-- Dolores McDonagh

Dolores McDonagh is vice president of membership at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Two years ago—as we do every spring—the National Trust for Historic Preservation unveiled its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. One of these places was the World Trade Center's Vesey Street Staircase. Known as the "Survivors' Stairway," due to the hundreds of people who used it to evacuate the towers during the attacks, the staircase was the last remaining above-ground feature of the World Trade Center, it was also in danger of being lost forever. Construction and development of a memorial site around the area where the Towers once stood threatened the stairs with demolition. This drew the attention of preservationists and everyday citizens alike to the question of how to most appropriately save this important reminder of the attacks and of those who were directly affected by them. Unquestionable for its historic value, the preservation of this 175 ton piece of concrete and steel is more important for the symbolic nature of what it represents. These were the stairs that people who survived the chaos of that morning used to exit the building, they were also used as the entrance for rescue workers to enter the building in order to help those still inside. In addition, the Survivors Stairway is a tangible piece of the September 11th attacks that itself survived, and holds the memory of all those who did not.

Saving the stairway took the efforts of numerous organizations combined with public support via letters to important decision-makers. Groups such as the Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund, the Preservation League of New York State, the World Monuments Fund, the Municipal Art Society, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy all aided in the process and in March of this year, the stairway was moved out of the path of construction and to a temporary location. In July, the stairs were placed within the foundations of the Memorial where visitors will eventually be able to view them next to the functional staircase as they descend into the museum and experience the site at bedrock level.

The memorial itself is estimated for completion in 2011, and is titled Reflecting Absence, a reference to its attempt to incite thinking on two buildings long-associated with the New York skyline which have been lost forever. In a September 16, 2001 New York Times article, Michael J. Lewis stated that:

"In their absence, the World Trade Center towers are more a monument than ever. The physical void they leave is itself a poignant memorial, an aching emptiness that is the architectural counterpart to human loss."

Besides rows of trees and two waterfall-fed pools representing the areas where the buildings once stood, the memorial will include the names of victims from both towers, the Pentagon and the four flights which crashed in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania on September 11th, 2001. The Pentagon opened its memorial this morning, and one planned for the Pennsylvania crash site is due to be finished in 2011.

The addition of a tangible, lasting piece of the buildings that did make it through the attacks is interesting when compared to the overall World Trade Center memorial itself, which focuses upon absence, emptiness and the recollection of things that are missing. The inclusion of the appropriately titled Survivors Stairway reminds us that some things did survive the catastrophe—both those who made it out, along with the memories of those who did not—and that we are still here as a nation and global community, whether it be one year after the attack or seven.

So lately I've been trying to increase my tolerance for heat and run my home air conditioner a lot less. DC in the summer is the perfect environment for such a quest — aren't we lucky! My electricity bill hit a record high in June of $33 to cool my 500 sq ft condo (compare this to spring low of $12.) Okay, I just told a tiny lie there. My condo is actually about 450 square feet – but I'm trying to make myself feel better.

Now, I know $33 is cheap these days, and there are many others with summer electricity bills far higher. Nonetheless, I'm on a mission: keep my bill under $20 during July. Granted, I'm not quite as committed as Jeffrey and Brenda Marchant who were profiled in a recent New York Times article Trying to Build a Greener Britain, Home by Home. Mr. Marchant has kept electricity logs for his home since 1960, and thanks to a handy new gadget, can track his energy usage in real time using a smart energy meter.

The villages of Brighton and neighboring Hove, where the Marchants live, have succeeded in lowering their carbon emissions by 50% in recent years, in part through steps like smart metering. But there's more to this story. 

The Marchants live in a historic Victorian home and have significantly improved their energy usage through retrofits and behavioral changes. The article notes that many families in these two villages have made their historic houses eco-friendly, and "done it through inexpensive and nearly invisible interventions, like under-roof insulation, solar water heaters and hallway meters, that leave their homes still looking like old Victorian houses." 

The Marchants, for example, have reduced their energy consumption with just two structural modifications to their home — installing a solar water heating panel and insulating their attic. Another couple in the article resorted to much more drastic measures – though it wasn't clear what the impact was on the appearance of their house.

It's hard not to envy the British…they are just so much farther ahead on understanding the value of existing buildings, and promoting retrofits — thanks in large part to a government that is far more progressive on these issues. We've got a lot further to go on this side of the pond… but I'm optimistic that things will change with what I hope will be increased focus on global warming after the election.   

Let's hope that optimism isn't just the heat affecting my judgement.

"Man, it's breaking my heart," Valeri said. "I remember...sitting right there where they are tearing it down." As he spoke, a massive machine shredded an outer wall, exposing the upper-deck walkway and still verdant baseball field.

Vernacular Modernism

Ranch Houses are especially typical of the homes that began to appear across the American landscape in the 1950's, 60's and 70's as the "Greatest Generation" began to settle down into the comforts of family life. While not the only housing style being used during the time period—Cape Cods, split levels, and two-story Colonials were also quite popular—it was the Ranch, with its long, low to the ground profile that has become symbolic of residential Mid-Twentieth Century America.

With a more open floor plan that allowed rooms to flow together, the Ranch style was less formal than prior suburban designs and allowed for greater implementation of the numerous technological advances that helped define this era of consumerism and domesticity.

For information on maintaining your post-War home, check out our website at: http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/modernism-recent-past/modern_homeowners.html.

Back in May, in celebration of Preservation Month, we launched a campaign called This Place Matters, and asked preservationists around the country to share photos and stories of the places that matter to them. We've gotten more than 200 to date, but are still accepting submissions, so if you happen to visit a great place this weekend, make sure to take a picture and post it on the This Place Matters site.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, however, is not the only organization talking about places that matter. In fact, we got the idea for our initiative from two groups in New York: City Lore and the Municipal Art Society. Earlier this month, they celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Place Matters program by honoring 10 places selected from a list of nearly 650 places nominated by New Yorkers as part of their census.

They've produced a great YouTube video of their honorees. I've visited New York City countless times, and I have to say each of them was new to me — and each seems to be a special, local gem.