Historic Photograph of Hot Springs, New Mexico
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| http://hotspringsfestival.com/historic_hot_springs.html |
The intention to write about the
town planning meeting that took place on August 24-25th, 2012, will be thwarted
for a day or two. Late as it already is, there are a few more background notes on
historic preservation, planning and revitalization to add. A review of the charrette
will follow in the next post. A comment made by Charlie Deans, New Mexico Main
Street Design Associate and meeting facilitator sparked this post. Charlie said
that the space where the now-demolished Youth Center and former Senior Center
once stood was both literally and figuratively the heart of Truth or
Consequences. The heart of Hot Springs.
Hearts are a powerful metaphor
because they speak to basic needs like blood and air, but they are also used to
speak to other essential needs like love, companionship and relationships. The
conversation I was reminded of when the “heart of town” was evoked was about
the demolition of the Albuquerque Alvarado Hotel. A writer in the local free
newspaper, The Alibi, likened the demolition to stopping the beating heart of
the city. The heart of any city, even a still heart, is downtown. This is how
American colonial town and cities, first built or booming, were arranged. A
center place is evident across culture, time and place. It is where communities
come together to discuss our shared trial and tribulations. No matter how
deserted or run down, no matter how built up or sprawled out a city becomes,
the heart remains in downtown.
I wrote about Albuquerque’s downtown
revitalization while taking my first course in the Historic Preservation and
Regionalism certificate program in UNM's School of Architecture. The executive
director of the Albuquerque Downtown Action Team, the organization that heads
the revitalization efforts, emphatically insisted that places cannot exist
without a heart, any more than a foot can exist on its own. I was reminded of Plato's body politic, a
metaphor of body and function loved by Greeks and others throughout the ages.
Heart and head and hands and arms, from the single body to the teeming metropolis,
all are connected and dependent but recognizable in parts. The summer before,
in a cultural landscape documentation course, former Santa Fe County planner
and cultural landscape visionary Arnie Valdez likened an acequia to the heart
of a community, with arteries sending the lifeblood of water to grow food, but
also to grow families and communities.
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| View of Santa Fe Plaza in the 1850's, ca. 1930 Gerald Cassidy (1869-1934) |
Albuquerque Uptown, with its
pretend chaco-canyon masonry and its pretend second story businesses, and its
pedestrian-friendly business-block model that draws shoppers is a hip place to
shop, but it is merely a facade of what eary and mid-century American downtown's
looked like. It is thriving, but it is "Up" town, and ultimately little more than an outdoor
shopping mall. No matter where you live or go in Albuquerque, be it an
"old" town neighborhood, south valley or suburb, Midtown or the
Heights, places in a city are defined by their relation to downtown. When hearts stop beating, even figurative or
symbolic hearts like downtown or community ditches, other things die too.
The Death and Life of Ordinary
American Towns: Part I post explored some of the history of the destruction
wrought by plans that were going to "save" economically depressed downtown's
carried out in the 1960s and 1970s.The title is a take on the iconic planning
text written by Jane Jacobs, The Death
and Life of Great American Cities (1961). Jacobs bashed the government-led destruction
of the historic built environments of downtown's across America, and the
replacement of vibrant diverse communities with sterile efforts at “rational”
planning that were miserable failures. Race and class were always at play,
although these elements, like today, were mostly obscured by rhetoric of
development.
In the 1960s however, the good
forces in federal government (you know the good forces, the level-headed,
thoughtful, largely accountable and transparent folks who strive to make
government work for people because the government is the people? no? anyway...)
got together to protect America's historic buildings and archeological sites. Early
preservation efforts were very nationalistic, which meant that issues of who
and what counts as historic, iconic or important were pretty narrow. But
preservation has always been local and grassroots, and remains that way. The passage
of national legislation was a big step in giving communities the tools
to make preservation happen locally.
Historic
preservation happens when people and communities protect and preserve places.
These are buildings, districts, cultural landscapes, artifacts or other things,
like stories or views or traditions, which reflect elements of our shared
cultural, social, economic, political, archaeological or architectural history.
Preservation strengthens local economies, increases economic and environmental sustainability,
fosters beauty and community pride, promotes history, and makes stronger communities.
Historic resources are defined as districts, sites, structures, objects or
buildings that are greater than seventy-five years in age, and are significant
in local, state or national history, architecture, archeology, engineering, or
culture. History encompasses all cultures, all economic classes, and all of the cultural, social,
political and private activities that form the background to the present. It is our job to make that history visible, the happy, hard, easy, brutal, generous, hard times and good times history visible in our communities so it can inform us. I am
obviously a convert, but for good reason.
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| Drawing from the National Park Service Santa Fe Trail Comprehensive Plan |
The National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) is meant, according to preservation scholar
Dr. Robin Elizabeth Datel, to retain diverse elements of past, to perpetuate
the distinctive identities of places, to involve people in preservation, and to
promote conservation. It does not, contrary to popular belief by the
less-than-level-headed, give government the right to control private property
or tell property owners what to do. Only local governments can impose
restrictions, and these are rarely too onerous. They are also generally
welcome. Properties in officially designated historic districts and
neighborhoods tend to hold their value much better than other properties, and
people pay more to live and retail in these areas because of aesthetic and
other regulations. Santa Fe has one of the oldest local oversight boards, and
their property values and tourist industry are pretty good.
The Passage of the The National
Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places, the
list of National Historic Landmarks, and State Historic Preservation Offices. The
New Mexico Historic Preservation Division
(http://www.nmhistoricpreservation.org) "identifies
and protects New Mexico's cultural resources, including its archaeological
sites, architectural and engineering achievements, cultural landscapes and
diverse heritage. We help communities identify, evaluate, preserve, and
revitalize their historic, archaeological, and cultural resources. Preservation
happens locally. It is site specific—your building, your block, your town, your
landscape. It is built on partnerships. … access to the information you need to
help preserve New Mexico's diverse cultural heritage, encourage community
revitalization through re-use of existing buildings and enhance heritage
tourism opportunities."
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| Preservation at Work in Truth or Consequences |
New Mexico MainStreet Program (http://nmmainstreet.org)
is a “grassroots economic development
program that assists communities in revitalizing their traditional commercial
neighborhoods. A program of the New
Mexico Economic Development Department, MainStreet works throughout New Mexico
to help affiliated downtown organizations create an economically viable
business environment while preserving local cultural and historic resources.”
Truth or Consequences is a MainStreet community
in New Mexico. The national main Street organization has a terrific page on the
National Trust for Historic Preservation website (http://www.preservationnation.org)
that talks about how and why Main Streets matter to local sustainability, and
why historic preservation is key economic revitalization in downtown areas. A
vibrant downtown keeps the rest of the town and city, from the big box retail
areas where Wal-Mart and Walgreens are, to the neighborhoods where we live, sustainable
and vibrant. We need all of our parts working if the whole is going to thrive.
Preservation is not about museums
and old buildings, although it can be. It is really about making sure we take the
time to create places that matter. Powerful places tell us who we are, and
where we came from, and where we are going. All of our town’s should be places
that matter, and should be powerful places. And that is what people are trying
to do with preservation and economic development, with Rotary Clubs and RC
& D councils. There is a lot to learn. Everything here was new to me a few
years ago. But it brought me to Truth or Consequences, because I am curious about
what is going on in this place. It is a place that matters to me. A little more every week. There
were some very interesting things that went on at the town planning meeting a few
weeks ago. I will write about it with haste, and soon!
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| http://newgraffiti3dwallpaper.blogspot.com |
The heart of the town, after all, is at stake.
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