Preservation Action Council

Preservation Action Council
Name	Preservation Action Council
Founded	1970s
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Type	Nonprofit advocacy organization
Focus	Historic preservation, cultural heritage, conservation

Preservation Action Council The Preservation Action Council is a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on historic preservation, cultural heritage, and conservation policy in the United States. It engages with legislative bodies, preservation professionals, community groups, and heritage institutions to protect built and cultural resources. The Council operates through partnerships with national and local organizations, foundations, and government agencies to influence preservation funding and regulatory frameworks.

History

The Council traces roots to postwar preservation efforts influenced by campaigns such as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the creation of the National Register of Historic Places, and the rise of local historic districts in cities like Charleston, South Carolina, Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Early leaders included activists associated with organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the American Institute of Architects, and the American Antiquarian Society. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Council engaged with policymakers in the United States Congress, lobbying subcommittees within the United States House Committee on Natural Resources and the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to secure tax incentives modeled on precedents in states like New Jersey and Texas. Influential preservation battles—including efforts to save landmarks threatened by projects like the Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963) redevelopment and the L’Enfant Plan changes in Washington, D.C.—shaped the Council’s strategies. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Council expanded collaborations with federal agencies such as the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the General Services Administration while responding to programs under the Historic Preservation Fund and debates over the Tax Reform Act of 1986. The organization adapted to 21st-century challenges including disaster recovery after events like Hurricane Katrina, urban revitalization in cities such as Detroit, and preservation disputes in growth corridors like Silicon Valley.

Mission and Activities

The Council’s mission emphasizes advocacy for policies that support preservation tax credits, grant programs, and regulatory protections championed by entities including the State Historic Preservation Office network, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Activities include direct lobbying before committees such as the House Committee on Ways and Means, policy research in partnership with institutions like the Brookings Institution and the Urban Land Institute, and stewardship programs modeled after initiatives from the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress. The Council advises municipal bodies including the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, state legislatures, and regional planning agencies, and provides technical assistance informed by standards from the Secretary of the Interior, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the World Monuments Fund.

Organizational Structure

Governance includes a board of directors composed of professionals from fields represented by the American Planning Association, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Association for Preservation Technology International. Executive leadership often comprises former staff from agencies such as the National Park Service and nonprofit executives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Historic Charleston Foundation. Committees mirror sectors including policy, grants, communications, and legal counsel with advisors drawn from the American Bar Association’s preservation law sections, the American Institute of Architects’s historic resources committee, and academia at institutions like Columbia University, Georgetown University, and University of Pennsylvania.

Notable Preservation Projects

The Council has participated in campaigns to save and rehabilitate sites similar to the successful preservation of structures in Savannah, Georgia’s historic districts, courthouse restorations in Boston, and adaptive reuse projects akin to conversions in Baltimore’s waterfront. It has supported rehabilitation of industrial heritage sites comparable to Pittsburgh’s mills, protection efforts for vernacular architecture in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and preservation of transportation-related landmarks like rail stations and bridges discussed in contexts such as the Preservation of Historical Railroad Stations movement. The Council has been active in heritage tourism initiatives paralleling programs in Charleston and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in the conservation of cultural landscapes related to sites like Monticello and the U.S. Capitol Grounds.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding sources include foundation grants from entities analogous to the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation, corporate sponsorship from companies operating in sectors represented by the National Association of Realtors and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and program support from federal grant programs administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Partnerships span nonprofit collaborators like the World Monuments Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and local preservation commissions, as well as academic partnerships with research centers at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and technical collaborations with the Getty Conservation Institute.

Advocacy and Public Outreach

Advocacy strategies include mobilizing constituents for hearings before the United States Congress, filing amicus briefs in cases argued before federal courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and engaging in coalition campaigns with organizations such as the National Parks Conservation Association and Historic New England. Public outreach comprises conferences and workshops modeled on annual meetings like those of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, digital campaigns using platforms referenced by cultural institutions such as the Library of Congress digital collections, and educational programs for professionals run in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects and the Association for Preservation Technology International.

Category:Historic preservation organizations in the United States