educate•preserve• empower

Historic Ithaca’s mission is to promote and preserve the built environment through education, advocacy and action.  For more than 50 years, we have engaged our community in valuing our buildings, landscapes, and historic sites through tours, lectures, educational programs, workshops and the delivery of preservation services.  Advocacy and action are at the forefront of our efforts to celebrate, sustain and maintain the historic and yet-to-be historic resources for future generations.

 

As a nonprofit, preservation organization, Historic Ithaca serves Ithaca and Tompkins County.  Our origins date to June 20, 1966, when Helen Duprey Bullock of the National Trust for Historic Preservation spoke to mostly members of the Downtown Business Women association at Reinhardt Interiors, Inc.  Bullock was in Ithaca for a Cornell University Summer Institute session, called Planning for Preservation. In that same week, following many months of debate and protest, Ithaca’s 1844 City Hall was demolished to make way for a parking lot. In her talk, Bullock suggested that citizens concerned about the preservation of historic buildings form an affiliate group of the National Trust, and that the group call itself Historic Ithaca, Inc. After this talk, a small group of attendees resolved to do exactly that, and Historic Ithaca was founded.

Our longstanding retail store, Significant Elements, is our firm commitment to environmental sustainability and preservation of our collective cultural heritage.  The store’s inventory includes architectural salvage, antiques, and vintage décor, donated by community members, contractors, businesses and institutions.  Sales support the programs of Historic Ithaca and Significant Elements.

 

Work Preserve, a job readiness and placement program, began in 2010 and offers participants the opportunity to build transferable job skills and gain financial independence.