After spending more than 40 years in historic preservation, Myrick Howard is firm in his convictions. Simply put, he says, “The story goes away if the building goes away.” And he says those stories are what make historic preservation critical to the understanding of the foundation and development of communities.
I had a chance to talk to Myrick Tuesday night following his presentation to a group of about 40 preservationists at the historic Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill, and he emphasized the importance of preservation projects like the Baltimore School in Cramerton. “That’s a fascinating story, and fascinating people, but without the building, we wouldn’t have any recollection of that story.”
Myrick spent his entire professional career at Preservation North Carolina, before retiring last year from his most recent role as Executive Director. During his tenure there, PNC was involved in the preservation of more than 900 historic properties across the state. His recent book, “Buying Time for Heritage,” makes a convincing case for historic preservation as an economic and community-development driver, and is available at www.uncpress.org or through Amazon. Myrick continues to teach at UNC-Chapel Hill, and for the future of historic preservation in North Carolina, that’s certainly a good thing.