CONNECTICUT COMMISSION ON CULTURE & TOURISM RELEASES NEW STUDY ON THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Study outlines job creation, sustainable growth and enhancing community quality

(HARTFORD, CT) – On June 17, 2011, The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism released a new economic impact study that demonstrates the economic value in reinvesting in Connecticut’s historic buildings. Prepared by PlaceEconomics, Inc., the leading national expert in the economic benefits of historic preservation, the study shows over $450 million in private sector investment in the rehabilitation of historic buildings; $242 million in direct salary and wages from rehabilitating historic structures; and over 400 units of housing created just in the last decade.

“By rehabilitating our existing building stock, we create jobs, increase local tax revenue, and use our irreplaceable architectural heritage to benefit our state in the twenty-first century,” said Governor Dannel P. Malloy. “Connecticut has always been in the forefront of the preservation movement and one of the leaders in using historic preservation to leverage federal tax credits. This type of initiative makes a substantial contribution to the state’s economy by encouraging investment in long-term capital assets that have both immediate and on-going benefit to the state’s economy,” stated Governor Malloy.

“Harnessing our state historic preservation tax credits and construction grants to leverage private investment helps Connecticut’s communities to advance sustainable growth and enhance tourism opportunities. Reinvesting in Connecticut’s historic buildings not only serves as an economic driver but contributes to community’s ability to tell its unique story,” said Christopher “Kip” Bergstrom, Executive Director of the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.

The Executive Summary is available here.

The full report, Investment in Connecticut: The Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation, Creating Jobs, Leveraging Resources, Advancing Sustainable Growth, Enhancing Community Quality, by PlaceEconomics, Washington, DC, 2011, is available at www.cultureandtourism.org

In the News

10,000 Certified Buildings Later LEED Aims for Market Transformation
(November 30, 2011)
The U.S. Green Building Council is developing updates to its LEED standards: “The proposed updates should help address some of the criticisms LEED has faced… Donovan Rypkema, a building preservationist with PlaceEconomics in Washington, says LEED stands for ‘Lunatic Environmentalists Enthusiastically Demolishing.’ He accuses people of tearing down ‘perfectly good’ and historic buildings, only to justify their actions by claiming their new structures are LEED certified… He said his biggest complaint is that it is ‘about green building, not sustainable development.’ Rypkema says LEED is misguided in putting most of its emphasis on efficiency, when it should be giving much more consideration to the embodied energy that is already in existing buildings… [Scot Horst, the senior vice president of LEED], points out that there is a significant push to include more lifecycle and embodied energy analysis for the next update, including better labeling that includes such information.”
ecomagination.com

Small Business ‘Backbone of the Economy’
(October 28, 2011)
“Downtown revitalization and historic preservation are the prime movers, along with small businesses, of the U.S. economy. That was the message delivered forcefully Thursday by Donovan Rypkema during the closing keynote address of the 2011 Illinois Main Street Conference… He said downtowns are local assets. ‘Downtown is invariably where millions of dollars of infrastructure investments have already been made by previous generations,’ Rypkema said. ‘Downtown revitalization through historic preservation is the best example in this country of sustained development.’ While about half the cost of a new building goes toward materials, he said about 70 percent of the money spent to revitalize historic buildings goes to workers, as much of the materials can be reused. The money those employees are paid is recirculated throughout the community.”
Galesburg Register-Mail

Local Historic Preservation
(October 5, 2011)
“A study released by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources [by PlaceEconomics] examines the economic impact of historic preservation in the state. The study, Good News in Tough Times, indicates that historic preservation can provide numerous economic benefits in terms of job creation, tourism and revitalization of downtown business districts.”
Georgia Municipal Association