City Council Agenda and Packet 2011 07 12 SP

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2 Stale historical Fund banner INTRODUCTION Historic preservation adds value to the lives of all Colorado residents. Colorado's historic resources are extraordinarily diverse and contribute significantly to the cultural, aesthetic, social, and educational value of our state. Historic places provide opportunities every day for both Colorado residents and visitors to appreciate the legacy of the Centennial State's rich past. Historic preservation also yields significant economic benefits. Studies across the country have shown that historic preservation acts as a powerful economic engine, creating tens of thousands of jobs and generating significant household income. Our research shows that this is especially true in Colorado, given the state's large number of designated historic resources, active preservation TNIS PROJECT PAIL FOR IN PART BY THE STATE HISTORICAL FUNO SAVING COLORADO'S PAST FOR THE FUTURE ; r: M US PY31 Q[v !, i+w+ *co-rawar:cs 7.11. ++: ns ervnwrs . community, and significant preservation programs, including the State Historical Fund. One reason that preservation exerts such a great influence is that it encompasses a wide variety of activities, ranging from the rehabili- tation of historic buildings to sightseeing at historic places. A second reason is that preservation is not confined to any one type of area, but rather plays a role in communities of all types throughout the state, from farming towns on the plains, to ski resorts in the mountains, to the neighborhoods of Denver. A third reason for preservation's great influence is that the economic impacts of preservation extend far beyond the initial dollars spent. Any economic activity generates both a direct and an indirect impact, which add up to an overall impact. For example, when rehabilitating a historic building, the direct THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF HISTORIC 11 impact consists of the actual purchases of labor and materials used in the project. Indirect impacts occur as the effects of the direct expenditures ripple throughout the local and state economies. The overall impact often is far greater than the initial dollars spent. This report shows how historic preservation leverages private capital, creates local jobs, revitalizes residential and commercial areas, and stimulates a wide range of related economic activities. (See snapshot of the results on the right) The following pages describe in detail the many ways in which Colorado's past continues to support the future. The report focuses first on historic preservation as an engine for statewide economic development by examining the rehabilitation of historic structures. Next, an expanded section explores statewide heritage tourism activities. A new section discusses the significant economic achievements of the still -young Colorado Main Street program. Later sections focus on preservation issues especially important to owners and users of historic properties, including property value trends in local historic districts (including a new commercial case study), and the relation- ship of preservation to affordable housing. This project is conservative, in that it focuses on only a few selected preservation activities — generally those that are most easily tracked through established programs. In other words, this report only scratches the surface of the economic benefits of preservation in Colorado, not taking into account economic impacts that are significant yet very difficult to track, such as income generated by busi- nesses located in historic buildings, volunteer hours spent on preservation commissions and leading historic tours, and rehabilitation projects that don't utilize the economic incentives analyzed in this report. Clearly, there are many more topics to study in future updates of this research.