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Illinois Residents: Your Help is Needed to Restore Funding for Historic Preservation Agency Design Services

Last year, Governor Blagojevich eliminated $204,000 for Design Services in the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) with his amendatory veto of the state budget. This cut would result in the loss of three critical staff positions that serve both the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Illinois Main Street.

Your help is urgently needed to restore this funding in the 2009 Budget, which is scheduled to be released by the Governor on February 20th.  Without this funding, the three positions—over half of the Design Services staff—will disappear on July 1, 2008. These positions provide important technical assistance, education, training, and design services to the 69 Main Street communities across Illinois. They also administer federal and state review and tax incentive programs that provide millions of dollars of public and private reinvestment in our state’s historic resources and downtowns. This loss of three staff will severely limit the ability of IHPA to deliver these much-needed services.

Click here to find out what you can do to help!

Act Now to Save Arizona's State Parks and Historic Treasures from Cuts!

The Arizona Legislature has proposed a list of parks-fund cuts totaling $38.3 million in the current fiscal year to help offset the projected $1 billion budget deficit in Arizona. The affected funds support critically-needed capital projects in state parks as well as essential grant programs to counties and municipalities for parks, historic resources, and open space. This plan will leave the parks department with no resources to stop the steady deterioration of Arizona’s parks and historic resources.

Arizona parks suffer from disastrous consequences of deferred maintenance and underfunding. The Parks Department has identified nearly $44 million in urgent capital needs encompassing 27 of the 30 state parks including the historic lodge at Tonto Natural Bridge, Douglas Mansion in Jerome, and McFarland Courthouse in Florence. The proposed cuts would leave the parks system unable to pay for critical upkeep and improvements to these and other treasured resources.

What you can do: Arizona citizens can write, e-mail, or call your state senators and state representatives today and urge them to take the state parks system out of their budget cross hairs.  The future of the park system is at stake.  See link below to find your state representative and senate contact.

Talking points:
  • Arizona parks are facing funding cuts far out of proportion to their tiny impact on the state budget; if painful cuts need to be made, they should be made in a way that spreads the sacrifice fairly.
  • Arizona State Parks contribute far more to the economy than they cost; they are home to some of the state’s most important heritage assets that drive the state’s tourism economy.  Parks generate about $126 million annually in tourist revenue for counties and municipalities, according to a 2002 study by Northern Arizona University. 
  • The proposed cuts couldn’t come at a worse time: Parks still haven’t recovered from the $40 million hit they took in the 2002-3 budget; the Parks Department has identified nearly $44 million in urgent capital needs encompassing 27 of the 30 state parks.
  • Proposed budget cuts would reduce the overall budget deficit by less than half of 1 percent, while virtually destroying State Parks ability to stabilize and repair deteriorating cultural sites that provide recreational and educational opportunities for millions of Arizonans and visitors to our state.

State Representative and Senate contact information:

www.azleg.state.az.us/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp

For additional information:

Your Help Needed to Save Historic St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, DC

St. Elizabeths Hospital – one of the country's most significant historic places, and one of only 2,500 surviving National Historic Landmarks, is threatened with large scale demolition of its historic campus. Regrettably, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government’s "landlord," plans to construct a huge headquarters facility for the Department of Homeland Security within the grounds of St. Elizabeths.

As planned, the $3.5 billion headquarters would require 6.4 million square feet of office space and parking structures. Between one third and one half of the historic buildings and landscape features at St. Elizabeths would be razed for the over-sized project.

District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia residents, click here to learn more and take action.

Illinois Main Street Funding Threatened – Your Help is Needed!

Governor Blagojevich's recent budget included a cut of $204,000 to the Illinois Main Street Program, eliminating funding for three architectural design staff positions at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA). These staff positions provide valuable on-site training, facade rendering, and technical assistance services for the nearly 70 communities participating in the Illinois Main Street Program, as well as various tax credit review duties and historic preservation education initiatives for IHPA in general. The costs to the State of Illinois to fund these positions are quite small in comparison to the considerable community and private investment that is leveraged by the delivery of Illinois Main Street architectural design services. Retaining these three staff positions is also critical to maintaining the high level of service and quality in both the Illinois Main Street program and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Illinois residents, click here to take action.

Historic Preservation Caucus Needs More Members

The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus was formed in 2003 as a forum for Members of Congress to discuss ways to protect and revitalize America's historic places and structures, as well as to focus on historic preservation's important role in economic development and neighborhood revitalization. The Caucus also serves as a clearinghouse for members seeking information and sharing ideas on national, tribal, state, and local issues and opportunities in historic preservation, including:

  • Rehabilitation of historic buildings and historic districts;
  • Heritage tourism;
  • Preservation of national, tribal, state, and local landmarks;
  • Economic revitalization of older downtown districts, historic towns, and underused historic housing stock;
  • Providing opportunities for students to learn American history where it happened;
  • Resources and legislation to support Federal, tribal, state, and local efforts; and,
  • Support for national parks, national monuments and historic scenic trails.

If your Representative has not joined the Caucus, urge him or her to do so by using the sample letter at http://www.preservationaction.org/caucus/caucusletter.htm.

Contact your Members of Congress today regarding their need to support the Community Restoration and Revitalization Act of 2007.

Two sample letters are provided for your use: one to thank current sponsors and a second letter to encourage those Members who have not signed on to the bill yet.

You can copy the text of these letters and send them to your Senators and Representatives through Congress.org.