Voices of Preservation: Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH)
We checked in with our colleagues at Adirondack Architectural Heritage to see how their organization has been adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they had to say.
Like all of our preservation colleagues across the state, we are navigating the pandemic as best we can, with each day revealing new challenges, hope, and opportunities. This would normally be the time of year when we would gleefully launch a full calendar of summer and fall events, would be looking forward to the arrival of our Camp Santanoni summer staff, would be starting the construction of a new riverfront park in Keeseville, and when we would be out all across the region speaking and working with people to encourage and support their community work. We ARE working to advance all these things but, for now, we mostly wait to see how the future will unfold, all the while preparing to adapt to conditions on the ground.
If there’s any good news in all this, it seems that we increasingly realize what is truly important to us – our health, our families and friends, our economic security, and the vitality and sustainability of our communities. It is heartening to see so many working towards the common good and to see so much generosity and cooperation at every level of society. Although preservation organization s like AARCH are not on the front lines of this crisis, we suspect that as we emerge from this, people will want connection and community more than ever and this is something all of us can offer in spades.
Steven Engelhart, Executive Director.
As so often is the case when a crisis happens, it also tends to unite people and many good things emerge from this. Communities not just in the Adirondack region but throughout the state and beyond have gathered their strength and put creativity and generosity to work to help those in need and on the front lines. This has been very impressive. Our neighbors who we once only knew from a wave as they drove to and from work now walk by daily and (from a safe distance) we talk, check in on each other, and begin new friendships. The AARCH staff, like so many others, are learning new skills and embracing a new way of communicating and serving our members. We see a new understanding and appreciation of home both emotionally and physically. Through social media and online work, we continue to engage our members and communities by offering education, resources, and inspiration. As always, we look forward to helping historic building owners with their questions and we now look forward to a time when we can be back together. Until then, stay safe!
Christine Bush, Preservation Services Director
It’s a tough time to be a public historian right now, since the “public” part became impossible almost overnight. Although I don’t teach for a school like many navigating these strange times to engage students remotely, I still consider myself an educator…or at least, somewhere between that and a storyteller. Navigating this position has led to an ever-growing stack of reference books, but at least now there is time to really dissect them and apply the takeaways. AARCH’s 40+programs and day-long educational outings each year explore the stories that are embodied in historic buildings, communities, and distinct places dotting the Adirondack landscape. This year, we are optimistic that even if we cannot physically meet to explore some of these places and their stories, that we will be able to deliver worthwhile and thought-provoking educational content. I am most excited by some of our new programs this year that explore how equity, sustainability, energy, and the stories of underrepresented people and places converge in Northern New York. We’ve been finding these stories everywhere throughout the region and love how they lead to deeper conversation and engagement. Some also give us a fuller story behind buildings in need of repair, or those awaiting a champion of its preservation to come along. My job is to share these stories, in these places, and with the AARCH family, and I look forward to doing that with whatever tools we have in our organizational arsenal!
Nolan Cool, Educational Programs Director
To see AARCH’s summer and fall outings schedule:
https://www.aarch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Summer-2020-Newsletter-FINAL-Standard.pdf
As the office manager of AARCH, I can only describe the current situation with the five A’s; Adapt, Acknowledge, Accept, Anticipate and Accomplish. We have to adapt daily to a changing world with new technologies, new policies, and responding to the evolving state guidelines. I acknowledge that I once thought I was technologically proficient but have come to realize how quickly technological advances and how much I still have to learn. And as a staff, we accept that most of our 2020 work, in particular, our popular series of tours and special events will be different than in years past but, by anticipating this, we also feel confident in our ability to be responsive and responsible. Most importantly, despite the change in the world around us and in our working conditions, we are accomplishing a lot – communications with our members and the general public, planning virtual and place-based programming, National Register work, technical assistance, and our projects at Santanoni and in Keeseville. We have also enjoyed hearing from our members and friends throughout the spring with their encouragement and support. This has been most heartening. One member said:
“I am quite concerned about the survival of many non-profits and NGOs in these perilous times. We need organizations like AARCH now more than ever. In addition to the wonderful educational work of AARCH, its work has also contributed to economic growth and more economic stability in what those of us call “the North Country.” Kudos for that, no small feat.”
Through all this change and adaptation, our passion for our work and our Adirondack communities remains strong.
Jessica Parker, Office Manager.