Events

From: The Boston Preservation Alliance

The Boston Preservation Alliance is planning a one-day symposium on Campus Heritage Planning (at the Boston Architectural College campus) in Fall 2007. This event will bring together Boston’s leaders in higher education, campus planners, public officials, and other interested professionals to share information and ideas on how Boston’s universities can optimize the potential of their historic and cultural resources.

Boston’s colleges and universities are vital engines within our local economy, drawing hundreds of thousands of students, scholars, and researchers to the city each year. Every institution in Boston contributes to our distinct “brand” of culture and identity. In 2007, many of the city’s academic institutions are initiating exciting and, in many cases, unprecedented capital development projects. This situation presents an opportunity for universities to maximize the benefits of their historic buildings and contexts, and to promote a heightened awareness of the physical and cultural interrelationships between the institution and the city.

The symposium seeks to achieve the following objectives for positive change:

• to provide colleges and universities with insights for undertaking historic preservation, adaptive re-use, and compatible new construction projects on their campuses;
  
  
• to explore best practices for accommodating institutional development within existing built environments that will sustain enrollments;
  
  
• to develop and share strategies for enhancing the student experience by taking full advantage of Boston’s historic and cultural assets;
  
  
• to promote city-wide enthusiasm for Boston’s colleges and universities as contributors to Boston’s distinguished history;
  
  
• to put Boston at the forefront of international thinking about the role of academic institutions as agents for positive change historic urban settings.