Preservation helps economy

By The Standard Staff - 11/29/2006

Butte needs a strong historic preservation ordinance. Not only is historic preservation good in and of itself, historic preservation is necessary for economic development.

In determining where to invest, investors and businesspeople are looking at two factors: quality and authenticity. In the past, investment factors such as location, resource base and transportation were primary. While these will continue to be important, future investment decisions will be based on factors such as sense of place and sense of distinctive community identity.

Butte’s economic landscape is changing. The shift is from an industrial, resources-based economy to one that emphasizes technology, knowledge, and creativity.

Before these changes, the task of local developers was to try to entice a company to locate in the community. The companies would come with the jobs and the employees would follow to fill the jobs. Today, this is no longer the case. In the 21st century, access to the human capital of creative, knowledgeable workers drives economic decisions and investment in local communities.

Butte needs to become more competitive in the new national, knowledge-based economy. To be more competitive, Butte needs to attract this new human capital by preserving its heritage because culturally vibrant communities are the ones that attract the creative and knowledgeable people who are the human capital of the 21st century. We need a tough, comprehensive historic and cultural preservation ordinance to preserve our unmatched cultural and historical identity. If preserved and marketed, this unequaled identity can serve Butte as the basis for economic development. In an age when creative and knowledgeable people are bombarded by a uniform, bland and insipid national and global culture, Butte can offer an uncharacteristic cultural and historical atmosphere that is particularly attractive to the new businesspeople and investors.

Historic preservation has immediate economic benefits as well. Rehabilitating historic buildings can save on capital costs, provide more labor intensive jobs, promote energy efficiency, save on maintenance costs, and save on the cost of having to develop new infrastructure such as roads, utilities and services. Historic preservation would enable Butte to take full advantage of the new breed of tourists — heritage tourists. These are the folks who visit a place to experience something unique with character. They tend to stay longer, spend more money, and take part in more activities than ordinary tourists. Again, heritage tourists will only visit if there is something out of the ordinary for them to experience.

Butte now needs to make a firm commitment to historic preservation. It just makes good cents as well as sense.

— John Ray is a professor in the Liberal Studies Department at Montana Tech. He lives at 915 W. Galena.