Daniel Carey, president and CEO of Historic Savannah Foundation, and Ellen Harris, director of urban planning and historic preservation at Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, recently made presentations and led discussions on the subjects of historic preservation, heritage tourism and the positive economic impacts preservation at a meeting of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
 
Carey and Harris presented “Savannah: The Value of Preservation” to more than 60 attendees, and held a training session with the local design review committee. They discussed a recent study commissioned by HSF to examine ways historic preservation plays a positive role in the local community by stabilizing and increasing property values, adding significant tax revenues to local governments and school districts, and attracting new entrepreneurs who want to live, work and play in historic urban neighborhoods.

In addition, they provided an overview of best-practice preservation tools for ensuring consistency and predictability in the review process. Like Savannah, Saratoga Springs has attracted visitors almost since its establishment and values the economic impact of heritage tourism on jobs, income and tax revenue.
 
“Preservation is a leading reason why Savannah and Saratoga Springs are the successful cities they are. The bottom line is: preservation means business,” Carey said. “Preservation is the kind of industry that should be strongly supported by government and business sectors. It’s no different from manufacturing, military or the other industries.”
 
Added Harris, “This in an industry that stays local and can’t be outsourced.”
 
The program was part of an educational series funded by a grant from New York’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.