Brick by Brick: Building Community Development Through History Series

(LITTLE FALLS, MN – March 4, 2021) How do contractors know what a historic building used to look like when they are restoring the façade? How do road builders know whether the land they are planning to pave is free of sensitive archaeological sites? How can business or home owners figure out the history of their properties?

All of these scenarios depend on history that has been collected and preserved by public history museums, including county historical societies. Staff at these organizations assist in the research needed to answer these questions. Because each of these scenarios is part of development activities that create a community, history itself plays a major, although not widely known, role in community development. History is part of a community’s infrastructure.

To explore this idea further, the Morrison County Historical Society has partnered with a variety of community development professionals to create an online event series called “Brick by Brick: Building Community Development Through History.”

The series features three events focused on different aspects of history’s role in community development:

• (Brick One) Thursday, April 1, 2021, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Funding the Upkeep of Existing Buildings: The Little Falls Redevelopment Program.
• (Brick Two) Thursday, April 8, 2021, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Tax Incentives for History: The Importance of Historic Tax Credits.
• (Brick Three) Thursday, April 15, 2021, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: History Is Infrastructure: The Role of History in Community Development.

Brick One’s panelists include Greg Zylka, Mayor of Little Falls; Carol Anderson, Executive Director of Morrison County Community Development; Jon Rademacher, Little Falls City Administrator; and Mary Ippel, Partner at Taft Law.

Brick Two’s panelists include Natascha Wiener, Historical Architect for the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office; Erin Hanafin Berg, Policy Director and Ethan Boote, Real Estate Manager for Rethos: Places Reimagined; and Shannon Wiger, Principal for Spring Hill Capital.

Brick Three will feature panelists Mary Warner, Executive Director of the Morrison County Historical Society; Todd Holman, Coordinator for the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape; Melissa Wenzel, Built Environment Sustainability Administrator for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; and King Banaian, Dean of St. Cloud State University’s School of Public Affairs.

Moderator for the event series is Ashley Zidon, Community Development Administrator for Sourcewell, with assistance from Ann Marie Johnson, Preservationist, and Grace Duxbury, Museum Assistant, at the Morrison County Historical Society, and Phoebe Ward, Minnesota Fellow for the City of Little Falls.

All three events are free and open to the public. They will be held online via Webex.

To register or for more information, call 320-632-4007 or email staff@morrisoncountyhistory.org.

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Event Summary

Brick by Brick: Building Community Development Through History
Free Online Event Series via Webex

(Brick One) Thursday, April 1, 2021, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Funding the Upkeep of Existing Buildings: The Little Falls Redevelopment Program

(Brick Two) Thursday, April 8, 2021, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Tax Incentives for History: The Importance of Historic Tax Credits

(Brick Three) Thursday, April 15, 2021, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: History Is Infrastructure: The Role of History in Community Development

Register: Call 320-632-4007 or email staff@morrisoncountyhistory.org.
You will need to register for each event you’d like to attend.