supporters a round of applause Now is as is our custom. Let me call to order the annual membership meeting of the National Trust for historic preservation As many of you know this opening plenary of Pass-forward also serves as the annual meeting of members with the sole order of business being the election of trustees To the board of trustees for the National Trust a Dedicated and hard-working group of volunteers who come from every corner of the nation The National Trust Board is made up of a remarkably talented and committed group of individuals Who serve not only the trust but like you serve preservation in their own communities and the preservation movement writ large The slate of trustees presented by the trustee and governance committee for 2019 includes only Current trustees proposed for the reelection for reelection after completing their first and second terms Given that the National Trust was in a transition for the past year as we selected our next President and CEO The trustee and governance committee determined that it was not the right time to nominate new individuals For an initial three-year term The committee is now at work identifying new candidates to stand for election in 2020 and They will be presented to you in Miami when we're all together there next year Therefore it is my pleasure to present the 2019 slate Nominated for a second three-year term Jay Clemens of Hillsborough, California for a third three-year term Louise Oyos of Pomona, California and Martha Nelson of New York, New York Also three current ex officio representatives are nominated to have their existing two-year terms extended for one additional year they are Gene Follett representative of the National Trust advisors Donna Coulson representative of the Historic Sites Advisory Councils and Boards and Kirk Huffacre representative of the statewide and local partners Detailed biographical information on each of these individuals has been shared with you online at present at SavingPlaces.org At this time it gives me great pleasure to present the slate of nominees for election as trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation I now ask for approval of the slate by acclamation as indicated by your applause Thank you all very much Let me now turn things over to the National Trust's new president and chief executive officer Paul Edmondson As I shared with you as I shared with many of you this summer I could not be more pleased with the appointment of Paul as our next president Paul is a person of great integrity and a preservationist of the first order Before taking on the role of president earlier this summer Paul served for many years as the National Trust's general counsel and chief legal officer In that capacity his work to champion the strong enforcement and interpretation of preservation laws To find effective solutions to complex preservation controversies and to support the work of colleagues and partners across the country His knowledge of the challenges and opportunities for the preservation movement come from decades of his personal engagement in preservation I am delighted that someone with such deep experience, commitment and integrity is leading the National Trust Please join me in welcoming the National Trust's ninth president Paul Edmondson Thank you, Tim Good afternoon Welcome to Denver and welcome to pass forward the National Preservation Conference First let me thank you for being here You are what makes the preservation movement what it is a vibrant community of people dedicated to saving places that matter In our cities, on our main streets, in our small towns and across the countryside I'm fortunate to count all of you as colleagues in this important work And that's why I'm really honored to serve as the ninth president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation As Tim mentioned earlier this year, I was asked by our board to serve as the interim president of the National Trust And I told Tim at the time that it felt like I had been handed the keys to the family station wagon with the main responsibility just to keep the car on the road With my move from interim president to actual president, my responsibilities are not just to steer the station wagon but also to navigate the trip forward And as with any family road trip that I've taken, I'm finding that there are lots of backseat drivers They have many different views about the correct way forward as well as some with strong opinions about wrong turns we may have made in the past But I really welcome hearing from all members of the preservation family as we continue on this journey together This afternoon by way of introducing myself and talking about my priorities for the National Trust In my hopes for the preservation movement, I want to highlight three themes that I think have defined my career at the trust And I want to do so because I see those same themes as key to the success of the organization and to the success of the preservation movement The first theme I want to touch on is the power of preservation advocacy And considering my background as a longtime preservation lawyer at the National Trust, this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone As many of you know, I've worked at the trust for more than three decades All of that time spent in our law division which has a national reputation for effective advocacy Let me start by saying at the outset that preservation is often rightly criticized as the movement of no and I'll talk about that further in a minute But there are times when one simply has to say no Stand up and say no My views about advocacy is an essential tool for preservation were established fairly early in my career In 1993 the Walt Disney Corporation announced plans to create Disney's America A massive history-based theme park in the virginia countryside ironically in an area that was itself quite historically significant And a coalition of organizations Including the National Trust joined forces and together we convinced one of the nation's largest and most powerful corporations to change its mind Litigation in that case was not the driving force. What really changed Disney's mind was the attitude of the public By showing the deep and layered significance of this place and reminding the public that this would be lost forever We were able to bring together powerful new voices for preservation The trust has continued to be engaged in this type of advocacy throughout my career. And in fact just last month Together with a local preservation organization friends of the Frank J. Woods bridge and a national partner the historic bridge foundation We filed suit to prevent demolition of this beautiful 87 year old steel trust bridge between the towns of Brunswick and Toppsham, Maine State and federal highway agencies are seeking to justify a new modern bridge by using questionable cost estimates When it would make better sense simply to repair the historic bridge And as with many preservation battles over the years a dedicated group of community members Is partnering with us to take on this battle not only in federal court, but also in the court of public opinion They're engaged in fighting back because this is about saving something that enriches the quality of their lives And defines their shared identity We're honored to join them in this At a much larger scale 500 miles from where we are this afternoon is the bearers ears national monument A highly significant and sacred cultural landscape representing more than 12 000 years of human history And originally totaling almost 1.4 million acres Nine native american nations have ties to bears ears and tribes still return to the twin buttes to connect with their ancestors This largely undeveloped area is filled with cultural and natural resources Which is why it was designated as a national monument by president obama in 2009 Yet in 2017 the current administration reduced that designation by 85 percent a reduction that is unprecedented in the history of us national monuments The national trust is working with the bears ears Intertribal coalition together with a host of conservation groups to fight this reduction That would leave the areas cultural sites at risk from a variety of land use activities as well as by looting and vandalism I began my career in preservation not as a lawyer, but as an archaeologist So I I have a firsthand idea of what's at stake at bears ears And why it is so important that we fight to protect this special place My last advocacy example also still pending Is another david and goliath battle in which we're taking on one of the most powerful energy corporations in the country There are few places as central to our complex american story as jamestown virginia Which is not only the place where our american experiment in democracy began But also the place where the roots of slavery first took hold in north america And the lower james river is a cultural landscape that is steeped in native american history as well But today this cultural landscape is marred by 17 electric transmission towers constructed by dominion energy Reaching heights nearly as tall as a 30 story building Dominion constructed them quickly under a permit unlawfully granted by the us army corps of engineers Why do I say unlawfully? We know that because in partnership with preservation virginia. We took them to federal court and that's what the court said The corps of engineers was instructed to go back to the drawing board and explore other options And the fact studies have shown that there are other ways to bring reliable affordable energy to dominion customers Without sacrificing this important part of american history Advocacy to save historic places has been a core part of the preservation movement since its start And most state and local preservation organizations have their origin stories That derive from specific fights that they have taken on over the years From new york's penn station to larimer square here in denver to countless other examples across america Some of those battles have been lost but many have been won But ultimately we aren't will if we aren't willing to join together To fight for these special places We aren't doing our jobs as preservationists and the public will never understand the value of what we want to preserve Unless we're willing to stand up and fight for it The second theme I want to talk about this afternoon is innovation And as I do let me come back to that issue of preservation as the movement of no As important as it is to fight for endangered places It's also essential to bring creative solutions to preservation challenges And the broader preservation community agrees In a recent survey conducted by our preservation division 85 percent of those who responded Agreed that greater innovation is needed in preservation practice That innovation can take many forms For example For example Developing grassroots solutions has been the goal of an important planning effort in miami's little havana A densely populated neighborhood that is home to immigrants from cuba South and central america and other parts of the caribbean Little havana is distinguished by its tree-lined streets with small apartment buildings bungalows and mom-and-pop stores But the neighborhood the neighborhoods under intense pressure To develop like the adjacent areas of high-rise development or high-rise offices and apartments Although known locally and nationally as an iconic historic place Little havana is also a dynamic urban neighborhood Whose residents face a range of challenges and threats Including poverty substandard housing displacement poor transportation options and insufficient open space To address these issues we worked in partnership with civic and nonprofit groups from the fields of public health historic preservation architectural design and urban planning to create the little havana ma'am part the revitalization plan Developed over the course of more than two years and with the input of more than 2700 residents and stakeholders The plan relies on increasing incentives for preservation Reducing barriers to small-scale infill development and respecting the existing heritage of little havana I describe it as an informed grassroots approach to planning Rather than a traditional top-down regulatory approach and that's a big change from the usual practice Now let me go from the community level to talk about individual historic sites Historic sites are a vitally important part of preservation And it's also important that we bring innovation to how we operate those properties Embracing their multi-layered stories and engaging new audiences with that history through completely new approaches Over the past six years one of the most rewarding projects that i've had the opportunity To work on has been to help reinvent cooper malera adobe a national trust historic site in monterey california The city of monterey is actually 80 years older than the state of california And it was an important part of mexico is the capital of the sprawling alter california province until 1846 Cooper malera adobe is a two and a half acre property located in the heart of moderates national historic landmark district And it includes two adobe residences Two adobe commercial buildings and a distinctive pair of historic redwood barns all surrounded by an adobe wall Cooper malera has been a national trust historic site since the 1980s And it was operated for many years on our behalf by california state parks Several years ago state parks let us know that they could not continue to operate the site They had no endowment So we took the opportunity to work with partners in the for-profit sector to develop a new operating model We call that model shared use Shared use because the property now includes both museum spaces and businesses All sharing the site in its beautiful gardens and all collaborating to tell the stories of the properties rich history Today national trust staff members operate the two adobe residences where we ignore all the rules of historic house museums There's no admission Visitors are encouraged to sit on the historic furniture or play the historic piano All the exhibits are bilingual And we mix period art with contemporary art from local partners The barns at cooper malera have been transformed into a beautiful and profitable event center Historic buildings on the site are also home to a restaurant and a bakery And a portion of the revenue from those businesses supports preservation and museum operations But shared use is so much more than simply bringing businesses onto a historic property At all to bakery named for the mexican province The cooper families historic cattle brands hang on the wall And are featured in their chocolates in their breads And even the latte art Now let's hear from ben spongin from the alta bakery Who will tell you a little bit about their operations and what it means to him to be a part of cooper malera The vision for alta is to be open in the day for the community on this beautiful property So the cooper malera adobe is a two and a half acre beautiful historic property in downtown monterey We'd like to be a part of the community here We want to be open for the public We want to create things that are beautiful and organic and natural Our menu is seasonal We like to think that we start with one foot in the garden and one foot in the kitchen We want everything to be very fresh and natural And we hope people enjoy it The national trust who owns the property here Has entrusted us with caring for the corner store Which used to be a bakery in the 1860s called the pioneer bakery Do want to bring the bakery back and create alta bakery For the community of monterey I just want the alta baker to be known as a place that people can come and have a great soup a really great pizza a beautiful bread A glass of wine and hang out with their friends and family I think the alta bakery couldn't be what alta bakery is Without being at the cooper malera adobe and we love it here And they produce this video on their own without even telling us about it It's fantastic The shared use model is bringing new audiences to hear the stories of cooper malera People who would never have come to visit a house museum Making it a part of their daily lives Together with the community of monterey We've opened the next chapter of the history of cooper malera Offering a solution for historic sites and house museums around the country as they work to sustain themselves both culturally and financially Innovations at cooper malera would not have been possible without partnerships, which is my third and final theme At cooper malera our success was tied to an unexpected partnership with a shopping center developer And we had to build trust with local preservation groups who initially opposed our plans But who later became some of our strongest allies To give another example of effective partnerships this summer I visited an incredible place that's being preserved by a committed group Of local partners that we are proud to support through our african-american cultural heritage action fund God's little acre in newport rhod island is our country's oldest african burial ground A cultural landscape rich in both the stories of the individual people buried there and the broader narrative of american history The passage of more than three centuries together with simple neglect have resulted in the loss of many headstones and damage to many others But a group of individuals and organizations from across newport have banded together to make sure that this place And its stories are preserved and shared Earlier this year we were honored to support them with a $50,000 grant from the action fund And during my visit I learned that our grant will triple the number of headstones that will be restored over the next two years Let's hear from keith stokes a former national trust advisor who leads this work on why it is so important So as early as 1650 Newport had a burial place where anyone regardless of race or class or ethnicity could be buried By 1705 The northwest section of this burying ground were starting to see enslaved africans buried there And over the next 100 years Hundreds and hundreds of markers and hundreds and hundreds of burials are being made at that burying ground We believe there were at least 3 000 burials during the life cycle of that burying ground Stokes and his family are descendants of some of the first africans brought to the new world aboard the sea flower The first documented slave ship to arrive in rhodi island in 1696 My own family is buried here But more importantly it's a sense of African identity. I mean this is a place where men and women of african descent Actually lived in this community and were buried here and it gives me a direct connectivity to the history of my own community Today less than 300 grave markers of early africans and later african americans have survived in this cemetery Stokes is trying to preserve those remaining while chronicling fascinating life stories of people like duchess camino She's enslaved in the household of william ellery chanting william ellery chanting grows up to become one of the early founders of the unitarian church in america William ellery chanting talks about the fact that his abolition of slavery Comes from growing up and being cared for by this duchess camino He actually etches on her marker her epitaph which says she's one of the most pious industrious black women But most importantly duchess camino wins her freedom by selling pastry cakes in newport She later becomes the pastry queen of rhodi island and becomes quite wealthy And she purchases the freedom of herself and her remaining children Through the african-american cultural heritage action fund We've given away 2.7 million dollars over the past two years To support bricks and mortar projects interpretation and organizational development This program was funded was created with new funding partners and it's allowed the national trust to seed new partnerships With other organizations across the country who are engaged in this important work Of interpreting and preserving african-american culture and history These kinds of multifaceted partnerships are critical to the work of the national trust and critical to the field of preservation To give another example our national fund for sacred places is a 20 million dollar grant fund supported by the lily endowment It brings together our expertise with that of our long-term allies at partners for sacred places The only national organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and active community use of older sacred places Each year more than 6,000 houses of worship close many of them local landmarks Those closures don't just affect individual individual congregations Or individual buildings They also affect the social service and community groups that use those buildings and that serve their communities Together with partners for sacred places. We're doing something about this The national trust provides capital grants and technical expertise to help restore and preserve historic churches Synagogues and other places of worship while partners for sacred places advances the organizational development of those same congregations Together our impacts on the long-term preservation of those places is greater than if we did this work alone As I hope these these examples illustrate preservation just doesn't work without partnerships That includes state and local preservation organizations now well represented by the national preservation partners network As well as other emerging and established preservation organizations and allies in related fields The bottom line is that preservation is something that we do together and something that brings us together And I think everyone here understands this since that's the way you work every day to save places that matter But I want you to know that strong partnerships are both a goal and a value of the national trust In the coming year you'll see the national trust continuing the work that I've described this afternoon But also with new efforts to expand our impacts and our supporters These will include a campaign to elevate the stories and preserve the places Related to women's history as we mark the centennial of women's suffrage in the united states To start with the support of american express We've just launched this year's partners in preservation campaign This program will provide grants totaling two million dollars to sites where women made history Identified for us by our field staff and our colleagues at main street america I want to encourage each of you to go online to vote your main street dot org to help select the winners We will also be conducting a lobbying campaign In close collaboration with the national trust community investment corporation and the historic tax credit coalition To expand improve historic tax credits at the state and federal levels And we will be working with community leaders business and property owners And other neighborhood stakeholders to identify solutions to improve equity and address displacement in historically african american neighborhoods We will do all of this in partnership With valued allies across the country who will do this as advocates But at the same time seeking innovative solutions To keep historic places of all kinds vibrant and protected cherished and beautiful inclusive and sustainable So thank you for being here at pass forward Thank you for being part of the preservation movement And thank you for saving the places to tell our shared stories And that bring us together Thank you all Dana Crawford has been rehabilitating historic buildings to make attractive and vibrant spaces for people She's making fun of you i'm sorry She's cutting up again all I can tell you is Those of you who don't know dana are going to have an opportunity to see what a Fun character that she is And our own denver treasurer Has been uh saving places for people since 1964 her pioneering work in the 1960s to rescue the 1400 block of larimer street From the bulldozers of urban renewal won her national recognition By demonstrating that preservation was not only good for the soul, but also good for the wallet eventually Whether renovating and reopening the oxford hotel in lower downtown or creating luxury housing in an old flour mill Near the train tracks or turning union station into denver's living room Dana has always been ahead of the curve Seeing the potential where others only saw catastrophe Dana's groundbreaking work in preservation was recognized in 1995 by the national trust. I interrupt you I'm almost done. Are you well, but I just wanted to say that you know You're saying such really nice things and I appreciate it But you know the truth of it is that most people thought I was just crazy We gave her the crown and shield award for her being so crazy and being so successful So dana when you were buying up and fixing a bunch of derelict buildings as you just said most people at denver thought you were nuts It's true So compare the challenges you face then And then what it's like today because dana continues to be a preservation developer in denver and around the state And getting these projects financed and approved What has changed since the 1960s and what is still the same? Well, what is still the same is That I grew up in a family in kansas and My name is dana and I'm part of a dana family that came here very early on to the united states and very very proud And people always want to know well, how did you get possessed by this idea? and Sometimes those people that said I was crazy might have something to really talk about But you know, I was brought up by a mother that said you never talked about money That was really tacky and All I talk about is money Because i'm in the real estate business And for a while I said I was a preservationist and then I said I found out that that wasn't extremely popular. Then I said I was a developer I found out that's really unpopular Then I said I was a civic Entrepreneur that has a kind of a nice feel to it And then lately I've been a place maker And I do believe that placemaking and preservation are In partnership big-time partnership About the future of america and certainly here in colorado. We have we have begun to learn to combine those two Activities and become involved nationally also So a lot of it's still the same but a lot of it's more difficult because We now have things that are really really important like ADA like asbestos Like lead-based paint And we probably can add a few more that really adds substantially to the cost And responsibility that we have in trying to Create wonderful places where people want to be And we we really didn't have those challenges Nor nor did I think too much about them when we were doing Larimer Square I was thinking about how to Make it look like it was more developed than it really was So that more people would come there It was the old skid row and a lot of people said no one will ever go to Larimer Street because you know Those people are there So So we what we did was we painted shades on the upper windows And we put we went to the 10 cent store and got fringe and a real pull To make it look like somebody was up there And so, you know lots of smoke and mirrors and I think that's still kind of true because Although preservation has made a huge amount of progress And I I thought paul your presentation was just thrilling Um There's still a long way to go And we and denver have found out that you know, we thought larimer square was in such great shape and was really part of our community and And and then new developers came along and wanted to do some demolition here and Build a 40 story building here on top of an historic building And a 20 story building on the other side of the street on top of an historic building And you know I just blew a gasket And a lot of other people did too. I mean there's been an uprising So that means that the the fact that because of the gentleman to my left, you're right We we have a strong preservation ethic in this town But You you just have to keep working Right. Yeah, right. Absolutely. Yes I think the One of the messages for me and and I know many of you've heard me say this over and over again is is preservation is something You have to renew it has to be done over and over again It's not it's not a one-time thing and this is what we're experiencing with lower down with larimer square You know danis saved it from the wrecking ball in the 1960s and now we need to defend it because of some proposals that might Very much cost us the historic buildings in the historic character in the historic scale Which was so important in the protection of larimer scurril speaking of historic scale Federico peña became denver's first Hispanic mayor In 1983 with a strong grassroot support from the denver neighborhoods And armed with a vision to imagine a great city Maripena immediately went to work crafting a new plan for downtown denver one that for the first time Recognized a denver's collection of turn of the century warehouses and factories around union station were worthy of preservation So during his second term as mayor the city passed a new ordinance That provided for the protection of the historic character and the historic scale of lower downtown As mayor he funded the construction of a new airport Built a new convention center brought major league baseball to denver But the preservation of denver's historic buildings remained a passion And during his terms in office. He created 33 historic districts and designated 350 individual landmarks Peña left denver in 1993 to become secretary of transportation And then secretary of energy under president bill plitton returning to denver in 1998 And today he's a senior advisor at the colorado impact fund secretary peña you ran For the office with this slogan imagine a great city and under your leadership The downtown area plan called for the protection of lower downtown At the time lodo had incentives to encourage reinvestment But did not have protective zoning and as a result 50 percent of it was demolished and were parking lots surface parking lots The lower downtown district when it was proposed in 1988 Had the support of only two property owners And yet a past city council I was there at 2 a.m. In the morning when a past city council and we weren't sure we had the votes Today in denver and other cities across the country ordinances and political expectations often asked for large majorities of owners to approve designation Before it can be considered and approved Why was it important then and why is it important now for city governments to have the tools and the authority to make these decisions Even when in the moment property owner views are contrary Well, first of all, let me say it's a delight to be next to the queen of Preservation in denver She has an international reputation give her another round of applause because She's very humble And she was Way ahead of all of us and this distinguished gentleman to my left Served for a mayor for 12 years and was responsible for a lot of the development in downtown and throughout the city So it's a pleasure to be with both of them But let me answer your question very directly and put it a little bit of context So back in 1983 And 84 this community went into a horrible recession It was one of the worst recessions in the history of the state And so a lot of people who owned land in downtown in particular Thought the only way they could survive financially was to tear down these old buildings You saved yours, but behind you in what we call lodo the lower downtown historic district The buildings were being demolished and turned into parking lots because they felt that was the only way they could survive financially And thanks to you by the way of the national trust in historic denver Who came to my administration and said listen, we've got to stop this. We're losing the history of the city We decided to pass An ordinance creating lower downtown a historic district And by the way, if you haven't had an opportunity to experience it with the snow, hopefully tomorrow He'll be able to appreciate a little more But it created a historic district with 23 blocks We saved 170 historic buildings and yes, most of the property owners were against it We convinced She said that I didn't say I was one of them that wasn't against it at any rate Fast forward We passed the city ordinance Making it almost impossible for people to knock down their buildings and it passed by one voted two o'clock in the morning Proper donies were very upset that they were going to sue. They challenged members of city council. Everybody was threatened politically But we try to convince property owners that if they created a special place over time It would become more valuable And it was very difficult in a recession When you're going broke And you're a property owner to understand that and to believe In some mayor or some city government telling you to hang on This will be better But thankfully we did have the power and authority To pass the ordinance at a time of great conflict now today I would encourage you not to do that It is far better To work with the property owners and try to get as many as possible to be supported But at the end of the day If you're a civic leader you have to think about the broader picture What is best for the entire city? What is best for the community? And there are times when you have to tell Property owners and business people. I'm sorry, but we're going to proceed Because we have a long-term vision for the city and that's what we did And so today when you walk down through lower downtown, you will see some of the highest property values in the state You will see a transformed city with all sorts of amenities And they and I think they said we were crazy back then too But today I think most people were here though. It was the right thing to do So I want to encourage all of you to think about the future To do the advocacy that you talked about to convince people that you have to take the long-term view And to think about what is best interests of the entire community So preservation is not a taking it's a giving And certainly John Hickenlooper who was our former mayor after Mayor Webb, and then he was our former governor And now we'll see if he's our Well, he's running I think for the senate So we'll see how that goes But he likes to tell the story when he bought the Wincoup Brewing Company He spent he paid six dollars a square foot and some years after the designation of the district It was over six hundred dollars a square foot and I'm sure it's worth more than that today So I do think that we had to make a lot of promises to the city council that night We said we had to say we'd come back in two years with these economic benefit studies to show That this promise that we were making these promises we were making to them would come true And we all nodded. Yep. Yep. We can do that and then we walked out and said how are we going to do that? But in fact it was true and if I could add something we said to the property owners We want to give something back to you It's not just giving so we invested in new historic sidewalks and street lighting and other investments And we also created a special office in lower downtown called the Lotto office Which was to help property owners find ways and unique ways to redevelop their properties to find loans and financing for development So we partnered and we made investments to make it easier for those property owners in a transition period Until property values started to rise the economy got stronger and then the whole community Exploded in growth. I believe you took the rest of the skyline urban renewal money The national trust had revolving, you know had loan funds in those days and we and then historic Denver managed those for us To do just like what you said to create the incentives to give to the property owners to encourage them to reinvest in those buildings Edward Glofts was one of your projects. It was a first loft project down lower downtown and the city helped Because they Were willing to underwrite second mortgages and it was a condominium project And of course the friendly local banks how many bankers out there I always ask that at the national trust meeting there have been two or three in in what my 50 years But anyway the bankers always used to say no to me No, now they like me better. They say no, thank you But the but the city helped on the housing because I really believed in housing Nobody else really believed in it But because the city expressed support it helped and people began to buy the condominiums and then We did one really successful project and then of course everybody else jumped on the bandwagon But wellington was really one of the great great proponents of people living downtown and he he understood and I can't tell you how many times he helped and I'd have to call him up and I'd say well I've got a big problem again. Well, let's have breakfast And by the about the next day it was soft So that's a lovely site. She did not use that little soft voice Which one of you was the one that said I don't care what she wants just give it to her and get her out of here Wellington web became denver's first african-american mayor in 1991 after serving in the colorado legislature as regional director for the u.s. Department of health education and welfare And serving in the governor lamb's cabinet as executive director of regulatory agencies and his denver auditor as mayor secretary Pena figured out how to finance the new airport the mayor web built it The main priorities for his administration were parks open space public safety Economic development and children But like his predecessor mayor web understood both the economic and the intrinsic value of denver's older and historic buildings During his administration in 2002 denver designated 43 historic commercial buildings in the central business district as the downtown historic district Or as we've come to call it denver's chocolate chip cookie district because we were saving the chips and not the dough The designation included the prohibition of demolition So in exchange for winning this this time we took the good advice Of the same advice we just got from Secretary painter that we did meet with all the property owners We always met with a preservation person to explain the zoning and then with somebody they trusted because they always said Is this a good idea? Should I do this and then that trusted person would say yes You should do this We never put them in the room together to let them scare each other with questions that we thought maybe there weren't going to be good answers to And we had support from all the property owners except for two who owned two slivers of land under the paramount theater And the city agreed to return denver's portion of their property taxes as a new special incentive in in exchange for this support And mayor web, why do you think it's important for cities in this country to support policies that protect their historic buildings downtown And how did your goal to encourage housing help make downtown into more of a neighborhood? Well, let me let me begin by saying that It's it's always good to be in front of an audience with so many city advocates those of Advocates for historic preservation In order to have a thriving downtown you have to have people living downtown I mean, I think that makes a lot of common sense, but Let me share with you a couple of opinionated values that I have first Historically, I see the 18th century as a city of Empires the 19th century as a city of nation states in the 20th century is really a century of cities And for those cities to thrive Public policymakers have to have a vision That includes what they perceive as downtown to look like If you avoid downtown that means you have someone visiting your home and you're going to avoid them visiting You want to make sure that they have a comfortable state and so for us That whole emphasis on historic preservation to me that's part of what That's the part of the soul of a city Using a metaphor it's like not appreciating the the tranquility of mone or The vocal range of Whitney Houston or the clarity of Ella Fitzgerald It's what makes cities unique and different is that that's part of the soul of any city And for especially for western cities You have to have for us Unlike on the east coast, you know, we're 150 160 years old So we can't talk about you know, Jamestown and Fort Monroe 1619 1620 because we're fairly new and if we're tearing down Older buildings and lofts and warehouses. We have no history to preserve So it's important for us to preserve the history that we do Let me also just share a quick story about a little quiet lady developer placemaker Banker person That's to my right. She called me one day and she had moved into the flour mill And the fire department was giving her problems because she said They won't give her a permit because they can't make it around the circle So she called and said Staff says you're going to talk to Dana. I said, of course, I'm going to talk to Dana Who's not going to talk to Dana? If you don't talk to Dana today, you're going to have to deal with it tomorrow So so so let's talk to her today and she says well the fire department says they can't get their truck around Why can't they back the damn thing up? So I call the fire chief and ask him why can't you back the damn truck up? And uh, Dana got a permit they fired Fire department backs trucks up when they go to the flour mill now if they can't get all the way around the circle It's amazing. They can make it around. Yes So I I I think a story of preservation It has to be part of the vision and those of you that are advocates for the cities Have to be those that also make policy makers understand and elected officials understand how important it is that We want people to live downtown We have to provide housing for them downtown and then we have to preserve Downtown And we have to preserve downtowns and the character of what makes it unique not any town usa And each city has a uniqueness about it Now, you know, I have some concerns about some of the development that's going on in denver now because I believe one of the uniqueness unique features of denver is our view of the mountains And now we have people building A wanting to build 36 story 40 story Buildings which would block that view and you know, we have Times changed much more complimentary younger elected officials They never brought that to me because they knew they would get a permit Permits got lost in the shuffle. I mean it's illegal to not give a permit, but they just happen to get displaced A lot of ghost working government And I think at the same time that parks and open space are also an intricate part Of downtown and neighborhoods. We want to preserve neighborhood character. I mean you go to charleston you feel it You go to savannah you feel it Brooklyn you feel it you come to denver. We want you to have The same feelings about denver is a is a city of neighborhoods and downtown is an important is an important part of that And so our goal was to get people to buy into the vision That they can make Downtown work And it will work with adding housing Let me share one other piece And if the chairman will forgive me for a minute Since all these people are here we have two great black institutions in denver I want to make sure people know about them a black american west is one And then blare carwell african-american research library and for those of you from new york and the east coast You're familiar with the schaumburg So this is similar to the schaumburg library except it focuses in on the western part of the united states So while you're here visiting you might want to make sure that you see both of those Both of those institutions And i'll just put in a plug that um Mayor web doesn't know but the Dr. Justina fordhouse, which is also the home of the black american west museum is one of the Sites competing for the american express Funding which paul talked about i don't know that but i think somebody If you go on the website you could vote five times a day So you might uh, you might honor the city of denver with your vote for the justina fordhouse I think that it also would be of great value if wellington told you about how he was elected mayor Because you know I can remember going to date in ohio one time and they said finally we have a pro preservation Mayor and all of our council people are pro preservation And they said we got together and figured out that we had kind of seven different key neighborhoods And we picked out our people And they won now wellington had a little bit of a different approach. He had a very very strong candidate That he and and will my web There's always a good gal and there you go and um both fed rico and i have very strong independent wives And uh, anyway, but could could you just briefly tell me these aren't the shoes but Your sneakers. Well the short version is I ran out of money when I was running for mayor and so, um We decided You can laugh it's okay. Sorry Running out of money sometimes because it's a good thing because you then you get more creative So we decided to walk the city Uh, this was before gps and before tennis shoes were popular, which is not it's fairly popular So my staff said we want you to walk the city and I said that's not new A lot of childs in florida walk florida dan walker in illinois walked Dick lamb in colorado walk. They said but you're gonna walk You're never going home You're gonna stay in a different home each night that you're walking And so for 43 days and 43 nights I stayed in 43 different homes Started on one end of the city and walked and I never got in a car for 43 days anything with wheels on it and so I went uh From a lower percentage to uh Winning fairly comfortably Because everybody felt sorry for this guy He's just still walking and we love for it to snow a rain because that's a good tv coverage I've got a question. I'd like you all to to think about because it's it's really relevant to conversations that we're having today I was with the um, um State and local preservation groups earlier today and this came up as it is a as a key concern The mayor of every major city is worried about affordable housing And some have blamed historic preservation policies as creating a barrier to the development of affordable housing And they suggested it's a simple supply and demand problem You just build more housing even if it's luxury rates and somehow you'll end up with affordable housing build more housing Do you see preservation as a problem or could it be a solution to ensuring more housing units are affordable in historic buildings? For example Well, I think it's a solution in fact today. I had a conversation with of one of the executives of the Denver housing authority here in town, which is in charge of Implementing the bond program that Denver just passed for providing affordable housing And they were telling me that they've done two historic buildings that they have transformed into one was for Low-income individuals and others are people who are homeless And I said, well, how did you do it? And they said well, it was it was a little challenging There are some new regulations. ADA you mentioned earlier You've got to make a few more investments here and there But you get additional tax credits because the additional costs go into the base Of your expenditures So you've got credits and grants and other things that more than compensate Or the additional expenditures the bottom line. They said is it can be done You can take a historic structure Building converted into low-income or moderate Housing and there are lots of people who would love to live In a historic building rather than some of these skyscrapers we have in town And so the answer is if you just work it And find a way to be creative and work with partners, you can do these things So I think it's actually an advantage an asset and to those who say that historic structures and preservation Are impediments to low-income housing I say it will come to Denver and look at some a few examples that have worked now Have we done everything? Well, no, there are things we have to do much much better Is it a challenge for every city in the country? Yes, but please don't blame it On historic preservation and don't blame it on historic buildings Perhaps blame it on the fact that when cities Give permission for builders to build and they make a commitment to have a certain amount of low-income housing And they don't do it. They have the option to then pay a fee In lieu of making their commitment that goes into a housing fund But the housing doesn't get built. So we have to put in stronger restrictions More limitations more requirements to make sure the developers have a win-win Win for themselves and win for the broader community and that just takes some guts Some involvement and working it until you get it done, but don't blame it on historic preservation Yeah, I agree with that 100 I think that If you don't force the private sector to do it, they're not going to do it The government has to make sure that they are restrictions to allow the private sector developers to I'm also Baptist. Get a revelation This is good business practice for them And that they can still make money at the same time I was fortunate in that I think for the 12 years I was mayor I had the best director planning in the country Jennifer molten She was the former president of historic Denver and she chaired my planning committee And I told her I wanted to be the director of planning for the city And she had to call me between five and six the next day And I took the phone off the hook Because I told her if if I didn't hear from her that meant she accepted the job So by virtue of following off the hook I knew she'd accept she had accepted the job but having someone There was an architect and former president of historic Denver Also gave me a extra hand in terms of working with both Preservationists as well as with developers in the city, but yeah, I I agree with the secretary 100 percent that Preservation does not hurt housing It can be a scapegoat only if you let it be I have to tell another little story about after After willman and wellington walked and walked and walked until they were elected And we had a party in front of the market center one of the historic lower downtown complexes And closed the street And wellington was there to celebrate and you know wellington's not really a small person So he has this big presence in the middle of all these people And here came jennifer molton who the the planning person the great preservationist And and jennifer is about this tall and she comes running down the street and she leaps into wellington's arms And it was just the greatest Yeah, we miss her The new york times recently published an article suggesting that opportunity zones created by the tax reform act of 2017 That was intended to benefit low-income communities is really in fact benefiting rich developers And many of us in this room worry that it will become the second coming of urban renewal What advice could you give to those of us who'd like to see this become a financial tool to help rehabilitate older buildings As opposed to tear them down Well, first of all, it's something the trust could do is to show Some successful packaging of projects that have to do with preservation and Opportunity zones I've read that opportunity zone thing so many times and I just am not smart enough to get it figured out because You know, there are all these timelines that you have to meet And all these years that you have to meet and And then I haven't found many examples of things that really are working So one thing I wanted to talk a little bit about that Maybe would work in opportunity zones But this book has been written by a guy who's a professor Up at the university of colorado And and it's a good read everything for everyone the radical tradition that is shaping the next economy And it really has to do with cooperation Collaboration partnerships co-working The the millennial generation that usually is somewhat missing at meetings like this They're probably off with the bankers and So but I just recommend this to you because it's it's really a return to A lot of things that are sort of basically american And you know in our schools, we just teach competition And we don't really know very much about cooperation, but this book will change you to a Baptist I do think I do think it's important though That we remember our history And not shy away from it and say that there were mistakes made with urban renewal in the beginning And that it did go through minority neighborhoods and low-income neighborhoods. As a matter of fact in this city they Put the highway right through the heart Of the latino community and split it in half You drive and they're still doing when you drive through The latino community half was on one side half on the other and we've seen that across the country And I think it's important that we learn from our mistakes And don't repeat those same mistakes as we look at these new techniques to provide for housing Whether you call it enterprise zones or opportunity zones that Again the vision has to be driven by Past successes and techniques that work and don't do those things that we know don't work And I've read that uh in new york and other places the opportunity zones are being abused essentially and while it were they were Drafted by legislation. It was well intentioned. It's not working as it was supposed to work. And so my suggestion is that You advocate you get involved in politics you talk to your congresspeople you get the law amended You put in restrictions you put in guidelines That's what it's going to take otherwise people will continue to take advantage of the credits and the opportunity zones and build whatever they want And drive out low-income residents minority residents and build these Extraordinary buildings which I think you know are fine economically, but they don't respond to the needs of the community The distressed community that these opportunity zones were supposed to save So Solution amended get involved talk to your members of congress and tell them why these zones are not working And how we can amend them in a way that produces the results that we all hope Were intended by the original drafters That's what we have to do and work with your mayors your city councils Because they also have to do the zoning and the rezoning And that's really important to not let that feature go And don't let the developers take over This is without her developer She's giving us this advice Well, I think you can see why and hopefully while you're here because tomorrow the weather will be better than today And as you enjoy this city, I think you'll you'll be seeing the fruits of the labor And of the vision and the hard work of of these three. So please join me in thanking them for being We have one more important thing to do before we're off to a great party at union station So i'm going to ask the indulgence of queen crawford secretary peña mayor web for just a moment While we focus our attention on the other person on this stage barb paul As many of you know As many of you know Barb will be retiring for the national from the national trust at the end of december And it is so great to be able to pay tribute to her here in denver Where she's lived for more than 40 years and where she's had a tremendous impact on historic places You know one These are the best pictures. Thank you to the field staff at the national trust for these One of the remarkable things about barb's career Is that she has worked in preservation at the national the state and the local level Which i think has made it possible for her to always understand the different perspectives that come into play in preservation projects After graduating from george washington university in washington dc with a degree in material culture Barb went to work for the national register and the national park service in washington She came to denver in 1979 first working for the colorado state historic preservation office But she returned to her roots in material culture and moved on to historic colorado history colorado as a curator Putting together exhibits on colorado's mining industry and history and even cataloging the architectural drawings of a lovely building She would later save the emerson school In 1983 The national trust opened its mountains and plains regional office in space donated by danah crawford at 1407 larimer street And one year later barb joined the national trust as the assistant director of the mountains and plains regional office She eventually became the director of that office And today she leads our talented field services team in eight offices around the country As our senior vice president for field services Now we have all just seen barb paul in action here tonight She is eloquent knowledgeable Dedicated passionate and wickedly funny She is the quint essential national trust field officer She is a force for preservation wherever she goes And her decades of work Define our public lands policy at the national trust and our advocacy She is also a strong link in a long chain of women who have built the preservation movement And who as they have done so have been intentional about forging those next links in that chain By mentoring and supporting other women It would be absolutely impossible to name all of the places where barb's work has had a positive impact But I want to call out just a few of her favorites The white grass dude ranch in grand teton national park now the national park services western center for historic preservation Virginia city montana now a national historic landmark. Thanks in large part to barb paul The lewis and clark travelers rest campsite in montana This is the only archaeologically verified campsite of the lewis and clark expedition and again a national historic landmark largely due to barb paul Here in denver low doe and that incredibly innovative downtown historic district that protects 47 non-contiguous historic buildings or as you heard the imminently quotable barb paul call it the chocolate chip cookie district And of course the emerson school She went from cataloging those architectural drawings at history colorado to leading the national trust efforts to acquire And rehabilitate the emerson school to serve as our field office here and a home for other nonprofits It's also important to note that some of our current national treasure projects like bogsville and bears years Were early advocacy campaigns that were begun by barb Both of those illustrate another of barb's great strengths that she never gives up on fighting for a place I've personally learned from her that one of the things that the national trust can and should Bring to its work is a long term commitment to specific places Or to use one of barb's favorite expressions never walk away from the table While the national trust and the preservation community are going to miss barb terribly, I am also excited for what's next for her in retirement I'm also excited. She gets to give up a grueling travel schedule Seat 7a on flights between denver and dc has been her office for many years And that she'll get to spend more time with the people she loves most in the world her family Barb's husband rob and her son andy are here tonight And I want to take this opportunity to thank them for sharing barb with the national trust and with the preservation movement Thank you Her of barb's favorite expressions is at the end of the day And she usually delivers that when she's reminding someone to focus on the ultimate outcome That they want to achieve or to sum up what's been accomplished So i'm going to borrow that barb ism in closing barb At the end of the day You have fought tirelessly for and preserved places here in denver in colorado and across the country You have improved your community You have strengthened the national trust and you have expanded the historic preservation movement At the end of the day, you have created the best kind of legacy One that goes on through the people you've trained and mentored through the places you've saved And the ways in which you have defined what impactful and dedicated preservation leadership looks like At the end of the day, thank you barb paul It's often been said i'm not going to stand between you and cocktails in a good time at Dana's denver's living room down in lower downtown, but i do want to thank you all this has been Obviously a passion of mine. It's something i always felt i was fortunate to be paid to do something I would have will only volunteered for so that said i'll be available as a volunteer around january the first So um, so i know i'll see many of my friends and colleagues here in denver I'll see more of you actually than i have in last years But i will see less of many of you that i've enjoyed so much Working with it was fun to be with the partners today. I had my field staff at my home for dinner last night Because i'm probably not going to see many of them much more in the in the coming weeks ahead But really all I can say is thank you so much. It's it's been a joy So just a bit of logistics Let's go celebrate barb and dana and all the preservation All the great preservation work here in denver and across the country at union station But a couple of logistical reminders union station is easily accessible by foot or by the free 16 3 shuttle 16 street shuttle Or by getting on the conference shuttle that is leaving from the lobby of the chariton You can also look on page three of your program Or the conference app for further information Um now let's go to union station and have a great time. Thank you