U City Hosting Missouri Statewide Preservation Conference

Preservationists from around the state will gather in University City for the 26th Annual Statewide Missouri Preservation Conference Oct. 24-26, at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA). 

This year’s conference theme “Preservation = Character” features advanced level educational sessions and workshops as well as courses for beginning preservationists. The three-day event also includes tours of local historic points of interest, a trade show component, and local preservation awards.

Residents and officials of University City are very excited about the opportunity to host this major conference. The city has seen a revitalization of the Delmar Loop with many successful adaptive reuses of historic buildings.  

The iconic City Hall, originally the Magazine Building, will host a conference reception including tours and an exclusive illumination of the historic searchlight that beamed throughout the area during the 1904 World’s Fair.  The conference will draw hundreds of visitors to University City from around the region, including architects, historians, preservationists, city planners, state agencies, developers and financial advisors.

 The conference begins with a full day intensive workshop for professionals working with the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, featuring the latest information about topics and procedures that affect historic building development projects. Expert panelists will also discuss the involvement of non-profits, packaging and financing a project, and integrating energy demands with preservation requirements.

Keynote speaker Christine Madrid French, renowned modernism expert and author will present Saving the Modern Century: the Next Fifty Years of Historic Preservation.

French underscores the idea that preservationists must embrace a new vision to remain relevant for the next fifty years, which relies less on aesthetic judgments and encourages an integrated, contextual understanding of the cultural landscape, to ensure an even-handed representation of our collective history that is more fully representative of the 1900s. If preservationists focus on how modern buildings and landscapes can work for the community--rather than on how they don’t—they can gain a stronger foothold for their advocacy efforts, build more effective organizational alliances, encourage sustainability, and promote the idea that preservation is good business.

Many of the preservation sessions are timely to and exemplary of the character of University City.  A tour of the Delmar Loop will illustrate the successes and challenges of rehabilitation of commercial historic districts and reuse of the second stories in buildings. A walking tour will highlight University Heights Number One, the first subdivision of the City envisioned by its founder Edward Gardner Lewis. There will also be a tour of the historic cemeteries of University City with information on the preservation of headstones.

Stephen Frei of the nationally renowned studio Emil Frei Stained Glass & Associates, will lead a technical workshop on the preservation of historic stained glass. A technical session on Wood Graining Techniques will be presented by Bob McCarty of Painted Effects. In addition, the National Association of Preservation Commissions (NAPC) President-elect Jack Williams will present a two part session on Design Guidelines Development and Implementation. 

Other educational sessions include expert speakers such as John Sandor from the National Park Service, who will talk about replicating features and using substitute materials. Bob Yapp of Preservation Resources, Inc. will present a session on Energy Efficiency for Old Houses and Buildings.  

Additional session topics include Section 106 Review, significance of postwar single family housing, historic school reuse, successful commercial districts and storefront designs, working with elected officials, and preservation of prehistoric mounds.   

Many of the sessions, workshops, and tours count toward Certified Local Government training and American Institute of Architects continuing education credits. 

The trade show component of the Statewide Historic Preservation Conference will promote the products and services of preservation-friendly businesses including roofing, window restoration, replacement windows and doors, masonry, flooring restoration, engineering and architectural design, and other construction and renovation contracting,.

 The newly formed “Missouri Barn Alliance and Rural Network,” an organization seeking to document and preserve farmsteads in Missouri will also meet in conjunction with the Conference.

About Missouri Preservation:

Known formally as the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, the organization began in 1976 as the Missouri Heritage Trust. Missouri Preservation is the only statewide non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, supporting and coordinating historic preservation throughout Missouri. 

This year Stark Wilson Duncan Architects, Enhanced Historic Credit Partners, BKD CPAs and Advisors, James G. Staat Tuckpointing and Waterproofing, US Bancorp Community Development Corporation and Kiku Obata are major conference sponsors. The Missouri Statewide Preservation Conference is partially funded by a grant from the Department of Natural Resources’ State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. Grant awards and sponsorships do not imply endorsement of content by the grantor.

To Attend

For online registration and a complete conference schedule visit www.preservemoconference.org or call (660) 882-5946.

The full two day registration is $185, and the Historic Building Development Workshop is $185, with separate rates for one day registration. Some events, such as the trade show, are free and open to the public.