The Historic Resources Committee was well represented, with a number of offerings, at the AIA Convention in Boston. A pre-convention workshop was held at the Old South Meeting House (circa 1729) on how to undertake an Historic Structures Report (HSR). The class was lead by Elizabeth Murphy, FAIA, of Chambers, Murphy & Burge of Akron, Ohio and Vicky Jacobson, AIA, of the National Park Service in Santa Fe, NM. The class learned about the value of these documents from the perspective of both consumer (building owners) and providers (private architects). The participants also reviewed the purpose of HSRs, and how they can be used in preparing documents for preservation work, architectural histories, or for fund raising. A new National Park Service Preservation Brief #43, The Preparation of and Use of Historic Structure Reports, by Deborah Slaton, was a useful resource as part of the workbook materials. For those who did not have a chance to take this class, and who plan to attend the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference in Tulsa, OK, in late October, this class (and its AIA continuing education credits) will be repeated, using the Art Deco Will Rogers High School as a case study site.

The firm of Goody Clancy held a meet-and-greet cocktail reception, jointly sponsored with Restore Media, at the firm’s office near Trinity Church in Boston’s Back Bay, for approximately 150 members and guests of the Historic Resources Committee. This event, a new format for the HRC, was a great way to find out what other architects are working on across the country. We hope to find a firm in San Francisco, where next year’s Convention will be held, that would be interested in sponsoring a similar event. Please let us know if your firm is interested in this opportunity!

The traditional HRC Preservation Breakfast was held the morning after the reception, with a sold-out audience. It was held at the Algonquin Club, which was designed in the 1890s as a men’s professional and social club by the firm McKim, Mead and White, who were then putting the finishing touches on the nearby Boston Public Library. Our guest speaker at the Breakfast was Jean Carroon, FAIA, of Goody Clancy, who spoke about the development of Boston and its neighborhoods, and also made a compelling plea to help save Boston City Hall, which is threatened with demolition by the Mayor’s plans to relocate to a new building elsewhere in the city.

There are many upcoming events for the HRC, so please check the calendar of events on our website. Of particular note are the HRC and COD co-sponsored trip to Denmark, which is happening August 31-September 5, the Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference in Chicago, scheduled for September 18-20, the Association for Preservation Technology International’s 40th Anniversary Conference, to be held in Montreal, October 13-17, and the Historic American Building Survey’s 75th Anniversary, to be celebrated in Washington, DC on November 14.

The HRC is actively planning for its 2009 activities under the leadership of David Woodcock, FAIA. Two important HRC programs currently in the works are sustainable practices regarding historic buildings (AIA San Francisco) and historic building documentation (APT Los Angeles). If you are interested in helping with either of these, please contact Shaw Hubbard at shawhubbard@aia.org.