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BASTROP —
Communication and public engagement have been vital to the success of Bastrop Main Street, according to an academic study that will soon be available to the public at Morehouse Parish Library.
Lydia Atubeh of Georgia completed her dissertation on historic conservation last fall and earned her graduate degree in Conservation Studies (Historic Buildings) at the University of York, England in January.
Her paper, “The Investigation of Roles in Conservation Planning: The Regeneration Programme in Durham, England,” examines historic conservation programs in Bastrop and Jaffa, Israel in addition to Durham.
The paper looks at the challenges faced by these programs and explains how public engagement, among other factors, can help to overcome these challenges.
Atubeh chose Bastrop Main Street as an international comparison to Durham because of its success, and because she has family ties to the city.
“It was very well received,” she said of the dissertation. “The National Trust Main Street Center also has a copy.”
Her research on Bastrop included interviews with Main Street manager Marc Vereen, Mayor Betty Alford-Olive and Morehouse Economic Development Corp. CEO Kay King.
As in Durham and Jaffa, communication between Main Street planners and the public has been key.
“They’ve kept the local community -- and the national conservation community -- up to date every step of the way,” she said.
The paper notes that 24 properties in the Bastrop Historic District had been restored within five years of the program’s creation in 2000.
An initial challenge was to help the public understand the value of removing aluminum “slip covers” from structures in the Bastrop Historic District. Main Street board members worked to overcome this challenge in several ways, including artist’s renderings of how the restored structures would look. The paper includes some of these renderings as well as before and after photos of storefronts in the courthouse square.
The paper cites the current renovation of Historic Bastrop High School into an apartment complex as an example of adaptive re-use and rehabilitation.
Atubeh said the Historic Bastrop High project is similar -- on a smaller scale -- to the re-use of the Durham Castle and Cathedral complex, which has been restored as both dormitories and as an historic site open to visitors.
Atubeh said she is scheduled to lecture on international preservation at Georgia State University and has recently had a paper accepted for the SAVE (Safeguard of Architectural, Visual, Environmental) Heritage conference sponsored by The Italian National Commission for UNESCO and the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission.
She plans to include Bastrop Main Street in her paper, which she will present in Naples, Italy in June. The paper will then be included in a published volume.
Communication and public engagement have been vital to the success of Bastrop Main Street, according to an academic study that will soon be available to the public at Morehouse Parish Library.
Lydia Atubeh of Georgia completed her dissertation on historic conservation last fall and earned her graduate degree in Conservation Studies (Historic Buildings) at the University of York, England in January.
Her paper, “The Investigation of Roles in Conservation Planning: The Regeneration Programme in Durham, England,” examines historic conservation programs in Bastrop and Jaffa, Israel in addition to Durham.
The paper looks at the challenges faced by these programs and explains how public engagement, among other factors, can help to overcome these challenges.
Atubeh chose Bastrop Main Street as an international comparison to Durham because of its success, and because she has family ties to the city.
“It was very well received,” she said of the dissertation. “The National Trust Main Street Center also has a copy.”
Her research on Bastrop included interviews with Main Street manager Marc Vereen, Mayor Betty Alford-Olive and Morehouse Economic Development Corp. CEO Kay King.
As in Durham and Jaffa, communication between Main Street planners and the public has been key.
“They’ve kept the local community -- and the national conservation community -- up to date every step of the way,” she said.
The paper notes that 24 properties in the Bastrop Historic District had been restored within five years of the program’s creation in 2000.
An initial challenge was to help the public understand the value of removing aluminum “slip covers” from structures in the Bastrop Historic District. Main Street board members worked to overcome this challenge in several ways, including artist’s renderings of how the restored structures would look. The paper includes some of these renderings as well as before and after photos of storefronts in the courthouse square.
The paper cites the current renovation of Historic Bastrop High School into an apartment complex as an example of adaptive re-use and rehabilitation.
Atubeh said the Historic Bastrop High project is similar -- on a smaller scale -- to the re-use of the Durham Castle and Cathedral complex, which has been restored as both dormitories and as an historic site open to visitors.
Atubeh said she is scheduled to lecture on international preservation at Georgia State University and has recently had a paper accepted for the SAVE (Safeguard of Architectural, Visual, Environmental) Heritage conference sponsored by The Italian National Commission for UNESCO and the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission.
She plans to include Bastrop Main Street in her paper, which she will present in Naples, Italy in June. The paper will then be included in a published volume.
