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The Challenge of Preserving Interiors

Posted by: Tim Halbur

27 December 2010 - 5:00am

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission lists only 110 interiors worthy of preservation. This article in Metropolis says the challenge is the "temporal nature of interior spaces."

Exteriors may stay the same, but the way we use rooms changes all the time:

"Real estate agents call this phenomenon 'churn,' and it's been around for a lot longer than historic preservation. Still, a landmark interior is required to meet the same stringent criteria as a landmark building. It must be 30 years old and operate in the public realm. To survive that long intact, it has to be lucky enough to have a sympathetic owner—or more likely, a string of sympathetic owners who have understood and appreciated the space. One false step on the march to 30 can leave it vulnerable to alterations and eventual extinction."

Full Story: Looking Inward
Source: Metropolis Magazine, December 22, 2010
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If hundreds of people in your community raised reasonable concerns about a planning program you developed, how would you respond? Perhaps you might call a community meeting, or ask community elected officials to reach out to community leaders.
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