Kathleen Brooker
Kathleen Brooker
Executive Director
Historic Seattle
What is preservation's role in promoting sustainable development?
Preservationists need to lead on this issue. I think as a group we have always assumed that we would be included in the planning, design and environmental conversations in our communities. My experience tells me, however, that unless we are the convener and set an engaging agenda, preservation too often becomes a postscript in civic life. The Preservation Green Lab presents a great opportunity to really help our partners understand what we all know – preservation is the most sustainable, least impactful and most soulful development around.
What is your personal vision for the Preservation Green Lab?
I am gratified that the Preservation Green Lab will be located in the heart of Seattle, and that its new consulting director, Liz Dunn, understands not only this part of the United States, but brings a global perspective to it. I would like to be a part of a green team of people working together on a regular basis to get something visible accomplished. In an ideal world, that something would involve an entire neighborhood, even if a single building is the centerpiece. And from that great example, the vision would spread.
What do you hope the Preservation Green Lab will accomplish within its first year? Its first five years?
I hope to see a project identified that can bring community with it. And around that project, I would like to see a lot of discussion – shaped by preservationists – that includes the conservation, political, business, arts and development communities. Within five years, I'd like to see all of these groups having established a set of shared values and working together in defined neighborhoods to sustain the character and infrastructure of those places.
What lessons do you hope elected officials and local decision-makers will learn from the Preservation Green Lab and its initiatives? What about the general public?
I would like elected officials and decision-makers to become knowledgeable and excited about the Preservation Green Lab, and to start to think of it as a resource that can support them with policy and incentives. The public, if they can see how we are helping with issues they care about, will bring forward lessons for the Preservation Green Lab.
