Sessions and Speakers
Thursday, April 25th
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Inclusivity (DEI) are terms that are being used more frequently in historic preservation. Staying relevant as the demographics of the communities we work with change becomes more imperative every day. Facilitator, Tanya Bowers, will lead us in exploring these concepts with an emphasis on increasing individual cultural competency, so that these learnings can transfer back to our organizations and agencies.
Participants will gain an awareness and a skill set which will help them to work more effectively in cross-cultural situations. These learnings will add value as their organizations adapt to demographic changes in the populations they serve.
Add-on cost for lunch. CLG Scholarship recipients are required to attend.
Tanya Bowers has twenty years of experience as a diversity & inclusion practitioner and a consultant in organizational development. Tanya Bowers Consulting focuses on diversity change management, and clients include businesses, not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions, and governmental agencies.
Tanya received a Master’s Degree in Psychology with a specialization in Applied Community Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. In addition to graduating with honors from Wesleyan University as an interdisciplinary University Major in Urban Studies, Tanya completed programs at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Columbia Business School’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management, and the North Carolina Outward Bound School.
When she moved to the Tri-Cities four year ago, Tanya Bowers served as the Director for Diversity at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. During that time she had the privilege of working with historic preservation & community revitalization organizations in developing diversity competency and also with underrepresented groups in building preservation capacity. Her professional career began in New York City government. She has also had the honor of working for the Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference Institute, the FutureWork Institute, the National Conference for Community and Justice, New York City Outward Bound, the Museum of Tolerance, the Los Angeles County Office of Affirmative Action Compliance, and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Her trainings, focus groups, and anti-bias work have taken her around the United States, to the Caribbean, and as far as South Africa.
Not long after moving to eastern Washington State, Tanya was appointed to the City of Pasco’s Planning Commission. Additionally she is an active member of the African American Community, Cultural, and Educational Society, and the Tri-Cities Chapter of the Links, Inc. She also serves on the board of the Tri-Cities Public Market. Tanya founded the East Pasco Mapping Project.
Join Tim Forster and Kevin Hutton for a behind the scenes tour of Rochester Colonial Manufacturing/HeartWood Fine Windows and Doors facility. This AIA CES accredited (1.5 credits) tour will demonstrate how period accurate windows and doors are created in a modern mill shop. Traditional joinery and classic profiles combined with unsurpassed craftsmanship and finishes bring history back to life.
3:30 PM Afternoon treats at Rochester Colonial
3:45 PM – 5:15 PM AIA CES accredited tour
1794 Lyell Ave., Rochester, just 4 miles from conference
Join Evelyn Bailey, Rochester’s LGBTQ+ Historian, on a short walking tour of LGBTQ+ sites en route to the Rundel Memorial Library, where we will be met by Christine Ridarsky, City Historian, to view the Stonewall 50 Years Out exhibit.
Meet in the lobby of Sibley Square at 3:30pm
Our Lady of Victory church was built in 1868 and designed by Andrew Jackson Warner in the French Renaissance style. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992, its exterior, including the church grounds have been lovingly maintained for over 150 years. Unfortunately, the interior was not so lucky and had endured many poor quality renovations and artistic schemes that left much to be desired.
On this tour we will discuss the incredible story of the full historic restoration of the church’s interior including an international design team and extremely tight schedule of just over 12 months. Many of the craftsman will be on site to tell their story and available for questions after the formal architectural tour.
Meet at the front entrance to church, 210 Pleasant St. (approximately 2 blocks / 5 minute walk from Conference hotel)
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the ongoing rehabilitation of the Sibley Building, a $200 million project funded, in part, with state and federal historic tax credits. Tour will be led by staff from Winn Development.
Meet in the Spectra Leasing Office, located on the 2nd floor. Take the business lobby elevators to the 2nd floor, then turn left into the office.
Friday, April 26th
Conference Sessions
1A | Financing Preservation Projects: An In-Depth Look at Resources in NYS (Part 1 of 2)
This two-part session will provide an in-depth look at New York State and federal programs that can be used to help finance preservation projects in your community, many of which can leverage historic tax credit equity. Learn how sources like Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Community Investment Fund, Brownfield Tax Credits, Restore NY, Downtown Revitalization Initiative, Opportunity Zones, and other programs have financed preservation projects throughout New York State. Case studies will be used to explore detailed financing models from projects actively under development. Hear from professionals who work with these programs at many different levels including attorneys, development consultants, and representatives of NYS agencies.
Speakers
Joshua E. Gewolb, an attorney in the Rochester office of Harter Secrest & Emery, has experience with a wide range of federal and state tax matters and assists clients with planning, corporate transactions, compliance, regulatory monitoring, and audits/controversies. He is a frequent speaker and writer on topics related to current events in taxation and non-profit organizations. In addition to his legal practice, Josh is active in several professional and community organizations, including the New York State Bar Association Tax Section Executive Committee, Pathstone Development Corporation, and the Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association. Josh graduated from Harvard University, cum laude, and earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School.
Crystal Loffler is the Vice President, State Programs for NYS Homes & Community Renewal’s Office of Community Renewal (OCR). In this role Crystal oversees OCR’s portfolio of NYS funded grant programs. These programs offer annual and competitive grants to units of local government and not-for-profit organizations that are committed to preserving affordable housing, adapting homes to create accessible units, providing emergency repair support and revitalizing historic downtowns. Prior to joining HCR in 2008, Crystal held positions in both private and public sector planning and community development organizations. Crystal has an MBA from SUNY University at Albany.
Monica McCullough is the owner and founder of MM Development Advisors, Inc., a NYS Certified WBE that assists community-oriented non-profits and social service providers in the development of affordable and supportive housing. Monica is Of Counsel at the law firm Underberg & Kessler, LLP. Monica received her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Rochester; a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University; and a Juris Doctor from the Syracuse University College of Law. Monica is a founding member of the NY Women in Real Estate Association, is the Treasurer of the Community Design Center of Rochester, and is an active resident of Rochester’s Highland Park Neighborhood.
Laura Smith is an attorney in the Rochester office of Harter Secrest & Emery LLP. Laura represents businesses, developers, municipalities, and public authorities on a wide range of issues that include zoning and planning, municipal law, governance, compliance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, hazardous waste and petroleum spill cleanup, brownfield development, and alternative energy. Laura served as a law clerk for the Environmental Protection Agency Region III, Office of Regional Counsel. She holds a B.A. from the College of Wooster and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
My name is Scott Zorn, I grew up in Churchville, NY and graduated from Chruhcivlle Chili High School. I attended the University of Rochester were I was a member of the men’s soccer team and earned a degree in financial economics. Shortly thereafter, I began working here at GSM for Kevin Burns. We were pioneers in the real estate crowdfunding industry, and focus on innovative energy-efficiency techniques. I briefly left to obtain my MBA in finance and real estate from SMU in Dallas. I moved back home after getting my degree, Opportunity Funds are our next big challenge.
1B | SUNY Modern: Politics, Planning, and Preservation
The State University of New York was established in 1948 along with the passage of legislation banning race- and religion-based discrimination in higher education. While SUNY’s growth in the 1950s was relatively slow under Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the demand for higher education due to the impending influx of baby boomers required eventual expansion. Under Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller’s tenure from 1959 to 1973 the State University of New York (SUNY) system grew from 38,000 students and “an undistinguished jumble” of 29 schools to nearly a quarter of a million students on 64 campuses. Rockefeller regarded the massive expansion of SUNY as his crowning achievement as governor. He believed that a strong public university system signified American civilization and strength stating, “[It] is the most perfect example of vision, faith and courage on the part of a free society and free human beings.”The results of SUNY’s expansion under Rockefeller were staggering. While new buildings were added to existing teachers colleges and agricultural and technical institutes, entirely new campuses based on distinctive campus master plans sprang up at Albany, Buffalo, Purchase, Old Westbury, and elsewhere. The works of nationally significant architects were commissioned including Edward Durrell Stone, I.M. Pei, Edward Larrabee Barnes, Edgar Tafel, and Paul Rudolph. Rockefeller was an advocate for Modernism on SUNY campuses as is evident by International Style, New Formalist, and Brutalist buildings. Now that Rockefeller-era SUNY campuses and buildings are coming of age SHPO staff will discuss historical and architectural significance as well as some of the technical preservation challenges of modern materials and design.
Speakers
Kathy Howe is the Survey and Evaluation Coordinator at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Division for Historic Preservation. She holds a M.A. in Architectural History and Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia. Prior to coming to work for the SHPO she worked at Bero Architecture in Rochester and in the planning unit of the Peak National Park in the United Kingdom. As head of the Survey Unit, Ms. Howe assists communities and agencies with surveys that identify and evaluate historic districts, buildings, sites, structures and objects worthy of protection and consideration in community planning efforts.
Beth Cumming is the Senior Historic Site Restoration Coordinator at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Division for Historic Preservation. She has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Building Conservation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. Ms. Cumming’s current duties include supervision of technical reviewers of projects for the state and federal preservation laws and the state and federal rehabilitation tax credit programs. Prior to joining the state, she worked in the public sector for a Fortune 500 company, utilizing her engineering degree.
1C | Community, Memory and a Sense of Place
Marketview Heights reflects Rochester’s past and present – from the wave of European immigrants in the early 1900s to the 1940s and 50s, when African American and Latino families came to the neighborhood. The once vibrant neighborhood struggles today, with 75% of the population making less than $35,000. Still ethnically and racially diverse, the area is now at the edge of a revitalizing local economy trying to navigate political debates, representation, and the fate of community redevelopment projects. Through community-based research and an electronic archive, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, faculty and students worked with community experts to trace the history of Marketview Heights. Although the neighborhood was important to the growth and development of Rochester researchers discovered that the history of this neighborhood, especially the lives and activities of everyday residents are markedly “invisible.”
Speakers
Tunya Griffin is a Rochester native with a track record of neighborhood activism and community service. She has lived in the Marketview Heights community for over twenty years and has been engaged in various action research projects in Marketview Heights that illuminate local debates over the meaning of community identity and diversity amid new economic and social conditions, by interacting with business leaders, reformers and residents. In 2015, as youth director for MVH youth program, Tunya supervised a team of neighborhood youth and RIT students who oversaw the development and programming of the Marketview Heights Collective Action Project Children’s Garden. She is the Fifth Street Block Club captain.
A lifelong resident of the Marketview Heights neighborhood, Richard Holowka has been involved in the community, as a professional and volunteer almost 40 years. Employed variously as a writer, researcher, owner of a boutique advertising agency and VP of Creative Services for a local health software company that successfully launched an IPO, he was a founding member of the Marketview Heights Collective Action Project. He continues to volunteer within the neighborhood, working with other residents to incorporate the Collective Action Project as 501 c 3 not-for-profit organization.
Ann Howard, JD, is a professor in the department of Science, Technology, and Society in the College of Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the founder and director of RIT’s University/Community Partnerships. Since 1997, RIT/UCP has coordinated the activities of more than 30 faculty members and thousands of RIT students in a wide ranging number of community-based participatory projects in the City of Rochester. RIT/UCP connects faculty and students with residents and community organizations to build upon, increase and leverage the community capital of Rochester neighborhoods by creating long term, co-equal and reciprocal relationships. She is a co-principal investigator for the NEH funded project, “Community, Memory, and Sense of Place.”
Dr. Hermsen is a professor of English and the Caroline Werner Gannett Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the principal investigator for the National Endowment for the Humanities funded project, “Community, Memory, and Sense of Place”, that connects students in three undergraduate courses to a community-based research project that is carried out in collaboration with resident experts from the Marketview Heights neighborhood.
1D | Letchworth Gateway Villages: Leveraging heritage assets to fuel economic growth
Following over a decade of revitalization efforts that transformed the built environment in their historic main street districts, municipal and community leaders in Perry, Mount Morris and Geneseo, NY came together in 2017 to establish the Letchworth Gateway Villages initiative, a cross-county collaboration initially formed to answer the question “what’s next for our downtowns?” The collaboration has since morphed into a broader, community-driven placemaking effort aimed at promoting new market opportunities anchored to the region’s natural, cultural and heritage assets. In this panel session speakers will discuss how regional approaches to creative placemaking and destination partnership development are helping transform one rural area’s preservation investments into new economic possibilities. Topics to include rural entrepreneurship, sustainable tourism development and cross-sector collaboration.
Speakers
Since 2003 Nicole Manapol has worked at the intersection of international development, entrepreneurship and education designing and leading a variety of programs from small community-based projects to large-scale global initiatives. Working on behalf of the US State Department, Microsoft, USAID and the higher education sector, Nicole has lived and worked in 14 countries across Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. What she loves most about her line of work is creating opportunities for people, organizations and communities to realize their potential. Nicole is a Western NY native with an MPA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a BS in International Affairs from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
Sandy Schneible is the President and Co-Founder of LitteHive a marketing & development agency based in Livingston County serving clients globally. Prior to establishing littleHive, Sandy Schneible served Washington Mutual, a national bank based in Seattle, WA as the VP, eCommerce Marketing for wamu.com. Outside of LittleHive Sandy devotes her time and talent as an executive board member to the Perry Main Street Association, a volunteer-led organization that provides support for a wide range of short and long term efforts including downtown events, community planning, programs, and promotional projects. In her role on PMSA, Sandy also serves as PMSA’s representative to the Letchworth Gateway Villages Advisory team.
Ken Cooper received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and has been a member of the Geneseo faculty since 1993. His research is interested in the meeting point of 1970s culture and ecology. He frequently teaches the courses Filming the Seventies, Renewable Futures, Contemporary American Literature, and Bioregional Literature. He teaches a digital course through the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges called Storied Landscapes: 21st-Century Nature Writing. In collaboration with Geneseo Milne library archivist Liz Argentieri, Cooper and Argentieri have introduced the Open Valley course, a digital humanities project where students examine local history and culture through a bioregional lens, often pairing with local organizations like the New Deal Art Gallery and Genesee Country Village.
Frances Gotcsik has more than 30 years’ experience working with non-profits, state agencies, local governments, and community groups. Until recent retirement in 2015, she served as the Director of Programs and Policy at the Albany-based statewide non-profit Parks & Trails New York (PTNY). During her 12 years at PTNY, Fran directed the organization’s trails-related advocacy and programs, including its study of the economic impact of the Erie Canalway Trail and Bicyclists Bring Business workshops. Prior to joining PTNY, Fran served first as local coordinator for the Genesee Valley Greenway and then as Executive Director of the Friends of the Greenway. Fran is a former president of the board of the Landmark Society of Western New York and presently serves as Chair of the board of Corn Hill Navigation and treasurer of the Friends of the Greenway. Fran received a B.S. with distinction in science education from Cornell University, an M.S. in biology from the University of Rochester, and an M.B.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Carl Schoenthal holds a Master’s degrees in Engineering from SUNY Buffalo and Management from Roberts Wesleyan College, and has studied architecture, community planning and photogrammetry. In 2015, he was elected to the Wheatland Town Council and in 2019 as a director for the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway, and is now leading the Greenway’s Trail Town initiative. Professionally, Carl is a licensed engineer in 14 states and the Director for Professional Practice at Eagleview (formerly Pictometry), responsible for digital aerial imagery and mapping projects across North America. He has a passion for community revitalization and assembled a diverse team to draft concepts for Medina Market Square, a proposed mixed-use redevelopment effort including community gathering spaces, farmers’ market and live-work neighborhood. Over his 20+ year career he has managed engineering projects for both small municipalities and private development clients here in WNY and Austin, TX. In addition to civic and professional activities, he also operates two small businesses in Scottsville, New York along with his wife and four children and is proud to be a life-long resident of WNY.
2A | Financing Preservation Projects: An In-Depth Look at Resources in NYS (Part 2 of 2)
This two-part session will provide an in-depth look at New York State and federal programs that can be used to help finance preservation projects in your community, many of which can leverage historic tax credit equity. Learn how sources like Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Community Investment Fund, Brownfield Tax Credits, Restore NY, Downtown Revitalization Initiative, Opportunity Zones, and other programs have financed preservation projects throughout New York State. Case studies will be used to explore detailed financing models from projects actively under development. Hear from professionals who work with these programs at many different levels including attorneys, development consultants, and representatives of NYS agencies.
Speakers
Joshua E. Gewolb, an attorney in the Rochester office of Harter Secrest & Emery, has experience with a wide range of federal and state tax matters and assists clients with planning, corporate transactions, compliance, regulatory monitoring, and audits/controversies. He is a frequent speaker and writer on topics related to current events in taxation and non-profit organizations. In addition to his legal practice, Josh is active in several professional and community organizations, including the New York State Bar Association Tax Section Executive Committee, Pathstone Development Corporation, and the Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association. Josh graduated from Harvard University, cum laude, and earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School.
Crystal Loffler is the Vice President, State Programs for NYS Homes & Community Renewal’s Office of Community Renewal (OCR). In this role Crystal oversees OCR’s portfolio of NYS funded grant programs. These programs offer annual and competitive grants to units of local government and not-for-profit organizations that are committed to preserving affordable housing, adapting homes to create accessible units, providing emergency repair support and revitalizing historic downtowns. Prior to joining HCR in 2008, Crystal held positions in both private and public sector planning and community development organizations. Crystal has an MBA from SUNY University at Albany.
Monica McCullough is the owner and founder of MM Development Advisors, Inc., a NYS Certified WBE that assists community-oriented non-profits and social service providers in the development of affordable and supportive housing. Monica is Of Counsel at the law firm Underberg & Kessler, LLP. Monica received her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Rochester; a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University; and a Juris Doctor from the Syracuse University College of Law. Monica is a founding member of the NY Women in Real Estate Association, is the Treasurer of the Community Design Center of Rochester, and is an active resident of Rochester’s Highland Park Neighborhood.
Laura Smith is an attorney in the Rochester office of Harter Secrest & Emery LLP. Laura represents businesses, developers, municipalities, and public authorities on a wide range of issues that include zoning and planning, municipal law, governance, compliance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, hazardous waste and petroleum spill cleanup, brownfield development, and alternative energy. Laura served as a law clerk for the Environmental Protection Agency Region III, Office of Regional Counsel. She holds a B.A. from the College of Wooster and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
My name is Scott Zorn, I grew up in Churchville, NY and graduated from Chruhcivlle Chili High School. I attended the University of Rochester were I was a member of the men’s soccer team and earned a degree in financial economics. Shortly thereafter, I began working here at GSM for Kevin Burns. We were pioneers in the real estate crowdfunding industry, and focus on innovative energy-efficiency techniques. I briefly left to obtain my MBA in finance and real estate from SMU in Dallas. I moved back home after getting my degree, Opportunity Funds are our next big challenge.
2B | Historic Preservation Rehabilitation of Carolyn's House, a Transitional Home for Homeless Women and their Children
Carolyn’s House is a transitional home and job training center run by the YWCA of the Niagara Frontier for homeless women and children from Niagara and Erie counties. The historic preservation adaptation of the former St. Mary’s Hospital Diploma School and Nurse’s Residence helped remove blight in the Sixth St. neighborhood of Niagara Falls. Several revitalization projects followed in the years after the 2005 project completion. Built in 1927 as the Diploma School of Nursing, it was later a dormitory and then a seminary associated with Niagara University, closing in 1987. Abandoned for 17 years, it was heavily damaged by water infiltration and vandalism. The neighboring hospital also closed during this period leaving two large, vacant, un-maintained buildings on a city block. The project is an example of creative funding for a non-profit, including using historic tax credits. The historic rehabilitation of Carolyn’s House is reminder to all of us that historic preservation can and does serve all members of our communities and revitalizes our neighborhoods while raising the quality of life for the residents.
Speakers
Tom Yots has enjoyed a long career in historic preservation. Mr. Yots established Preservation Studios in 2002 after completing his Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning. He is currently serving as the firm’s Director of Municipal Services. He has been actively involved in his local preservation community as both a concerned citizen and preservation consultant. In 2012 he left Preservation Studios to serve as Executive Director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara. Mr. Yots was a founder of the 1500 member not-for-profit and served on its Board of Trustees and Executive Committee from the beginning of the organization in 2008. He retired from Preservation Buffalo Niagara in 2014. In 2013 he was appointed as a commissioner of the Niagara Frontier State Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation Commission and served in that position until 2015. Prior to his work with Preservation Studios, Mr. Yots enjoyed a long, fulfilling career as a High School chemistry teacher in the Lewiston Porter School District.
George Hezel founded the Affordable Housing Clinic at the UB Law School in 1987 and has directed the Clinic since its founding. Collaborating with not-for-profit community-based organizations, the Clinic has produced more than 2,000 units of affordable housing, leveraging more than $213 million in federal, state and local government funds as well as equity raised through the sale of low income housing tax credits.
Hezel has received a variety of awards, including among others, the Caritas Medal from Niagara University, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UB Law School, and the Community Partners Award from the University at Buffalo.
Apart from his teaching at the UB Law School, Hezel has also served as a faculty advisor to the American Bar Association Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law.
Hezel published articles on subjects ranging from real property tax assessment practice to community development law.
J Suzan Ben is the Director of Carolyn’s House, a program of the YWCA of the Niagara Frontier. Carolyn’s House is a 19-apartment transitional home and job training center for homeless women and their children. The program addresses the needs of the homeless and imminent homeless population in the area. It has served nearly 600 women and children since opening in 2005. In her position at Carolyn’s House she oversees the daily operation and community awareness and participation for the facility. In addition she managed a $350,000 social enterprise of the program, The Catering Crew and realized a credit bearing culinary program in affiliation with Niagara County Community College. She is also the Facilities’ Manager for the YWCA real estate properties in Lockport, Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda, NY.
Prior to her work at Carolyn’s House Ms. Ben was an Interior Designer, performing commercial and residential design and space planning.
2C | Shaking Up Preservation
In 2018, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced their inaugural list of 40 Under 40: People Saving Places, which honored 40 individuals under 40 who they consider to be “movers and shakers” in the preservation industry. Hear from 3 honorees- Carlton Hall, Sarah Marsom, and Zulmilena Then on their efforts to make a significant impact in preservation. Hall will delve into his work for the Delaware SHPO as the cultural preservation specialist and historian and efforts to research and educate on the Green Book, a travel guide for African Americans. Marsom, specializes in creative interpretation strategies. She will illuminate on tactics to connect to K-12 students and the under-40 crowd. Then launched the grassroots advocacy group Preserving East New York (PENY) in 2015. Learn how she has grown a preservation movement in a neighborhood previously ignored by historians and successfully saved structures.
Speakers
Carlton Hall is a cultural preservation specialist and historian for the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office in Dover, Delaware. In 2015, he conducted scholarly research and gave presentations on Delaware listings in the Green Book, which is a travel guide created by Victor Green in 1936 for African Americans during segregation. Hall graduated from Delaware State University in 2013 with a Master’s in Historic Preservation. In his spare time, this Civil War and African American history enthusiast enjoys exercising, traveling and learning to speak French.
Sarah Marsom is a heritage resource consultant based in Ohio. Through the creation of Young Ohio Preservationists in 2014, Marsom helped start a statewide initiative to embolden young adults to protect the past. With other leaders from young preservationist groups around the region, Sarah co-founded the Rust Belt Coalition of Young Preservationists in 2016, to create educational opportunities for emerging community leaders in the region.
Her efforts to highlight hidden histories led to the development of the Tiny Activist Project(TAP). TAP spreads awareness of lesser known histories through hand sewn dolls and workshops that fuse art and history.
Zulmilena Then grew up in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.. She works for the architecture firm Michael Ivanhoe McCaw Architect, P.C. In 2015, her love for historic buildings and community inspired her to form Preserving East New York (PENY), an initiative advocating for the preservation of historic buildings within East New York, the first community affected by the city’s major rezoning plan, a plan with impending consequences on the physical landscape of the neighborhood.
2D | Asbestos: The best building material ever. Now what?
Asbestos, it’s everywhere! People think about insulation, but did you know it’s in windows, doors, siding, caulk, glazing, mastic, joint compound, flooring, and even in paint. Why asbestos was used, what products used it, and how dangerous it can be will be explained during this session. The steps we must take during a preservation project are complicated. Understanding the complexities of rules regulation regarding asbestos are confusing at best. This presentation will discuss what NYSDOL, EPA, and OSHA say you MUST do and the reality of what you can do with regards to your preservation project.
Speakers
Kevin Hutton is with Rochester Colonial Manufacturing Corp. and Heartwood Fine Windows and Doors. He is uncomfortable being called an asbestos expert, yet acknowledges he is called when others can’t figure it out. He is energetic and passionate about sharing his knowledge of asbestos rules and regulations to keep you safe and out of jail. He is an EPA/NYS DOH authorized asbestos trainer. He relates 20 plus years of construction experience while training A&E’s to abatement workers. While on the board of Professional Abatement Contractors of NY (PACNY) he worked with NYSDOL to change CR56, developed initiatives to accelerate variances, and has been the primary presenter at PACNY’s Annual Proficiency Day. Kevin holds a Bachelor and Master degree in Construction Management from SUNY ESF.
3A | Climate Change, Renewable Energy, and Historic Preservation
Historic preservation must respond to increasing climate change impacts on our built environment, including storm damage and rising sea levels. In response to climate change concerns, many have sought mitigation against future impacts through renewable energy. Governor Cuomo has mandated that 50 Percent of New York State’s electricity must come from renewable sources by 2030. In response to this and increasing renewable energy incentives and technological advances, installations such as solar fields and wind farms have grown in size and number. While preservation seeks to limit climate change, we also have our own mandate to mitigate historic and cultural impacts of projects with state and/or federal funding, licensing, and permitting, according to the Federal & NYS Historic Preservation Acts. Preservation advocates seek a happy medium where renewable energy & historic/cultural landscapes can exist in harmony.
Speakers
Jeffrey Anzevino, AICP, is Director of Land Use Advocacy at Scenic Hudson where he helps communities ensure that development connects people with the river, conserves views and natural resources, respects historic resources and stimulates the economy. Jeff is co-author of Revitalizing Hudson Riverfronts (2010), which won a US Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Environmental Quality Award in 2013.
Mr. Anzevino is also an adjunct instructor at Marist College’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy where he has taught a senior-level course in Environmental Planning since 2011.
Previously, Mr. Anzevino was a planner for the City of Cape Coral, Florida, where he drafted the city’s historic preservation ordinance and authored the Community Facilities Element of the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Anzevino is a cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, with a B.A. in Geography (1985).
Ellen Pope is executive director of Otsego 2000, a small non-profit dedicated to preserving the historical, cultural, agricultural, and environmental assets of the Otsego Lake region surrounding Cooperstown, New York. She is responsible for the overall management and direction of the organization and its programs including efforts to protect the region from shale gas extraction and other industrial threats, preserve its rich historical buildings, hamlets and landscapes, and promote local sustainability primarily through the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market and other economic development initiatives like the Film Days. Prior to joining Otsego 2000, she spent 17 years in transatlantic exchange and policy, at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, where she managed the Marshall Memorial Fellowship leadership program for seven years before launching the Comparative Domestic Policy program, a major initiative focused on transatlantic exchange of best practices in urban and regional policy, and as program officer at the French-American Foundation prior to the German Marshall Fund. She is a graduate of Wellesley College.
Erin Tobin serves as the Preservation League’s Vice President for Policy and Preservation and has been with the League since 2007. Erin directs all aspects of the League’s Public Policy and Technical Services Programs. She works collaboratively to set and pursue a statewide policy agenda that advances historic preservation in New York State at the federal, state, and local levels. Erin also oversees the League’s Technical Services and preservation grants programs. Erin has held positions with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, New York Landmarks Conservancy, and Historic Albany Foundation. She serves on the City of Albany Historic Resources Commission, appointed in August 2018. She lives in the city of Albany with her husband and three children.
3B | James Johnson, Rochester's Mid-Century Maverick: Documenting the Architecture of the Recent Past
James H. Johnson, Rochester’s most imaginative mid-20th-century architect, was responsible for the renowned “Mushroom House” and other unusual buildings, but his work was largely unknown and unprotected, as became obvious when one of his most important buildings was demolished in 2012. Granted the rare and exciting opportunity to document Johnson’s career, our team spent a year and a half reviewing original drawings, interviewing colleagues, sorting through original slides and clippings, and visiting strange and marvelous buildings to try to fit this audaciously innovative career into the confines of a National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form. We’ll describe the benefits of the MDPF format for analysis and advocacy purposes, how we evaluated this unusual “recent past” career, and lessons we learned, all illustrated with original and recent photographs representing Johnson’s stunning, and largely unknown, body of work.
Speakers
Christopher Brandt is an architect at Bero Architecture, a firm with a legacy of over forty years of historic preservation practice. He was born and raised in the Rochester region and has been active in its historic preservation community since high school. Chris received a BS in Architecture from the University at Buffalo, and a M-Arch with a certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia. Outside of his day job restoring and adapting old buildings, he serves as the Advocacy and Education Coordinator of the Young Urban Preservationists, obsessive compulsively researches local history, and is DIY-restoring the small historic home he shares with his wife.
Katie Eggers Comeau is the architectural historian at Bero Architecture. She assists clients throughout western New York with historic resource surveys, National Register nominations, and tax credit applications. A native of the Rochester area, she previously worked at a preservation consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and at the Landmark Society of Western New York. She is also a trustee of the National Association for Olmsted Parks and frequently gives presentations on Rochester’s Olmsted legacy.
3C | Sacred spaces: Laying foundations for communities
Speakers
Dirk Schneider is a partner at CJS Architects, LLP. As a German trained architect he brings his diligence for details and architectural cohesiveness to every project. He also has inherent interest in architectural history, restoration and preservation of individual buildings as well as urban infrastructures. He pursued actively the preservation of several buildings in Lyons, NY and in 2004, Mr. Schneider was leading a colloquium with Edgar Tafel and Edmund Meade, describing the condition and solution for the Graycliff Estate a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home. Mr. Schneider serves currently as the chairperson for Design Review & Historic Preservation Board for the Town of Pittsford.
3D | Preserving Tangible and Intangible Heritage: Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass as a Case Study
This session considers preservation as related to the life, legacy, and memorialization of Frederick and Anna Douglass in Rochester. To begin, Michelle Furlano addresses the history of Stanley Edwards’ statue of Frederick Douglass which was installed near the Rochester railway station in 1899. Hinda Mandell tells the story of the Douglass’s first Rochester home on Alexander St., its tensions and its lifeblood where from 1848-1851 the Douglasses devoted their lives to the abolishment of slavery. Artist Shawn Dunwoody, creative producer of a historic “art marker” to honor the legacy of Anna Murray Douglass, describes his role in preservation through public art interventions. Autumn Haag defines the ways in which archives, specifically Douglass-related materials at UR, inform other actions of preservation. Finally, Juilee Decker tells how tangible and intangible heritage have become increasingly relevant in the age of #TakeItDown.
Speakers
Michelle Furlano is a Ph.D. history candidate at the University of Rochester. After completing her M.A. in History at the University of Toronto, she worked for six years in the Heritage and Museum sector. She is currently co-manager of the Seward Family Digital Archive, at UR. Her most recent work includes writing and copy-editing for the forthcoming “Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the U.S,” and consulting for the “Remembering Lewis Henry Morgan” exhibit at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County. Her most recent paper presentation was, “Feminism in the Forties: The Founding of the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House.” Her dissertation research focuses on gender, race, commemoration, and historic sites and monuments in 20th century America.
Hinda Mandell is associate professor in the School of Communication at RIT in New York, and is a co-editor of Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 US Presidential Election (University of Rochester Press, 2018); the author of Sex Scandals, Gender and Power in Contemporary American Politics (Praeger, 2017) and co-editor of Scandal in a Digital Age (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). She is under contract (with Rowman & Littlefield) as editor of the book Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats. She is co-curating the “Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism,” to open in August 2019 at the Central Branch of the Rochester Public Library, and co-editing an eponymous book. She’s on Twitter: @crochetactivism.
Autumn Haag is Special Collections Librarian/Archivist for Research & Collections in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation at the University of Rochester where she is the curator of the Frederick Douglass Papers. She has a Masters degree in Information Studies from the University of Toronto. She co-authored the book chapter “Using BEAM to Integrate Information Literacy and Writing: A Framework With Cases” from the Purdue Information Literacy Handbook, Vol 2., forthcoming from Purdue University Press.
Juilee Decker, Ph.D. is an associate professor of museum studies at Rochester Institute of Technology. She earned her Ph.D. from the joint program in Art History and Museum Studies at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Decker serves as a juror for the Education Committee of the American Alliance of Museums and is a past board member of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House. Since 2008, Decker has published widely in the field of museums and archives, most recently her revision to Museums in Motion (2017, AASLH/R&L). In her research and practice, she seeks ways to facilitate dialogues between communities and the objects, spaces, places, and practices that they hold dear. Reflecting her interests in public art, commemoration, and memory, Decker has lectured on monuments and memory. Her monograph on Kentucky-born sculptor Enid Yandell (1869-1934) is forthcoming.
4A | Making Sense of SEQRA: Recent Amendments and Their Impacts on Municipal Review of Historic and Cultural Resources
Under SEQRA, municipalities must review impacts to historic and cultural resources when deciding to approve, fund, or undertake an action. Effective January 2019, municipalities must evaluate the impacts of actions located near sites eligible for listing on the State Register of Historic Places. The previous rule only required municipalities to consider the impacts of actions located near sites listed on the National or State Historic Register (or proposed for inclusion on the National Register). Because many structures in the state are more than fifty years old and meet one or more of the Historic Preservation Act’s eligibility criteria, the SEQRA amendments may increase the likelihood that an action will receive a positive declaration of environmental significance and require additional municipal review. This may expand opportunities to protect vital, unlisted historic and cultural resources located in lower income neighborhoods.
Speakers
Mindy founded The Zoghlin Group, PLLC in 2016. She previously practiced with a Rochester law firm and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.
Mindy represents individuals, small businesses, developers, citizens’ groups, and municipalities in a wide range of environmental and land use matters including toxic tort and property damage cases, Article 78 proceedings, and zoning and regulatory permitting proceedings. She also has substantial experience in a variety of other personal and commercial civil cases. Mindy’s practice includes litigating in state and federal courts and counseling clients on ways to minimize and/or avoid litigation risks.
In 2018 she received The Daily Record’s Excellence in Law/Top Women in Law award.
Frances is an Associate Attorney with the Zoghlin Group. She focuses primarily on environmental, municipal, and land use litigation and represents individuals, businesses, municipalities and community groups before New York State courts and municipal boards.
Prior to joining the Zoghlin Group, Frances worked at Rochester’s Cornerstone Group, Ltd., a real estate developer focusing on affordable housing development in Western New York and the Finger Lakes. Frances also worked for over three years as an associate attorney at a large Western New York law firm where she represented lenders and services throughout New York State.
Frances is a 2017 recipient of the Monroe County Bar Association’s Raymond J. Pauley Award.
4B | Rochester's LGBTQ Landmarks: 50 Years After Stonewall
In 2019 we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall, the identified event that marks the beginning of the modern Gay Rights movement in the United States, with an exhibit at the Rochester Public Library. Even before the Stonewall Riots, Rochester’s diverse LGBTQ community was at the forefront – making history by championing the cause of equality and freedom for all. It has stood side by side with the many pioneers who fought for civil rights throughout Rochester and the world. Rochester is a city that celebrates diversity and has often set benchmarks for civil liberties throughout the nation. This session will share the course and strategies of local organizations and the city of Rochester in exposing, saving, and celebrating Rochester’s LGBTQ historic sites and history.
Speakers
Evelyn Bailey is currently the Out Alliance Historian, and Archivist for LGBTQ community of Rochester. Evelyn is Chair of the Shoulders to Stand On Program, the historic documentation and preservation program of the Out Alliance. She is the recipient of the 2016 Debra E. Bernhardt Annual Archives Award for Excellence in Documenting New York’s History.
Carol Ebersol-Weiss is a member of the Human Rights Campaign, and is currently a member of HRC’s National Board of Governors, Greater NY Steering Committee, Western NY Coordinator. Carol has been involved in civil rights and social action work for 10 years, and currently is the organizer for the 2nd Thursday HRC Networking Event.
Larry Francer joined the Landmark Society as the Associate Director of Preservation in September of 2012 with 20 years of preservation experience, much in small towns and villages. Grass roots preservationist, courthouse activist, business owner, religious leader, Zumba enthusiast, filmmaker and actor, Larry Francer is a true renaissance man.
Christine L. Ridarsky is Historian for the City of Rochester and manager of the Local History & Genealogy Division of the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County. She is coordinator and chief curator of an exhibit at the library March 1 – July 12, 2019, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the uprising at the Stonewall Inn and exploring the history of LGBTQ+ life and activism in Rochester. Ridarsky has a M.A. in History from the State University of New York, College at Brockport, and has completed coursework toward a PhD in American History at the University of Rochester.
4C | Building & Restoring Communities through Real Estate Impact Investing
Around the country, previously vibrant communities have fallen into disrepair and neglect. Beautiful buildings that once shone as stalwarts in a community are merely shadows of their former glory. Housing Joint Venture is leveraging historic preservation as a key tool to renovate historic buildings and repurpose them for new, modern uses that allow them to serve as dynamic epicentiers once again. This talk will highlight the revitalization plans for the Holy Rosary Campus in Central Ohio.
Speakers
John Delia is a prolific real estate investor, entrepreneur and author. He specializes in repositioning value-added properties in inner cities across the American Midwest. An expert deal maker and strategist, he began his career in real estate at age 18. He is the author of Life, Liberty n’ Property: A Guide to Successful Real Estate Investing. John actively manages a portfolio that houses residents from 4 continents and is valued in excess of $1.5 Million. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Richelle and their miniature Goldendoodle puppy.
4D | Certified Local Historic District: Where protection meets financial incentives
Certified Local Districts (CLD) are locally designated historic districts that have been deemed by the Secretary of the Interior as effectively meeting all requirements for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but without actually listing them on the National Register. Through the certification process, contributing depreciable properties within the district may pursue state and federal historic tax credits which they would otherwise not have access to. Panelists including Christiana Limniatis of Preservation Buffalo Niagara, Kelly Carroll of Historic Districts Council, and Linda Mackey of NYSOPRHP will review the process of and highlight recent efforts to protect endangered neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Buffalo, and Schenectady, and to provide access to much needed financial incentives through the establishment of Certified Local Districts.
Speakers
Kelly Carroll is the Director of Advocacy and Community Outreach at the Historic Districts Council, a non-profit preservation organization based in NYC. She facilitates neighborhood and citywide preservation campaigns and composes testimony to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which is regularly published in NYC’s real estate media coverage. Kelly earned a B.A. in history from UNC Asheville in 2008, then attended Columbia University, earning a M.S. in Historic Preservation in 2012. A portion of Ms. Carroll’s graduate thesis was published as a book, We See What We Want to See, in 2018. Kelly grew up in Buffalo, New York, a city whose history, architecture and neighborhoods inspired her to pursue her career in preservation.
Linda Mackey works as a Historic Preservation Specialist in the Survey and Certified Local Government Program (CLG) Unit for the SHPO. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University at Buffalo, and a MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her employment with SHPO, she worked in the private sector as an architectural historian conducting large-scale surveys and assisting federal agencies in fulfilling their duties under Section 106. At SHPO, Linda is responsible for overseeing the statewide inventory of historic resources in the Capital Region, New York City, and Long Island, preparing determinations of eligibility, and assisting communities with surveys to identify and evaluate historic resources worthy of protection. Additionally, she works with the CLG Coordinator to provide training and support to municipalities formally designated as CLGs by the National Park Service.
Christiana Limniatis is the Director of Preservation Services at Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN), in Buffalo NY. At PBN, Christiana oversees all technical and community services which work to expand and strengthen the reach of preservation education and best practices in Western New York. Originally from Albany, NY, Christiana began her preservation career at Historic Albany Foundation and has also worked as a preservation consultant in Louisiana and Tennessee. Christiana holds a BA in History/Political Science from The College of Saint Rose and completed her coursework towards an MA in Historic Preservation Planning at Cornell University.
A New Blueprint: Discussing the Importance of Diversity in Preservation
Lee Bey
Lee Bey is a photographer, writer, lecturer and consultant whose work deals in the documentation and interpretation of the built environment—and the often complex political, social and racial forces that shape spaces and places.
His architectural photography has appeared in magazines such as Chicago Architect, Architect, Old House Journal, CITE, and in international design publications such as Bauwelt, and Modulør, both published in Germany.
A former Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic, Bey’s writing and reporting on architecture and urban design have been featured in Architect, Chicago magazine, Architectural Record, the Houston Chronicle, Crain’s Chicago Business, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, Fox News Chicago, Guardian Cities, Monocle Radio, and CBS2 News Chicago.
Bey is also a sought-after expert on architecture, architectural history and the development of cities. He has been interviewed by a range of media outlets on the subject, including the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, CityLab, WTTW Chicago Public Television, WGN-TV, Echappees Belles, an international travel show on TV5MONDE Europe, and That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles, produced by KCET-TV in Los Angeles. He has lectured before audiences at the University of Hamburg, University of Michigan, City Club of Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the Arts Club of Chicago, Palm Springs’ Modernism Week, and more.
Bey is the author of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side (Northwestern University Press, Fall 2019). The book expands on the places and themes of his 2017 photo exhibition, Chicago: a Southern Exposure, documented the rich and largely ignored architecture of the South Side. The show was created for the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Bey’s photography was the subject of a year-long show in 2011, Chicago Then and Now: A Story by Lee Bey, at Chicago’s City Gallery at the historic Water Tower. His photographs of farm workers’ housing in Alamosa, CO and Chicago’s Archer Courts apartments were featured in the museum exhibit Wohnmodelle: Experiment und Alltag, which debuted in 2008 in Austria’s Kunstlerhaus.
Bey, a senior lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, also served as deputy chief of staff for urban planning under former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley. He was also governmental affairs director for the Chicago office of the architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Bey was also executive director of the Chicago Central Area Committee.
Chicago public television station WTTW in 2014 called Bey “one of Chicago’s keenest observers of architecture and urban planning.”
Sibley Square, 2nd floor
Reception immediately following the Keynote. Cash bar, hors d’oeuvres provided.
This year’s Preservation Partners Party will also feature the Preservation League of New York State’s Seven to Save exhibit, Hidden in Plain Sight. This opening night reception is sponsored by Michel and Caroline Rob Zaleski. The exhibit is sponsored by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor with co-sponsors Consigli Construction Co., Inc.; Gray Slate Partners LLC of Troy; PBDW Architects; Matthew Bender; and Phoebe Powell Bender; with additional support from Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Pike, and Caroline and Michel Zaleski.
Saturday, April 27th
Explore the Beechwood neighborhood and learn how its residents are harnessing the power of grassroots advocacy to reclaim vacant properties, remake their streets, and provide a safe and affordable neighborhood for residents of all socio-economic backgrounds.
Meet at New City Café, 441 Parsells Ave.
The City of Rochester Public Market has been a hub of commerce, culture and community at its North Union Street site near downtown since 1905. This year-round indoor-outdoor municipally-run Market offers a huge volume and variety of products, and the most diverse gathering that can be found in Greater Rochester. Visitors on spring, summer, and fall Saturdays can find over 300 vendor stalls packed with local, national and international produce; meat, seafood, poultry; cheeses and dairy; baked goods; ethnic and specialty foods; beverages; prepared foods galore; and general merchandise such as clothing, jewelry, arts and crafts. Saturday attendance during the busiest months often tops 25,000. Market shoppers can also find community organizations tabling, buskers, nutritious cooking demos and samplings, and much more within its iconic gateway arches. The Market makes its classic public space further available to the community with another 45-50 days open each year for free-admission special events, such as Community Garage Sales, Flower City Days horticultural sales, Food Truck Rodeos, Bands on the Bricks, Halloween and Holidays at the Market, and more.
While exploring the Market, Conference attendees can also take in the historic structures and elements of the Market, along with the newer. In 2017, the Market completed an $8.5 million renovation and expansion project, which included the full replacement of the indoor vendor shed with a state-of-the-art facility carefully designed to fit into the historic Market landscape, and a new covered outdoor vendor shed “D” that’s a near perfect replica of a 1904 original that was demolished in 1963.
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square is a mid-century modern landscape, designed by Lawrence Halprin and built as designed in 1972 as the first phase of development of the Southeast Loop Urban Renewal Plan, in downtown Rochester. The park was the centerpiece of the Plan, an open space surrounded by largely unrealized high-density development.
The field session will include a guided walking tour of the multi-level design, which includes five integral buildings, a skating rink/reflecting pool, a playground, a playfield, a pedestrian tunnel under Chestnut Street and an amphitheater with a waterfall fountain and an overhead space frame, with special attention to extant elements of the original design, the City’s 2000 Master Plan for rehabilitation, and the results of five phases of capital improvements. The park is noteworthy not only as a modernist gem of landscape architecture, but as an important venue for special events and an amenity for downtown residents and visitors.
JoAnn Beck is a Landscape Architect, with 35 years of professional experience in academic, private and public practice. She retired after twenty years as the Senior Landscape Architect with the City of Rochester, having administered the design of capital improvement projects including: the rehabilitation of Martin Luther King Memorial Park, The El Camino Trail, Lower Falls Park and the Genesee Riverway Trail at Turning Point Park. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Landmark Society of Western New York, as Chair of the Olmsted Parks Alliance and President of the Highland Park Conservancy.
