Trust Me: Inside the National Trust

By Arnold Berke

(Art by Richard Thompson)

It's taken a while, but the Bartell Hotel in Junction City, Kan., is coming back to life. The three-story 1879 building, once a grand gathering place, sat mostly empty for years and by the late 1990s faced demolition. That's when Gaylynn Childs, who heads the Geary County Historical Society, former city commissioner Eric Stahl and physician Gregg Campbell started piecing together a preservation plan. Their first step was to secure a $10,000 loan from the Trust, which helped keep the place standing while they and other Bartell fans sought more support. Ultimately, a financial scheme was put into place that ranges from USDA loan and rental assistance to the federal and state rehab tax credits (see next item). City manager Rod Barnes is now carrying the ball as the developer, Homestead Affordable Housing, begins to outfit the Bartell with 32 apartments for seniors on the upper floors and shops on the first. The first residents are expected to move in during spring 2005.

? An influential friend of preservation has passed away. Barber Conable, a former Republican congressman from western New York, died last November at the age of 81. Conable was the key to passage of 1976 legislation that established the federal rehab tax credit, one of preservation's most potent tools. In its long and wondrous run, the credit has smoothed the reuse of more than 30,000 historic buildings, generating $29 billion in private investment. And many states have piggy-backed with their own credits. After his congressional career, Conable served as president of the World Bank. Long a student of Native American cultures and a board member of the Smithsonian, he was instrumental in the creation of the National Museum of the American Indian, whose new building will open in September.

? The list grows longer and the directory fatter. I'm referring to Historic Hotels of America, which now counts 203 landmark lodgings as members. (A group of 32 founded the program in 1989.) A number of this year's 15 newcomers showcase that classic preservation method, adaptive use. The Napa River Inn in Napa, Calif., for example, occupies a mill complex from the 1880s. The 1906 Inn at Carnall Hall in Fayetteville, Ark., was first a women's dormitory at the University of Arkansas. And the Kendall Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., incorporates an 1895 fire station. Learn about the whole lot in the hefty new 2004 directory. Request the book online at www.historichotels.org.

? Almost everyone knows Grant Wood's "American Gothic," but few know where he painted it: the second floor of a late-19th-century carriage house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Such ignorance of artists' digs is one reason why the Trust embarked on its Historic Artists' Homes and Studios program?to care for the living and working spaces of famous American painters, sculptors, ceramicists, photographers, and furniture designers. Backed by the Henry Luce Foundation, the program guides these sites in preserving and interpreting their buildings and collections. The 28 places now signed up?Mary Chase Perry Stratton's Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, for instance, and the Austin studio of sculptor Elisabet Ney?fill a new Artists' Homes and Studios brochure, available by calling (202) 588-6074 or e-mailing associate_sites@nthp.org. All are open to the public, although Wood's studio is under restoration this year, so call first for an appointment.

? Dwelling on downtown: The American Dream Downpayment Act, signed into law in December, includes a provision that offers up to $1 million in federal grants to Main Street organizations in towns whose population is under 50,000. The goal is to develop affordable housing in historic downtowns. Several Trust staffers worked hard on Capitol Hill to help shape the provision, which represents the largest infusion of federal dollars into the national Main Street network since its 1980 launch.

? The big houses that were a big worry to Waterford, Va., won't be built. Farmland slated for subdivision next to the village has instead been bought by the Waterford Foundation. The property would have sprouted 14 large houses visible from the hamlet, a National Historic Landmark in fast-developing Loudoun County (Trust Me, September/October 2003). The Trust for Public Land mediated the purchase, which was also aided by a $500,000 loan from the National Trust.

? The Trust is honoring Colorado preservation pillar Peter Grant by establishing an endowment in his name. Started with a $500,000 donation from the Denver-based Gates Family Foundation, the William W. "Peter" Grant Endowment will bolster preservation in the state. Grant, a retired banker who since 1997 has served as a Trust trustee, has raised (and donated) money for the restoration of McGraw Ranch, the Barn Again! program, and the 2003 national conference in Denver, among other Trust-related works. The Gates gift requires the Trust to raise $100,000 more for the endowment, which will give grants for site acquisition, restorations, feasibility studies, and emergency interventions.

Read more from our current issue online, look for the March/April 2004 on newsstands, e-mail us to purchase a copy, or subscribe to the magazine by joining the National Trust.