Advocacy Policy
The Architectural Heritage Center’s mission is to “inspire people to conserve the art, craft, and context of historic buildings and places to promote our cultural heritage as a vital element of livable, sustainable, communities.” We seek to preserve the historic character and livability of our built environment, and to promote sustainability through the re-use of period homes and buildings.
Owned and operated by the non-profit Bosco-Milligan Foundation, we empower people in the Portland region to preserve both landmark buildings and the regular “vernacular” vintage homes and storefronts that collectively define our neighborhoods, traditional downtowns, culture, history, and quality of life.
Find out about the important Historic Resources Code Project.
How to participate in this work
Our Advocacy Principles
The Architectural Heritage Center/Bosco-Milligan Foundation will:
-Advocate for the preservation of the art, craft, and context of historic buildings and places to promote our cultural heritage as a vital element of livable, sustainable, communities.
-Focus our efforts on the Portland Metro region.
-Help the public to understand the value of our cultural heritage and how to participate in its preservation and conservation.
-Advocate in partnership with other organizations, and when appropriate, take a leadership role.
-Advocate for the creation, funding and sustaining of preservation policies, programs, incentives, and specific projects.
-Prioritize our advocacy efforts and focus on board-selected advocacy items, with a reasonable split of AHC time and resources on both long- and short-term efforts.
Advocacy Criteria
The Architectural Heritage Center/Bosco-Milligan Foundation will consider:
-AHC staff and volunteer resources available for advocacy activities (as part of the budget process) and determine if the work involved can be accommodated by those resources.
-How significant is the historic resource? (based on various factors such as National Register listing, the local HRI, etc.)
-Are there multiple properties potentially affected?
-Do allies and advocates need to be identified or are they already identified?
-Are the allies informed and available to provide leadership on the issue? What elements (media, research, etc.) of a campaign can allies perform?
-How would AHC add value to the advocacy campaign?
-How realistic is a positive outcome?
-Could this turn into a potential showcase project from which the community can learn?
-Would the program or policy change impact a large number of resources in our region (or within the jurisdiction where the change is proposed)?
If you’re interested in joining our volunteer advocacy committee, you can find out more on our volunteer page.