Buying Time for Heritage
Help Us Educate the Next Generation of Preservationists!
It’s Time for a New Edition of Buying Time for Heritage
Fifteen years ago, Preservation North Carolina, working in conjunction with UNC Press and the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies, published Buying Time for Heritage: How to Save an Endangered Historic Property by Myrick Howard.
The thesis of the book is that in historic preservation, “real estate is the name of the game.” It explains how Preservation North Carolina’s Endangered Historic Properties Program works — from options to easements to surplus properties.
Buying Time was well received from the outset. At its launch at the 2007 National Trust annual conference, four cases were sold out even before Myrick started his presentation to more than 250 preservationists. Buying Time has been used as a textbook in numerous undergraduate and graduate preservation classes.
All 3,000 copies have sold out (with royalties to Preservation NC), but demand and need for the book remains. The need for reprinting presents an opportunity to update the book with new information and images. Since the book’s initial publication, PNC has undertaken several major property programs, such as its neighborhood work in East Durham and Loray Mill Village. More than $2 billion of mill renovation has taken place since then. These case studies will be included in the new edition.
Furthermore, after years of work by the Capital City Camera Club and advances in color printing, the new edition can be much more visually exciting. Before-and-after comparisons featuring crisp, gorgeous digital images will inspire a new generation of preservationists.
The new edition will also include appendices with information about the work of numerous other revolving funds across the state and country. Myrick’s graduate students from UNC’s Department of City and Regional Planning have produced summaries that will illustrate how flexible the revolving fund tool can be.
With $35,000, Preservation North Carolina can edit, redesign and print a new edition of Buying Time. Donors of $500 or more will be acknowledged in the new edition; gifts may be spread over two years. When these books sell, funds will be recouped and made available for additional preservation purposes.
Please donate today to help us teach the next generation of preservationists all across the country, while telling the story of Preservation North Carolina’s remarkable record for saving endangered historic properties.