Why Preserve?
Preserve history! The benefits of historic preservation out weight the disadvantages. To be eligible for property value increase and special tax benefits the building must be registered on the National/Georgia Register(s) of Historic Places. “The Georgia Preferential Property Tax Assessment Program for Rehabilitated Historic Property allows eligible participants to apply for an 8-year property tax assessment freeze” ("State Tax Incentives Programs"). Registered historic properties can greatly benefit the owner. They can earn an income tax credit equaling 25% of qualifying rehabilitation expenses capped at $100,000 for personal, residential properties, and $300,000 for income-producing properties ("State Tax Incentives Programs"). These incentives will encourage people to have their property registered.
For history buffs out there, historic preservation is the best way to attract you to a place, correct? Yes! Well, tourism is a major product of historic preservation, which boost the economy. In 1996, tourist spent more than $453 million in Georgia on historic-related activities and that number has only increased in the recent years. Typically, heritage tourism travelers spend about $263 more than other travelers ("Historic Preservation Q&A"). When traveling to historic locations, usually at the desired stop there are educational opportunities to educate the general public about the location they are at. Tourist would be able to learn about what inspired the community and the change over time there ("Benefits of Historic Preservation"). While tourism flourishes into the cities, it creates a positive economic impact there. Not only does tourism increase the economy, but also, more jobs are created during historic preservation.
Jobs are created through the historic preservation process. These jobs include people who are now interested in the town because of the new aurora. Even before the preserved building is finished, occupations evolved to assist with the infrastructure’s renovation process and contractors are brought in to oversee the process ("Historic Preservation Q&A"). With more jobs, more money will be able to be put back into the economy, which stimulates a positive impact on the economy.
By preserving buildings, it is essentially recycling and repurposing it for new businesses. Once a structure has served its initial design purpose, it no longer has a justification as to why it should still exist. If the building has some sort of historical significance, it can be considered to become registered and furthermore be preserved. Since it is being recycled, the building has a quicker recovery time. People can rehabilitate sooner and increase the economy all-benefiting from the introductory stages (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). The environmental advantages include a cleaner air quality because of less construction and demolition at the site. Substantial amounts of energy are saved (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). The benefits of preservation far exceed the disadvantages. With all of these external profits from the historic preservation, the morale of the town spikes to a new level and attitudes of the town changes.
The community’s morality greatly increases with historic preservation. Living in a historic community stimulates conversation between children, parents, and grandparents about the past and how it has changed over time and with preservation, the children can see the transformation over time. Since preservation uses the same building with very few modifications, residents feel more connected to their heritage and the memories of the past (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). To learn more about actual local results from historic preservation click here.
Within all these benefits, disadvantages lurk and loom, but the insignificant amount of negatives does not overpower the overwhelming positive impact on the community. In this growing world, more and more regulations have been acquired and need to be considered when preservation (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). Certain actions will need to be taken in order to meet code. The cost of preservation has to be considered when deciding whether the building is worthy of preservation. Despite that fact that renovation is more expensive, the overall gain out weights the extra cost depending on the building because some environmental issues the building has. Run an environmental report to see if any asbestos or gas leaks exist (Keenlyside). The best way to validate if the cost of preservation is better than the cost of demolition is to perform an environmental test, inspect what would actually need to be repaired, and see what would have to be changed/modified to meet regulation codes.
For history buffs out there, historic preservation is the best way to attract you to a place, correct? Yes! Well, tourism is a major product of historic preservation, which boost the economy. In 1996, tourist spent more than $453 million in Georgia on historic-related activities and that number has only increased in the recent years. Typically, heritage tourism travelers spend about $263 more than other travelers ("Historic Preservation Q&A"). When traveling to historic locations, usually at the desired stop there are educational opportunities to educate the general public about the location they are at. Tourist would be able to learn about what inspired the community and the change over time there ("Benefits of Historic Preservation"). While tourism flourishes into the cities, it creates a positive economic impact there. Not only does tourism increase the economy, but also, more jobs are created during historic preservation.
Jobs are created through the historic preservation process. These jobs include people who are now interested in the town because of the new aurora. Even before the preserved building is finished, occupations evolved to assist with the infrastructure’s renovation process and contractors are brought in to oversee the process ("Historic Preservation Q&A"). With more jobs, more money will be able to be put back into the economy, which stimulates a positive impact on the economy.
By preserving buildings, it is essentially recycling and repurposing it for new businesses. Once a structure has served its initial design purpose, it no longer has a justification as to why it should still exist. If the building has some sort of historical significance, it can be considered to become registered and furthermore be preserved. Since it is being recycled, the building has a quicker recovery time. People can rehabilitate sooner and increase the economy all-benefiting from the introductory stages (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). The environmental advantages include a cleaner air quality because of less construction and demolition at the site. Substantial amounts of energy are saved (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). The benefits of preservation far exceed the disadvantages. With all of these external profits from the historic preservation, the morale of the town spikes to a new level and attitudes of the town changes.
The community’s morality greatly increases with historic preservation. Living in a historic community stimulates conversation between children, parents, and grandparents about the past and how it has changed over time and with preservation, the children can see the transformation over time. Since preservation uses the same building with very few modifications, residents feel more connected to their heritage and the memories of the past (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). To learn more about actual local results from historic preservation click here.
Within all these benefits, disadvantages lurk and loom, but the insignificant amount of negatives does not overpower the overwhelming positive impact on the community. In this growing world, more and more regulations have been acquired and need to be considered when preservation (WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee). Certain actions will need to be taken in order to meet code. The cost of preservation has to be considered when deciding whether the building is worthy of preservation. Despite that fact that renovation is more expensive, the overall gain out weights the extra cost depending on the building because some environmental issues the building has. Run an environmental report to see if any asbestos or gas leaks exist (Keenlyside). The best way to validate if the cost of preservation is better than the cost of demolition is to perform an environmental test, inspect what would actually need to be repaired, and see what would have to be changed/modified to meet regulation codes.
