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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=80 style=" border-bottom: 5px solid #999966;" BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="3ce00500dvldzz.png"> <div> About</div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=230 style="border-right: 5px solid #990000;" BGCOLOR="#999966" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3eab8db0.jpg" border=0 width="184" height="219" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Preservation Society"><B>Home</B></A></div> <div> <B>About</B></div> <div> <A HREF="services.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Services"><B>Services</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="asheville.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preservation Asheville"><B>Preservation Asheville</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="groveoffice.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grove Office"><B>Grove Office</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="griffins.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Griffin Awards"><B>Griffin Awards</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="membership.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Membership"><B>Membership</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="eDocs Links"><B>e-Docs & Links</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="a__c_home_tour.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="AC Home Tour"><B>A&C Home Tour</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="psabc_calendar.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PSABC Calendar"><B>PSABC Calendar</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="contact.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><B>Contact Us</B></A></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3e8b96b0.jpg" border=0 width="185" height="107" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>Protecting and Honoring Our Heritage</B></I></div> <div> <I><B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="663" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 2323 WIDTH="653"><div> <I><B>The Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County, Inc., is a private, non-profit membership organization whose purpose is to promote and support the preservation of the historic, architectural, and cultural resources of Asheville and Buncombe County.</B></I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="4074e030.jpg" border=0 width="334" height="259" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Founded in 1976, the Preservation Society has provided critical leadership in local efforts to preserve the rich cultural legacy of the region through four primary areas of activity: advocacy, education, technical preservation assistance, and historic property intervention.</div> <div> <I><B>Advocacy</B></I></div> <div> The Preservation Society has been a strong advocate of comprehensive preservation techniques to protect and revitalize local historic resources. Early efforts focused on the work of documenting the historic resources of the community through historic resource surveys and National Register nominations, the important first step in promoting a broader awareness of the community's assets and engendering local preservation action.</div> <div> The Society played a crucial role in the establishment of the <A HREF="http://www.ci.asheville.nc.us/planning/historic.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ci.asheville.nc.us/planning/h">Historic Resources Commission</A> of Asheville & Buncombe County and the adoption of local preservation ordinances creating the <A HREF="http://www.montford.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.montford.org/">Montford Historic District</A>, the Biltmore Village Historic District, and the <A HREF="http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/asheville/man.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/ashevill">Albemarle Park - Manor Grounds</A> Historic District.</div> <div> We were also instrumental in the creation of a western regional office of the <A HREF="http://www.hpo.dcr.state.nc.us/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.hpo.dcr.state.nc.us/">North Carolina State Historic Preservation</A> Office, which provides preservation expertise and access to state and federal programs across a 25 county region.</div> <div> In the private sector the Society has promoted preservation through special educational programs directed at real estate professionals and property developers. The Society has a small amount of working capital that we target for projects related to broad preservation initiatives.</div> <div> Currently the Society is working with West Asheville and Black Mountain. We are also working with individual properties in the downtown to promote rehabilitation of upper floors for residential uses. In the area of public policy and projects, the Society monitors the preservation impacts of projects undertaken by public agencies, such as transportation projects.</div> <div> The Society also works within a network of local, statewide, and national preservation organizations, including <A HREF="http://www.presnc.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.presnc.org/">Preservation North Carolina</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.nationaltrust.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.nationaltrust.org/">National Trust for Historic Preservation</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.preservationaction.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.preservationaction.org">Preservation Action</A>, to advocate preservation policies and objectives.</div> <div> <I><B>Education</B></I><I><B> <A NAME="education_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></I></div> <div> The Society offers a broad range of educational programs to the community. Our General meetings feature presentations on topics ranging from architectural history to rehabilitation techniques and emerging preservation issues in the community, and are free and open to the public.<IMG SRC="2f9b8e40.jpg" border=0 width="184" height="228" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="14" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> We publish a monthly newsletter providing information about Society programs and activities in addition to feature articles about history and preservation. The Society co-sponsors books and articles about local history and architecture.</div> <div> Since its inception the Society has sponsored educational tours of local historic structures. These continue to be a mainstay of our programming. These educational tour programs expand our educational mission in the community, while developing revenue to sustain the ongoing operations of the Society.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="about_m.htm" TITLE="About">Return to Top</A></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#990000" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>Technical Preservation Assistance</B></I></FONT><I><B> <A NAME="technical_preservation_assistance_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></I></div> <div> Both the professional staff of the Society and its professional member-volunteers provide consultation services to owners of historic properties.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">We assist property owners in evaluating the historical significance of their properties and in the planning of rehabilitation and preservation strategies.<IMG SRC="2c562ef0.jpg" border=0 width="354" height="239" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="14" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">We assist owners with property research and documentation, National Register nominations, evaluation of alternatives for future use of historic buildings, assessment of the physical condition of buildings and their systems, and advise developers about tax incentives for rehabilitation.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">We work with organizations and neighborhood groups to develop and implement comprehensive preservation strategies.</div> <div> The Society also operates a small architectural salvage operation, receiving donations of architectural materials from property owners, or by volunteer crews extracting materials from buildings slated for demolition. The materials are then sold at moderate prices to the general public.</div> <div> The program is designed to provide access to inexpensive historic materials to assist property owners undertaking rehabilitation of buildings in the area, while diverting material from the landfill.</div> <div> <A HREF="about_m.htm" TITLE="About">Return to Top</A></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#990000" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>Historic Property Intervention</B></I></FONT><I><B> <A NAME="historic_property_intervention_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></I></div> <div> Since 1979 the Society has been involved in major property "rescues" through its Revolving Fund. The fund provides capital for the acquisition of historic properties endangered by imminent demolition, development pressures, or neglect.<IMG SRC="2da62fe0.jpg" border=0 width="354" height="254" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="14" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The decision to acquire endangered property is based on an assessment of the importance of the resource, the nature of the existing threat, the availability of alternative solutions for the resource, and the availability of the Society's financial and volunteer resources to undertake the project.</div> <div> All properties acquired by the Society are held for resale to preservation-sensitive developers and are subject to permanent restrictive covenants that govern the rehabilitation and future preservation of the properties.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="about_m.htm" TITLE="About">Return to Top</A></div> <div> <I><B>Organization and Funding of the Society</B></I><I><B> <A NAME="organization_and_funding_of_the_society_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></I><I><B><IMG SRC="2c740f80.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="248" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="14" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> Since the fall of 1991 the Society has implemented a broad range of changes throughout the organization. </div> <div> In planning for the Society's long range financial stability, the Board of Directors stressed the development of diverse sources of sustainable revenues, encompassing a broadened membership, expanded traditional fund raising, and the development of fee-based programs that further our educational and advocacy goals.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="about_m.htm" TITLE="About">Return to Top</A></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="236c8750.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="117" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></I></div> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=30 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>