Press Releases

Buffalo to host the 2011 National Preservation Conference

National Trust for Historic Preservation event will attract more than 2,000 members to experience Buffalo’s historic architecture and preservation success stories

Frank Lloyd Wright restorations, Roycroft Arts & Crafts Movement, Frederick Law Olmsted parks, Erie Canal Harbor, Underground Railroad highlight Buffalo’s bid

BUFFALO, NY, October 16, 2007 – The Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Buffalo Niagara Preservation Consortium are pleased to announce that the National Preservation Conference is coming to Buffalo in 2011. This event will bring more than 2,000 members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to Buffalo in October of that year to partake in a variety of field sessions, architecture tours, heritage workshops and preservation case studies. Buffalo’s efforts to reinvent itself through historic preservation, adaptive re-use and cultural and heritage tourism projects will be on display to a national audience. It is expected that the conference will have an economic impact of approximately $2.5 million on the local economy.

"Conference attendees are sure to be impressed by Buffalo’s incredible collection of great buildings – but I believe they’ll also be impressed by the city’s inspiring examples of how preservation can be a springboard for sustainable economic revitalization,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “Like all communities, Buffalo still faces some serious preservation challenges, and I hope our conference will help inspire action to meet those challenges effectively. We’re looking forward to spending a week in this great city."

The National Preservation Conference is a large, complex, prestigious and highly-sought-after event and it took many partners working together for the past 18 months to bring the event to Buffalo. Coming together as the Buffalo Niagara Preservation Consortium, representatives from the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Baird Foundation, the Preservation Coalition of Erie County, the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier, the Campaign for Greater Buffalo, the Martin House Restoration Corporation, the Roycroft Campus Corporation, Nash House Museum, Clinton Brown Company Architects, Community Preservation Corp., the Buffalo Preservation Board, Mingus Associates, and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt hosted luncheons and tours for Trust staff, attended the 2006 Conference in Pittsburgh, assembled a 150-page bid book, staged a dinner reception attended by 430 community members for National Trust President Richard Moe, hosted a two-day site visit by Trust meeting planners and sealed the deal with a very visible presence at the just-concluded 2007 Conference in St. Paul. It should also be noted that the broad based community support that this effort enjoyed – in the form of more than 80 letters of support from a variety of elected officials and civic organizations – played no small part in impressing the National Trust decision makers. According to Trust staff, the Buffalo team’s efforts were exemplary and exceptional at every step of this process. Consortium members demonstrated the type of commitment, passion and work ethic that helped us overcome determined efforts by Hartford and Philadelphia to land the 2011 Conference.

"With the community investing hundreds of millions of dollars in our historic sites and architecture, this" conference will allow us to ‘show off’ our investment to the world,” said Richard Geiger, President and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It will provide an opportunity to encourage people to experience for themselves Buffalo’s wealth of cultural and architectural treasures. This will be a tremendous marketing opportunity for the region."

As recounted in the history of Buffalo’s preservation movement that was written for inclusion in the National Trust proposal, Buffalonians have been engaged in a passionate battle on behalf of our built environment and historic architecture for nearly fifty years. Beloved icons such as Shea’s Buffalo Theatre, the Guaranty Building, the Old Post Office, the Roycroft Inn and the Darwin D. Martin House were saved from the wrecking ball during that time and returned to vital and productive use. The Preservation Consortium made the case to the National Trust that the story of these and many other buildings, as well as the people and organizations who fought to save them would make for compelling case studies and field sessions in the fall of 2011.

"In many ways, our community viewed the opportunity to host the National Preservation Conference as the culmination of years of investment – of time, energy, capital and passion – in our historic architecture, the natural environment and urban infrastructure," said Catherine Schweitzer, Executive Director of the Baird Foundation and co-chair of the Buffalo Niagara Preservation Consortium. "A new era is dawning in Buffalo, in no small measure attributable to the visionary work and advocacy of our preservation community."

As the 2011 date approaches a local organizing committee consisting of members of the Buffalo Niagara Preservation Consortium and additional community partners will be formed to oversee the implementation and management of the National Preservation Conference, in partnership with National Trust staff.

Media Contacts:

Ed Healy
Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau
716-852-0511, x236
healy@buffalocvb.org

Doug Sitler
Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau
716-852-0511, x252
sitler@buffalocvb.org