Wisconsin Historic Preservation Plan 2016-2025

Introduction from the State Historic Preservation Officer: "As we pass the milestone of the 50th anniversary of the watershed National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, we look both back to the past and ahead to the future. We build on the strengths of those who have worked before us to preserve Wisconsin's heritage, and we plan for those who will follow us. People preserve. At its core, historic preservation is about people. People take action to preserve archaeological sites and protect human burials. People own, invest it, and steward their historic homes, businesses, and institutions. People celebrate our history as a means to shape our future. The economic engine that historic preservationists stoke as they reinvest in our heritage is vital to the success of our cities and rural areas. Each act builds our community and is a gift to the future. In the past 10 years, Wisconsin can count many successes. Large and important projects include the rescue of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home where vacant and underutilized buildings will be returned to the service of veterans while preserving American's best remaining historic veterans' campus. On the state level, the preservation of 17 hand operated locks along the Lower Fox River, built mainly in the 1870s, is the work of the Fox River Navigational System Authority, which has restored the system to promote tourism, recreation, and commerce along one of Wisconsin's busiest riverways, providing a model for similar efforts elsewhere. Volunteer commissions in about 100 Wisconsin communities work daily to safeguard irreplaceable historic properties, providing protection to the buildings and sites that tell the stories of their communities. The State Historic Preservation Office responded to the preservation community's need for educational and networking opportunities by joining with local historical groups to grow our annual conference and by providing more and better educational opportunities that reach beyond the preservation community, including books and associated documentaries. Historic Preservation is economic revitalization. Without reinvestment in our heritage, we lose those buildings and sites that root us and give our communities their distinctive character. Our vibrant programs of historic preservation tax credit provide financing assistance for reinvestment in owner occupied houses and in vacant and underutilized commercial, industrial, and former public buildings throughout the state. As we celebration our successes of the past decade, we must also face a future of uncertainty in a changing political landscape. Concern for property rights, tighter federal, state, and local budgets, a movements that seeks to reduce and simplify taxes and reduce the role of government all affect preservation's future. We must reach out and educate our political leaders in the importance of our heritage and our values. We must become better advocates for historic preservation and more widely celebrate our successes. We must develop more and better tools and fight to retain tools that have proven their effectiveness. People preserve. Join us in working to strengthen the protection and preservation of Wisconsin's heritage as we work to make our history part of the future." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Wisconsin Historic Preservation Plan 2016-2025

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