Historic Districts Council

The Preservation Alliance’s Historic Districts Council (HDC) represents select residential National Register Historic Districts, Philadelphia Historic Districts and neighborhood organizations and institutions interested in preservation activities within their neighborhoods and throughout the City of Philadelphia.

The Historic Districts Council meets quarterly and members engage in Alliance advocacy events. Past speakers include Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council in New York City; Jon Farnham, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Historical Commission; Warren Huff, former Deputy Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission; Domique Hawkins, preservation consultant with Preservation Design Partnerships; and John Leith-Tetrault,, the National Trust for Historic Preservation Director of Community Partners.

The Alliance continues to sponsor the HDC meetings quarterly. The meetings feature the following format: current information about the Alliance's neighborhood programs, presentations relevant to historic neighborhoods, and a roundtable discussion by participants. The Alliance continues to solicit neighborhood organizations to participate in the HDC who are not currently involved.

By engaging the HDC members, the Alliance galvanizes support for nominating new historic districts, for lobbying the state and city governments for positive preservation policies, and for relationships between participating neighborhoods.

During 2008, the HDC and the Alliance will continue to lobby the Mayor and City Council to allocate more funds to the Philadelphia Historical Commission's budget. This increase will provide the Commission with more resources to hire staff, accelerate the district review and individual permitting processes and promote preservation through educational programs and partnerships with city and local non-profit organizations.

Contact Liz Blazevich, Advocacy Associate, liz@preservationalliance.com for more information about the HDC.

2008 Participating organizations include:

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Center City Residents Association
Chestnut Hill Historical Society
Cliveden of The National Trust for Historic Preservation
East Falls Community Council
East Parkside Community Revitalization Corporation
Elfreth’s Alley Association
Fairmount Community Development Corporation
Frankford Historical Society
Garden Court Community Association
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Manayunk Development Corporation
Manayunk Neighbors Association
Mt. Airy USA
The National Trust for Historic Preservation – Northeast Field Office
Old City Civic Association
Overbrook Farms Club
Parkside Historic Preservation Corporation
Pelham
Penn Knox Neighborhood Association
Powelton Village Civic Association
Queen Village Neighbors Association
Society Hill Civic Association
Spruce Hill Community Association
University City Historic Society
West Washington Square Historic District
West Mt. Airy Neighbors
Upper Roxborough