SHELBY —
Western New York preservationists are preparing for an event that will attract researchers, students, politicians and other professionals dedicated to preserving local historic structures next year.
The National Trust will be holding its annual conference in Buffalo from Oct. 18 to 22, 2011; it will be the first time the conference has been held in New York state in 30 years. The last time the Trust met in the northeast region was five years ago in Pittsburgh.
The conference was awarded to Buffalo in 2007, and since then, it has been a rigorous process to prepare for the onslaught of attention Western New Yorkers are hoping the state’s structures will receive.
According to the Federal Farm System, in New York state, there are 35,000 working farms with 17,000 barns. And today, 95 percent of Americans live or work in cities, compared to the 90 percent of Americans who lived or worked on farms in 1820.
Last weekend, the 13th annual New York State Conference on Preserving Historic Barns was held at Forrestel Farms in Shelby Center. There, a group of people from across the state — and even some outsiders — discussed barn history and styles in New York state, how to maintain a historic barn, and ways to research your own barn.
The group also toured barns in the area.
The meeting served as a dry run for next year’s conference of the National Trust, and an opportunity to collect impressions and ideas for it.
Nancy Mingus, a historic preservation consultant who works in Albion, has been on the board of the New York State Barn Coalition since its inception in 1997 and is the author of four books on historic preservation. She and other attendees shared the idea that people can’t wait until it’s too late to try to preserve these structures.
For example, Michael Tomlan, chair of the New York State Barn Coalition, posed the question: “What do we do with silos?”
He explained that New York state was the leader in engineering the massive concrete structures in the 1880s, and they have become a noteworthy part of the state’s landscape — but nobody uses them anymore.
So what do we do with them?
Preservationists would like to find a different use for the silos instead of simply tearing them down, but are still trying to come up with an idea.
Members of the coalition hope to use the opportunity next year address these concerns and draw attention to some of Western New York’s historic barns and structures.
The National Trust has about 275,000 members. It serves as an advocacy organization for the preservation of historic structures. The conference typically attracts 2,000 from across the country, including students, researchers, politicians and other individuals.
Local News
Related Photos
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A group of educators, professionals and students tour the main barn at Forrestel Farms during the weekend conference of the New York State Barn Coalition. Holly Toal/staff
Discussion
Barn preservation group prepares for 2011 conference
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