Annual Conference: 2008 Overview

The 23rd Annual RI Statewide Historic Preservation Conference Saturday, April 12 in Providence's South Side and West End Preservation Past, Present, and Future

NEW! Rhode Islanders answer seven preservation questions, compiled for the 2008 conference.

Click here to open a pdf copy of the program, or visit pages in the right-hand conference links menu.

The year 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the Rhode Island Historic Preservation Act and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. The 23rd Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference used the anniversary as a starting point to explore the past, present, and future of historic preservation in Rhode Island.

In 1968, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted legislation that expanded on the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. The RI Historical Preservation Commission was established to direct a staewide preservation program that identifies historic properties, reviews state and federal projects, and administers funds. Heritage Programs were added in 1994.

Almost 500 people joined the Annual Conference in Providence to recall past preservation achievements, or focus on current critical issues, from environmental sustainability to economic development, affordable housing to heritage tourism. They considered historic resources--schools and mills, neighborhoods and villages, farms and waterfronts, even Modern architecture--and picked up the latest strategies to guide future practice.

Hundreds toured historic neighborhoods around the Armory, Atwells, Broadway, Elmwood, and West Elmwood, where homeowners, non-profits, and developers have completed waves of revitalization and restoration projects. They visited mill rehabs along the Woonasquatucket River, and sampled the city's most exciting artspaces. They traveled through time to sites of "preservation's greatest hits"--the Arcade, Masonic Temple, Benefit Street--and of its lost battles--Eagle Square, the Gorham Plant, Wriston Quad.

On the West Side and throughout Rhode Island, historic preservation is a dynamic process. Thanks for joining us to explore the past, present, and future of historic preservation in Rhode Island.