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What is the first step in making SynergiCity? Historic preservation. It is the foundation and initial stepto redevelopingthepostindustrialdistrictin the American city. Rehabilitating the existing buildings, streets, and open space is not only practical; it is sustainable both from an economic and environmental point of view. It creates an aesthetically pleasing environment that utilizes the best attributes of the district—its sense of place. Within the context of the postindustrial district, historic preservation is best defined as the adaptive use and rehabilitation of existing historic (and even not-so-historic buildings) and structures, transforming them for new and pertinent uses that will facilitate Urban Metabolism and economic activity. Historic preservation of the postindustrial district can achieve an all-encompassing change in the perception of the district from a once industrial and now neglected area of the city to a new, sustainable, and viable economic engine for the city (fig. 3.1). Historic preservation provides significant economic benefits for redevelopment. It often provides the critical momentum for urban redevelopment to occur. It is financially feasible, and it produces readily appreciable results. Preservation allows developers and entrepreneurs to concentrate their efforts in small areas of a postindustrial district in a strategic manner. Historic preservation provides both small-scale project opportunities and largescale policy tools to make development a reality in postindustrial districts. Redeveloping the city’s neglected postindustrial districts can restore livability to the moribund downtown, and the city can become vital and productive again. This is the essence of historic preservation at the urban level. Postindustrial districts in cities are the obvious place for the healing process in cities to begin; they are inherently intact, and they are adaptable. These districts are comprised of robust buildings that were built to last by previous generations. They are built with craftsmanship that can rarely be duplicated today. When it is done correctly, historic preserChapter Three Historic Preservation The Foundation of Synerg iCity Paul Hardin K a pp Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities Figure 3.1. The Cadillac Building, designed by Wm. A. Balsch Architects and completed in 1919, in the Midtown Alley district of St. Louis, Missouri. It includes Egyptian-influenced columns and ornamental motifs and has been placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. (Courtesy of Paul J. Armstrong) Historic Preservation 29 vation in commercial development recognizes the built heritage as a tangible and valuable asset. Historic preservation provides significant environmental benefits in SynergiCity. Along with high-craft industrial buildings, which were built before the Second World War, are often comprised of old-growth timbers, high-quality masonry (brick, ashlar stone, and rubble), and cast iron and steel. In today’s economy, the craft-based building methods and materials used for turn-of-the-century buildings are expensive and, consequently, tend to be reserved for the restoration of landmark historic buildings. Because their materials and robust structures often make them too valuable to discard, existing buildings should be maintained and transformed for new uses whenever possible. In order for SynergiCity to begin in postindustrial districts, the current policy of developing urban areas must change from one that views the postindustrial district as a collection of abandoned and underutilized buildings to one that views the district as a granary of older, rehabilitated existing structures and new buildings that can provide a variety of economic uses for a diverse group of entrepreneurs. It is important to remember what the noted urban theorist Jane Jacobs said fifty years ago in her landmark book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, where she made a compelling case for the need of “aged” buildings in the American city.” For her, there was a difference between “old” buildings and “aged” ones. “Old” conveys the idea of the expensive museum-piece restoration building ; while “aged” she defines as “the good lot of plain, ordinary, low-value old buildings, including some rundown old buildings” (Jacobs, 1961, 187). She felt that these buildings provided the needed venue for the diversity of uses and the wide array of enterprises that allow cities to be not only economically viable but also interesting to experience. From an economic point of view, this approach is particularly useful in the postindustrial district, which already has enough density of building stock and infrastructure to be transformed into something useful again. Preservationists have always seen the benefits of transforming entire districts...

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