CROWD TALKS ABOUT PRESERVING HISTORY

"Local preservation is where the action is," says Pratt Cassity, an authority on historic preservation. "The local community provides a forum for ideas and offers sources of support."

Cassity, director of the preservation services office in the School of Environmental Design at the University of Georgia, was keynote speaker during the opening session of the annual Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation here Saturday.

More than 100 people from all parts of the state attended the welcoming session at the University Center Ballroom on Southeast Missouri State University campus.

"We have been a changing society since the first preservation ordinance was established nationally in 1931," said Cassity. "In state after state, preservation programs have proven you can have your cake and eat it too."

Cassity coordinates Georgia's Certified Local Government Program that serves more than 80 historic preservation commissions in the state and is executive director of the National Alliance of Preservation Commission.

He told the group that an "investment in preservation is an investment in the future."

At one time, said Cassity, the sprawl of cities was like a cancer, destroying old buildings and communities.

"We have learned that conservation is the way to go in development projects," he said, "and local citizens can make preservation happen."

Cassity praised Missouri's tax credit program for preservation, saying the state went a step further by allowing tax credits for preservation of some residential areas.

Cassity, who has a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Mississippi State University and a master's degree in public and urban affairs from Georgia State University, is a sought-after preservation speaker. In future meetings this year, he will visit international preservation conferences in Chicago and Denver.

Dr. Dale Nitzschke, president of Southeast Missouri State University, and Albert Spradling III, Cape Girardeau mayor, welcomed the guests to Cape Girardeau during the opening session Saturday.

Nitzschke, and Dr. Arthur Mattingly, a retired instructor at the university, briefly discussed the school's historic preservation programs. Southeast Missouri State University is one of three schools in the nation with a bachelor's degree in historic preservation and a master's degree with an emphasis on preservation.

Spradling said the city was also interested in preservation and in 1990 passed a preservation ordinance, establishing a preservation commission, which is in the process of inventorying structures throughout the city.

"We are a growing city,' said Spradling, "and preserving history is important."

The commission, which became a certified local government in 1991, has designated 15 local landmarks. Nine properties in the city are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The conference started here Friday evening with an opening reception and registration at Longview in the 1600 block of Whitener Street.

Longview was built in 1873 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

A number of seminars were held Saturday.

Topics included preservation commissions, preserving documents, preservation and public service opportunities in higher education, developing a local preservation education program, Missouri's new historic preservation tax credit program and National Register nominations.

Other sessions focused on designing and conducting architectural surveys, repairing historic doors and windows, work in progress on architecture and historic preservation in eastern Missouri, ethnic heritage tourism and restoration of the Bollinger Mill covered bridge.

Marjorie Thompson and Brian Driscoll, members of the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission, co-chaired for the annual event.

The conference was sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and its College of Liberal Arts, department of history and the historic preservation program. Other sponsors were the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Historic Preservation Program.

Some of those attending the conference participated in the first annual Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation Photography Contest of Historic Missouri. Participants submitted photos of their favorite historic place in Missouri. The top 12 photos will be used for a 1999 calendar.