In the news

Austin Monitor (3/15/2024)

Planning Commission gets its first look at Equity-Based Preservation Plan

"With the draft Equity-Based Preservation Plan now available for public review, city boards and commissions are getting briefed on the document that includes over 100 recommendations for preserving the highs and lows of Austin’s history. An overarching goal... is for preservation to serve all of Austin, including underrepresented and underserved communities."

Austin Monitor (2/7/2024)

Equity-Based Preservation Plan now available for review

"The long-in-the-works Equity-Based Preservation Plan now has a draft, and the city is asking for your feedback. The plan, which is 'built on an inclusive, equity-focused, and community-oriented framework,' recommends a number of historic preservation policies and tools and, if approved, will replace the current preservation plan that has been in place since 1981."

Austin Monitor (3/30/2023)

Council approves review of historic preservation incentives, with eye on equity

“'Preservation is undoubtedly important to Austinites and vital to protecting the cultural heritage and history of our city,' [Council Member Zo Qadri] said via email. 'There’s no doubt our city is facing a housing shortage that is driving up rents and sales prices. We definitely need more housing in all parts of our city to meet demand. At the same time, historic preservation has a role to play in a more affordable Austin by encouraging rehabilitation of older homes, which can cost less than scraping a lot and replacing it with a brand-new mansion.'”

Austin Monitor (9/13/2022)

Preservation office gets new design standards and equity plan(External link)

“Next year will also usher in changes on the broader preservation front, with the city budget set to fund full-time staff and community outreach personnel to spearhead the final phase of the equity-based preservation plan... New community engagement strategies, legacy business relief, proactive stewardship incentives, and expanded historic survey programs are all on the table.”

Austin Monitor (7/19/2022)

Historic Preservation Office aims to replace 40-year-old preservation plan by next fall, with a focus on equity

"The [draft plan] recommendations address many topics: how to be more inclusive in the historic resources that we recognize and designate, and how the historic review process can be made more efficient [and] effective. Others expand the concept of preservation to community and cultural preservation - intangible heritage - and look at how preservation can help affordability and anti-displacement work."

Austin Business Journal (7/8/2022)

New historic preservation plan taking shape in Austin(External link)

“'[The Preservation Plan Working Group] emphatically embraced the broader idea of our heritage, our culture and how we can creatively start expanding what the tools of preservation can be so that we can be much more effective in allowing future generations to have a real understanding of their history, heritage and their legacy,’ said Ben Heimsath, the Historic Landmark Commission’s vice chairman.”

Austin Monitor (4/5/2022)

Staffers provide update on new equity-focused historic preservation plan(External link)

“Equity is a primary consideration. In light of that, the planning process has taken a bottom-up approach, with a working group of community members leading the plan’s development. The group, created by the Historic Landmark Commission last year, has met several times in recent months to discuss goals for the plan. Group members’ demographics roughly align with Austin’s demographics.”

The Austin Chronicle (7/2/2021)

With equity in mind, Austin embarks on bringing its history up to date(External link)

“How does one preserve heritage and history in a city changing as rapidly as Austin is? Does protecting existing buildings in some neighborhoods contribute to faster turnover, lower affordability, and more displacement in other areas of town? How should the city balance protecting its architectural assets with honoring and sustaining a cultural legacy that is both ‘historic’ and still alive today? That's what makes the new preservation plan such a gargantuan project.”

KXAN (6/11/2021)

Preserving Austin’s diverse history: City calls on community to draft equitable historic preservation plan(External link)

“‘Communities whose heritages has been underrepresented in Austin’s historic preservation program really should have a seat at the table in helping to craft this new preservation plan,’ Elizabeth Brummett, the Historic Preservation Office’s manager, said. ‘This is important because the preservation plan should represent the heritage of all Austinites.’”

The Austin Chronicle (6/11/2021)

City seeks to break the rich, white “historic” mold(External link)

“A new working group, for which the city is accepting applications from prospective members through June 14, has been tasked with rewriting the city's preservation plan, last updated in 1981… The hope is for the new working group to be empowered to go further to create a historic preservation strategy that reflects Austin's diverse and intersecting cultures.”

Interview – KAZI (6/9/2021)

Project manager Cara Bertron talked to Deejay Slyce about the Equity-Based Historic Preservation Plan and how community members can apply to the working group.

Austin Monitor (5/4/2021)

New working group to study equity in preservation(External link)

“Now, the HLC and the Historic Preservation Office aim to bring a more egalitarian playing field to the city’s preservation program with the formation of an equity-based Preservation Plan Working Group made up of about 30 community stakeholders… The group would be charged with crafting recommendations for improving the preservation program while introducing social justice metrics into the equation when considering a property’s historic significance.”