There’s less than a month to go before the Heritage Foundation’s 2021 preservation symposium but there’s still time to register!  Join us on Saturday, August 21, 2021, at the Williamson County Enrichment Center for Revitalizing Preservation: See History, See Potential, to explore how preservation impacts communities!

While some symposiums may be geared for an academic audience, ours provides a welcoming, environment blending craftspeople, consultants, preservationists, historians, local, state, and national advocacy organizations, and community members.

One of the most valuable tools in understanding historic preservation is the networking achieved by attending a local preservation symposium designed to educate, engage, and even challenge our ideas on how best to save places, spaces, and stories from our collective past.

The mingling of many people allows for fluid conversations while offering the opportunity for all attendees to ask questions about preservation, interpretation, and advocacy. It also gives attendees a chance to engage with others to learn about historic buildings, new local projects, preservation challenges, and creative solutions that may be a catalyst for positive change in the preservation of their own communities.

This year’s agenda is designed to cover a wide range of topics, including neighborhood revitalization, adaptive reuse, the potential and possibilities for preservation in the 21^st century, a full panel session to “Ask the Experts” – integrating Williamson County’s successful preservation stories along with the “how-to” in architecture, research, education, and conservation. Keynote speakers Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund through the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Danielle De Sol, Executive Director of the Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans will present on themed topics. During the symposium, we will announce our local Preservation Award winners, celebrating the best in heritage preservation, adaptive reuse, rehabilitation, and restoration! There’s even an optional afternoon tour of Franklin Grove Estate & Gardens, our largest preservation project to date!

Whether you are a student, city planner, a volunteer at a historic site, a preservation professional, museum educator, a private owner of a historic building, property, or house, or just someone interested in preserving places and engaging storytelling, this symposium is for you! To learn more about guest speakers, symposium schedule, or to purchase tickets, go to www.williamsonheritage.org/events or contact Senior Director of Preservation and Education Rachael Finch at rfinch@williamsonheritage.org.