Above: Tim and Leila Regan-Porter renovated a 130-year-old Queen Anne house on Bond Street in Macon, which had been converted into apartments, restoring it to a single-family residence. Photo credit: Walter Elliot. 

When one thinks about historic preservationists, often what comes to mind are mature folks who are passionate about old buildings—at the extreme, being seen as a part of “hysteric preservation” and impeding progress. In Macon, nothing could be further from the truth.  

 At Tuesday evening’s Historic Macon Foundation annual meeting and preservation awards, we busted the perception—much like Mercer busted the bracket by beating Duke in the NCCA basketball tournament! Here, we have people of all ages concerned about preserving our history, but my biggest takeaway from the event was the number of young people attending and the winners who are young: Tim and Leila Regan-Porter, who moved to Macon a few years ago and tackled the restoration of a beautiful, but neglected, home; and Will and Carrie Robinson, who restored a home while launching their new kitchen store in historic downtown Macon. 

At the annual meeting, the College Hill Alliance received the highest honor for its work to restore the College Hill Corridor neighborhood—and the alliance is staffed by five entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s. These young preservationists understand the importance of place, that preservation is the ultimate in “green” building, and that, as Jane Jacobs wrote in “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”:

“Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them … for really new ideas of any kind—no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be—there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”

At Knight Foundation, using place to make communities even more successful is an essential part of our strategy. In Macon, historic preservation is key to creating this sense of place and belonging, and our young preservationists are leading the way.

Beverly Blake, Knight program director in Macon