HPA

Oct. 20, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Mission Concepcion Convento located at 807 Mission Road (look for the signs once you get to the mission)

Sponsored by the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Archeological Institute of America, SWTAS (AIA-SWTAS)

What’zit? Don’t know what you have, but have been dying to know? Now’s your chance! Have that artifact you’ve been wondering about identified. All items are interesting! Includes prehistoric artifacts (stone projectile points, ground stone, shell, stone tools, etc.), historic artifacts including ceramics, iron, copper, brass, coins, religious artifacts, battle related artifacts and any and all others!

This past week Preservation Texas held its annual Preservation Summit to unveil the 2012 Texas Most Endangered Places and to discuss current preservation issues in Texas. UTSA Historic Preservation program was represented at the summit by graduate students Kim Collins and Diana Luis, who are also an intern and volunteer at the organization. While there, these students were able to actively participate in discussions including fundraising, advocacy, outreach and sustainability. They were also witnesses to the unveiling of this year’s Most Endangered Places which include a theater, church, homes, inns, and even a nineteenth century moveable jail. The summit closed with a call for all preservationist to become “Warriors” and “not to mess Texas History.”

For more info please visit:
Texas 2012 Preservation Summit
2012 Texas Most Endangered Places

Winner of the Preservation Texas, Texas’ Most Endangered Places, the Blas Herrera Ranch is under receiving the tender loving care it needs and deserves, and now stands proud in its beautiful, newly preserved, white stucco exterior. According to Ron Baumi, from the San Antonio Conservation Society, improvements over the past few months included:

The north wall fireplace and chimney being reconstructed; northwest corner rebuilt with native stone, plastered and whitewashed; south jacal wall repaired around the two window; west rear jacal wall braced to slow it’s eastward movement; All window and door openings were boarded up and vented; a coat of white paint on non-historic exterior plaster; and rush clean up.

While still a work in progress, that which has been done speaks volumes. [Diana Luis]

For more information on the Blas Herrera Ranch and other endagered places in Texas please click here or visit preservationtexas.org

UTSA Graduate Student, Diana Luis, was one of the two winners of the Historic Preservation Association scholarship to attend the National Trust of Historic Preservation Conference 2011 in Buffalo NY. While there, she took full advantage of the various opportunities, including a field excursion to the “Hidden from Sight- Honoring the History of Native People” in Buffalo’s Native American Heritage. In this field trip, she was able to observe the growing relationship between the National Trust, the Buffalo Historic Society, and the Buffalo Native American communities. Together, these groups have been able to protect several sites of cultural and historic significance, including two underwater, and educate students about the rich heritage of Buffalo’s Native community. Other activities of interest that she was able to attend included Opening Plenary, given by author James Howard Kunstler, Young Preservation Rendezvous, session on digitalizing archives and Section 106 online, the Candlelight House Tour, and tour of the Richardson Olmstead Complex. This was one of the largest conferences in National Trust history, and Diana felt both honored and privileged to help represent UTSA and HPA there.

On October 26th, UTSA Graduate Students Katie Totman, HPA President, and Diana Luis attended the Centro Partnership San Antonio and SA 2020 Downtown Strategic Framework Plan in regards to the proposed urban development plan. The purpose of the plan is to increase city center living by nearly 8,000 as well as create a sustainable urban culture by 2020. Made up of Centro Partnership San Antonio, city architects, urban planners, neighborhood associations, and people who just love the city center, the meeting highlighted past progress and decisions, as well as asked its participants to reassess its priorities and key in on the important issues that could help the proposal succeed. A lively and heated discussion about these issues reinforced the proposed arguments with a consensus agreeing that the best means to obtain the SA2020 goal would be through clearer urban mobility, affordable housing, and economic development. A final plan should be drafted by December 2011.

For more information on SA2020, visit their website at http://www.sa2020.org/

On Thursday, September 29th, the UTSA’s Preservation Technology class embarked on a grand adventure to Natchitoches, Louisiana (pronounced Nack-o-tish) for two nights. Why Natchitoches you may wonder? I will tell you why. The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) is located in this small college town, and nothing short of magic is worked there. Perhaps “magic” is a bit of an exaggeration. The science and great minds utilizing that science is astounding. The class had the pleasure of visiting the town’s historic cemetery and Magnolia plantation, where they witnessed a number of preservation techniques dealing with granite, brick, plaster, and bousillage.The incredible research the NCPTT accomplishes each year ranges from granite cemetery headstone restoration, rapid weatherization for various materials, and a number of other inventions that may soon be utilized worldwide by preservationists.

National Center for Preservation Technology and Training