Preservation gets new look
Merger of two main organizations should help beyond 2011 conference
The preservation movement in Buffalo has taken a welcome step, one that could lead to a more unified voice on issues affecting both the city’s historic legacy and the steps it takes to shape a future.
Starting with a joint annual meeting in October, members of the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier and the Preservation Coalition of Erie County have been reorganizing as Preservation Buffalo Niagara. Supporting this effort are the John R. Oishei Foundation, Baird Foundation, Preservation League of New York, Community Foundation and D. B. Trust — an indication of just how important the main funding organizations think this merger can be.
The idea is to create a unified organization working toward the same goal, rather than approach preservation in an organizationally fragmented way. And while this new group does not represent all the preservation groups in this area, the formation involves the two main ones and it sends the right message. The new entity will have staff available five days a week, offering a level of follow-through not always available with volunteers.
Because the newly formed Preservation Buffalo Niagara wants to be a regional preservation leader, it also provides a resource to the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, which have not had a coordinated preservation movement and have had trouble getting even a small effort started. This is a chance to change the perception of preservation, which has evolved beyond towers, neighborhoods and commercial corridors to include streetscapes and vistas.
The merger was spurred by a deadline, one that is channeling extraordinary energy and commitment into the changes. That “due date” stems from Buffalo’s winning bid to host National Preservation Conference 2011 in Buffalo, an event that occurs once every five years in one of five national regions. The conference has not been held in New York State in decades.
Ironically, work toward the conference bid became the way in which the newly formed coalition got stronger as a movement. The National Trust for Historic Preservation required that there be a lead organization to host the conference, and it couldn’t be the Convention and Visitors Bureau, or the Buffalo Partnership or Chamber of Commerce.
The fact that there was not an organization robust enough in Western New York to be the lead organization offered a unique challenge. By joining, two organizations could create enough critical mass with the outside resources that were being developed to fund and organize the National Trust Conference here.
There already was an example of the two groups’ ability to work together. A “Buffalo Tours” program — some 500 tours a year— had been co-administered by the former Preservation Coalition and the Landmark Society. The coalition trained the docents and the Landmark Society provided Internet news alerts and the administrative functions with telephone, Web site and office presence in the Market Arcade. The tours brought the two organizations together, and prepared for the idea of becoming one organization.
More long term, a combined organization with better resources and staffing could lead to more strategic thinking, thoughtful prioritizing and proactive planning than separate and sometimes competing preservation efforts have produced in the past. The merger is a good move, not just for the prestigious conference that will showcase local treasures but for the sake of those treasures in the future.
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