Vermont Public Radio
Commentary
by Chester H. Liebs
© Copyright
2004, Chester H. Liebs & VPR
Made possible by: The Alma
Gibbs Donchian Foundation and the Preservation Trust of Vermont
A Tribute to Bill
Pinney
COLCHESTER, VT (2004-06-21)
(Host) Today Vermonters place a high value on historic
preservation, but it wasn't always so. Commentator Chester Liebs
remembers one man who influenced how we think about our built
environment.
(Liebs) William B. Pinney died this year at the age of 85. Back in
1967 he became director of a somewhat sleepy government agency,
the Board of Historic Sites. The Board cared for a small but
important collection of state-owned historic properties -- places
like the Bennington Monument and the Constitution House. Bill woke
things up by acquiring Mt. Independence and Chimney Point, and by
building a visitor's center in Plymouth to honor Calvin Coolidge.
But this was only the beginning. Congress had recently passed the
National Historic Preservation Act to help states survey, for the
first time, all their historic sites and nominate properties to a
new National Register of Historic Places. Grants were also made
available for promoting a then radical but simple idea -- you
don't have to tear old buildings down or make them into museums.
Instead you can reuse them and have something beautiful and
economical to boot. Bill's tiny board had been responsible for the
protection of only State-owned historic sites. Renamed the
Division for Historic Preservation, it was now responsible for all
of Vermont's historic places.
And these place desperately needed protection. Everything from
railroad covered bridges to historic hotels were being threatened
and Urban Renewal was decimating historic areas in Burlington and
Winooski. So Bill, in his new role as State Historic Preservation
Officer, went through a transformation along with his agency. He
became a champion of all of Vermont's cultural heritage. And once
Bill Pinney decided to do something nothing could stop him.
Bill expanded survey and National Register programs. He battled to
bring more Federal money to the state, including a 1.2
million-dollar US Economic Development Administration grant to
restore over 100 buildings from Bellows to Burlington, as part of
the nation's Bicentennial. He also hired and mentored a talented
professional staff. He made sure the historic as well as natural
resources were protected under the state's environmental laws. And
he helped pass the Vermont Historic Preservation Act of 1975. Bill
retired in 1983, but that law continues to guide historic
preservation in Vermont today.
Bill always tried to do what he thought was right, not just what
was politically expedient. In the mid '70's, for example, he stood
up to the Vermont Highway Department when he asked the State
Environmental Board to stop a massive road project thorough the
village of Brookfield. Despite political pressure, Bill stood his
ground. Finally, when Governor Thomas Salmon took a look at the
project, he dubbed it "The Brookfield Massacre," and the
media went wild; Bill's courage made saving Vermont's heritage a
serious government priority.
This May, the Preservation Trust of Vermont gave its first William
B. Pinney Award, for government officials who demonstrate, quote,
"extraordinary tenacity and willingness to really stick their
necks out for Vermont." The winner was State Senator Vincent
Illuzzi for his legislative work to preserve Vermont's heritage.
Let's hope the award, and Bill's fighting spirit, inspire other
public servants to have the courage to protect our beautiful
state.
Landscape historian Chester Liebs is professor emeritus of
history at UVM and founding director of the University's Historic
Preservation Program.
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