I’ve been waiting for stories on Preservation Week sponsored by the Newburyport Preservation Trust in our 2 local newspapers, and today there were stories on the front page of both the Newburyport Daily News and the Newburyport Current. Whew!

I especially liked the story in the Newburyport Daily News, May 4, 2007, by Nick Pinto. Some great quotes by Karen Battles the chair and main organizer of Preservation Week, and Sarah White the president of the Newburyport Preservation Trust.

A big “thank you” to Nick Pinto for this quote:

“According to the National Architectural Trust, since the early 1980s Newburyport has lost one-third of its historic structures to demolition or “insensitive alteration” — changes so drastic they negate the historic value of the building.”

And 2 different points made by Sarah White:

” “For many years, the continuity and sense of place in the city’s neighborhoods was preserved by residents whose ties to the city stretched back generations, White said. “These days, though, everyone is so much more transient, and we have a different relationship to our homes and our hometowns. We need to think about how we can return to that sense of stewardship.” ”

White also goes on to say that it is “important that residents begin a citywide conversation about how to balance the city’s modern vitality with its historic foundations.”

The panel discussion this Sunday, May 6th at 3PM at City Hall, “Historic, Green and Profitable,” as aimed at addressing the balance between “modern vitality and historic foundations.”

And I think Ms White is quite right in her observations that Newburyport, like so many places in the United States, is inhabited by a much more “transient” population, especially in the last 25 years. And people often come and put their “stamp” on the city of Newburyport, MA, many times without a full understanding the city’s history and significance, and then move on.

I have great hopes for the Newburyport Preservation Trust. One of my greatest hopes is that they might inspire that sense of “stewardship” to everyone who lives in Newburyport, MA, whether they inhabit our amazing seaside historic city for a short time or for a long time. Wouldn’t that be wonderful.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport