Title:  Preserving Our Heritage: A Statewide Plan for Texas

Texas Preservation Plan

Number of Pages:  36
Approval Date:  December 5, 2001
Planning Cycle:  5 years

Contact Information:

Lawerence Oaks
Executive Director
Texas Historical Commission
P.O. Box 12276, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
(512) 463-6100; fax (512) 475-4872
E-mail:  l.oaks@thc.state.tx.gov Web:  www.thc.state.tx.us/statewideplan/swpdefault.html

Mission/Vision Statement:
Our vision for historic preservation in Texas looks to the future to preserve the fabric of our past. It is an image, a literal picture of our goals and strategies achieved in 25 years. While 2025 may seem a long way away, use this vision as inspiration for action and change today. Imagine…

In 25 years, Texas has a reputation for valuing, preserving and protecting its historic and cultural resources. Cities and towns across the Lone Star State are visionary in integrating historic preservation into their broader community goals, and have seen their collaborative planning efforts realized as their historic neighborhoods and downtowns thrive. As historic buildings are restored to their original appearance, or sensitively adapted to the demands of today, all Texans take note of the importance of preservation in creating healthy and sustainable communities.

Our youth are at the heart of historic preservation in 2025. They have a strong ethic for protecting our diverse past and respect our historic fabric as an integral component of the environment we live in. Texas has strong heritage education programs for youth that continue to evolve and thrive.

In 2025, the community of people who appreciate historic and cultural resources in Texas is a vast and well-connected network of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds and disciplines. Our community is informed and well-equipped to make preservation happen at the local and state level, and has leadership that advocates and creates healthy places with a strong connection to the past.

In 25 years, we have a thorough understanding of Texas' historic resources and how they tell the stories of people, places and cultures. Communities across the state have undertaken comprehensive surveys, or updated existing inventories, and created user-friendly databases and historic context statements for everyone to access. Special attention has been paid to resources that illuminate untold or misinterpreted histories and peoples, as well as resources that will gain significance in the coming years.

Above all, the historic houses, neighborhoods, archeological sites, farms, downtowns, courthouses, cemeteries, missions, ranches and landscapes that make Texas truly unique have been preserved. Our preservation dilemmas at the turn of the century are our success stories of 2025. Abandoned historic courthouse squares are revitalized to their former civic and commercial glory; historic inner-city neighborhoods are protected from development pressures; cultural artifacts have been unearthed, preserved, and interpreted; and deteriorating historic cemeteries are renewed places of beauty and contemplation.

We have created an environment where our historic and cultural resources thrive - into the future.

Table of Contents:

Importance of Preservation
Purpose of the Statewide Plan
The Historic and Cultural Fabric of Texas
Challenges to Preserving Texas Heritage
A Vision for Preservation in Texas
Goals for Preserving our Heritage
Future Planning: Steps to a Texas Future that Preserves the Past
Putting the Statewide Plan to Work for Texas
Appendix A: Texas Historical Commission Institutional Memory
Appendix B: Visionaries in Preservation
Appendix C: Preservation Partners

• "State of the State of Preservation" meetings held in 23 cities;
• University of Texas conducted public opinion survey;
• Draft plan posted on THC web site to solicit public comment.

• Used strategic planning and visioning process to identify issues, solutions, goals and priorities;
• Planning consultant helped develop draft plan.

ISSUES, THREATS, & OPPORTUNITIES

• Growth, development, and sprawl;
• Loss of historic farm and ranch land;
• Decline in vitality of small town main streets and commercial squares;
• Revival of big city downtowns stimulates restoration of vacant historic commercial buildings and creates renewed interest in historic inner-city residential neighborhoods;
• "Smart growth" infill often threaten historic buildings and neighborhoods;
• Most cities and counties lack or have weak preservation plans and local ordinances to protect historic and cultural resources;
• Vast number of unsurveyed resources;
• Legal protection provided by Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and State Archaeological Landmark designation;
• Cultural and ethnic diversity needs better representation and respect in historic and cultural landscape;
• Preservation ethic is not widespread;
• Preservation education and awareness is critical;
• Misconceptions about preservation mingle with strong property rights attitudes;
• Preservation's effective role in economic development not widely known;
• Obtaining fund for preservation activities is always a challenge;
• State matching grant program for county courthouses;
• Archaeological resources in grave danger from pothunters and looters;
• Strong volunteer Texas Archaeological Stewardship Network;
• Visionaries in Preservation Program empowers communities to define their preservation future;
• Heritage tourism offers benefits for preservation;
• Preservation directly linked to economic development;
• Texas Preservation Trust Fund, Certified Local Government program, and Texas Heritage Trails Program offer grant opportunities for preservation.

1. Leadership/Teambuilding: Develop and sustain exceptional leadership qualities in both public and private preservation organizations in the State of Texas.
2. Vision/Planning: Advocate a preservation vision at state, regional, and local levels.
3. Education/Awareness: Create a statewide awareness, appreciation, and effective utilization of historic preservation.
4. Resource Identification, Preservation, and Interpretation: Expand and enhance efforts to identify, preservation, and interpret historic resources.
5. Resource Development: Develop and secure fiscal and human resources to accomplish preservation in Texas.

1. Leadership/Teambuilding.
   • Enhance local, regional, and statewide preservation leadership skills through recruitment, training, and maximizing staff effectiveness.
   • Broaden diversity of preservation community, programs, events, participation, and involving youth.
   • Cultivate partnerships with key groups and agencies that affect preservation efforts, through local and regional meetings and networking opportunities.
2. Vision/Planning.
   • Formalize the vision through a statewide plan.
   • Create local vision that links to statewide plan through development of local preservation plans.
   • Empower local communities to develop local vision through participation in Visionaries in Preservation Program.
   • Strengthen link between preservation and broader planning considerations at state, regional, and local levels through communication, increased awareness of benefits of preservation.
3. Education/Awareness.
   • Increase understanding of value of preservation through targeting key constituencies, using the Internet, and outreach tools.
   • Broaden preservation constituency in Texas through heritage education, broadening appreciation, fostering sense of community stewardship, partnerships with colleges and universities.
   • Assist in effective use of preservation tools through Internet, "tool kits," increased awareness of tools' effectiveness, creation of web-based restoration information resource center.
   • Increase understanding of preservation as economic development tool through training and heritage tourism.
4. Resource Identification, Preservation, and Interpretation.
   • Identify historic resources statewide in consistent manner, through development of priorities and endangered properties list, and identifying properties that may be affected by public projects.
   • Develop new and enhance existing strategies for historic resources, including preservation, assistance, heritage tourism, designation for underrepresented resources, and policies for protection of state-owned properties.
   • Improve understanding of historic resources through better interpretation, including museum programs, preservation policies, and sensitivity in site interpretation.
   • Develop marketing strategies to promote historic resources, through outreach materials, delivery systems, publicity for key messages, archaeological field projects, major building restorations.
   • Use economic incentives to promote preservation.
5. Resource Development.
   • Increase funding for preservation efforts, by identifying and developing new funding sources, developing matching grant program.
   • Maximize return on investment for proper use of historic resources, through leveraging THC grants for greatest match and effectiveness, seeking partnerships in fund management.
   • Use volunteers', staff's, commissioners' time more efficiently, through volunteer management, and time-management training.
   • Improve professional effectiveness through appropriate staff compensation for THC and partnership organizations.

FEATURES OF NOTE:
This plan is very attractive and easy to read. See if you can find the star on each pair of open pages!