Introducting Katie Eggers Comeau, Our New Vice President for Policy & Preservation
Having worked in preservation in New York State in both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds since 2001, I've crossed paths with the Preservation League in many ways over the years. I'm delighted and honored to have the opportunity to join the team, and I look forward to working with colleagues throughout the state on discovering, protecting, and advocating for the incredibly diverse and irreplaceable historic places that mean so much to us all.
When Erin Tobin, our longtime Vice President for Policy & Preservation, accepted the position of Executive Director at Adirondack Architectural Heritage, we knew we would need someone special to take her place. With that in mind, we are thrilled that Katie Eggers Comeau has agreed to join the Preservation League team as the new Vice President for Policy & Preservation.
Katie brings decades of experience, a strong connection to New York State communities, and a wealth of knowledge of the various issues impacting the preservation field today. Katie is a native of upstate New York, having grown up in the Erie Canal village of Pittsford, near Rochester. Her interest in traditional architecture and walkable communities led her to take several architectural history classes as an undergraduate at Yale, after which she obtained a master's degree in historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. After working in Washington, D.C. for a few years, she moved home to Rochester to work at The Landmark Society of Western New York. For the past eleven years she has been the architectural historian at Bero Architecture PLLC. Some favorite projects at Bero have included a soon-to-be-completed updated National Register nomination for Thousand Island Park and a historic resource survey on the work of architect James H. Johnson, for which she and her colleagues will be receiving a Docomomo Modernism in America award in November 2021. During her time at Bero she has completed many projects funded through Preservation League grants. She is a past trustee of the National Association for Olmsted Parks and a current member of the Rochester Olmsted Park Alliance, and has served on the Landmark Society's "Five to Revive" committee since its inception in 2016.
We’re looking forward to working with Katie and know she will do great things here at the League. If you ever need to get in touch (or just want to send congratulations), you can reach her at kcomeau@preservenys.org. We hope you’ll also join us in wishing Erin well as she embarks on her next adventure in the Adirondacks — the region is lucky to have her.