Future Here Now: Why Restore?

Signals

Note: Friday’s Future Here Now for paid subscribers did not go out due to an unanticipated internet stoppage. Full, paid subscribers will get that post, in addition to their regularly scheduled posts, later this week. If you are not a paid subscriber and you’d like to see what you’ve been missing, you can get a free week when you sign up.

Last week I posted the first interview in a new series - it’s a deep dive into the story of the rebirth and reuse of a multi-building complex anchored by a huge arcade in Dayton, Ohio. It’s an incredible story of persistence and creative problem solving, one that spans more than a decade. If you haven’t caught it yet, you can (and should) watch it here. More videos are coming, so be sure to subscribe to the channel - and select notifications!

I suppose it’s possible that some people might question the connection between reusing old buildings and what I usually write about - building Future Ready communities and organizations. I do love these kind of stories - and not just because I started my professional life in the historic preservation space.

The question of why historic rehabilitation stories like this matter has been thumping around my head for decades. In the 1990s, I chaired a historic preservatio committee in Green Bay, Wisconsin (even though I was 10 years younger than the next oldest person), and I still remember pacing around my living room talking to myself, trying to answer that question.

I have come up with a lot of answers over the years- environmental responsibility, efficiency, financial prudence, beauty, understanding our past. But these days, the answer that means the most to me is this:

A rehabilitated building or building complex like the Arcade, and the story of how it found new life, testifies to us about some of the most crucial traits that the future is demanding of us:

Resilience

Persistence

Working with complexity

Finding new relevance in the face of obsolescence

The power of wide inclusion

I hope after you watch the video, you’ll let me know what other Future Ready characteristics are on your mind.