NPT Preservation Month 2026: KEYNOTE – What’s Worth Saving: Historic Preservation Today

The history of historic preservation in the United States is one of visionary leadership, iconic battles pitting old against new, losses to the cultural landscape, cherished victories, the rebirth of neglected areas, and the exciting adaptive reuse of forgotten buildings. Famous conflicts over the future of places like McKim, Mead, and White’s Pennsylvania Station in New York City reveal the complexities of saving beloved architecture during changing times and views. What is worth saving in the 21st century has evolved into a more transdisciplinary space engaging social, cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Drawing from a lifetime of leading some of the nation’s most esteemed preservation and cultural organizations, Vin Cipolla, President and CEO of Historic New England, explores the role of historic preservation today in the context of the pressures facing communities, the erosion of public infrastructure for arts and culture, and the pursuit of enhanced livability balancing the old and the new.