Preservation Planning: Developing Your Vision, Goals, and Priorities

Abigail Christman is a Senior City Planner in Landmark Preservation at the City and County of Denver. Abigail has a varied background having previously worked for consulting firms, Colorado Preservation, Inc., and the University of Colorado Denver. Her experience includes Section 106n consultation, reconnaissance and intensive-level surveys, National Register nominations, HABS/HAER/HALS documentation, neighborhood pattern books, preservation tax credit certification, interpretation, public outreach, and serving on the Denver Landmark Commission. Abigail also teaches a graduate course for CU Denver titled Historic Buildings in Context. Abigail holds a B.A. in History from the University of South, a M.A. in Public History/Historic Preservation from Middle Tennessee State University, and a M.A. in Histories and Theories of Architecture from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, England.

Cara Bertron manages the community-driven process to develop the new Equity-Based Preservation Plan for Austin, Texas. With more than 15 years of experience in historic preservation, community development, and planning, Cara is committed to shaping more equitable cities through keeping people and buildings in place. Previously, she led equity-focused preservation planning in Seattle’s Chinatown International District and facilitated the development of the Action Agenda for Historic Preservation in Legacy Cities. Cara serves as a National Trust Adviser and is a member of the Next City Vanguard. Her favorite public places are Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, Oslo’s central library, and Barton Springs at night.

Bhavesh Mittal has served as the Heritage Preservation Officer for the City of Plano in Texas since April 2012. In this role, Bhavesh administers the City’s heritage preservation program, which includes overseeing the tax exemption and the preservation grant program. Bhavesh is a current NAPC Board member and serves as the Assistant Treasurer. During his time in Plano, Bhavesh has been instrumental in overseeing the National Register listing for Plano’s downtown district, starting a preservation related online newsletter, starting a Neighborhood Conservation District program, writing and obtaining preservation grants from the state, and most importantly updating the entire preservation program related documents such as; the preservation ordinance; preservation plan; customized design standards for heritage districts; and historic resource survey for all designated heritage structures. Due to his efforts, the Plano Heritage Commission received various local, state, regional, and national awards including the prestigious ‘Commission of the Year’ award from NAPC in 2020. Bhavesh has received his Master in Preservation Studies from Tulane University, New Orleans and Bachelor of Architecture from Mumbai University, India. Prior to working with City of Plano, Bhavesh has more than 10 years of experience working in both, private and public sector doing Architecture and Historic Preservation which includes international work in India and Nepal.

Heather Bailey has a Ph.D. in Public History from Middle Tennessee State University and over a decade of professional experience as a preservation planner in Tennessee, Colorado, and Wisconsin. She has served as a technical adviser for the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance, board member for the Tennessee Preservation Trust, and a board member for Colorado Preservation Inc. In April 2015, the University of Minnesota Press published her chapter “Does This Place Really Matter? The Preservation Debate over Historical Significance in Colorado's Post World-War II Suburbs,” in Making Suburbia: New Histories of Everyday America. She continues her research and advocacy for cultural conservation as the Preservation Planner for the City of Madison, Wisconsin.

Nick Kalogeresis manages Lakota’s historic preservation and community planning portfolios and brings more than 25 years of experience in revitalization planning for traditional commercial districts and neighborhoods. At Lakota, Nick has led successful planning processes for both small communities and large cities, including the Strategic Historic Preservation Plan for the City of San Antonio, Texas; the Enos Park Neighborhood Revitalization Plan (Springfield, Illinois); and the Moline (Illinois) Riverfront Neighborhood Comprehensive Plan Update, which was recognized with a Best Strategic Plan honor award by the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association. Nick also specializes in preservation planning, including historic resource surveys, preservation plans, National Register nominations, and design guidelines.

His recent preservation planning assignments included a village-wide architectural resources survey for River Forest, Illinois and the National Register nomination for the Central Berwyn Bungalow Historic District in Berwyn, Illinois. He is currently leading an Arts District Master Plan for the North Topeka neighborhood in Topeka, Kansas.

Prior to joining Lakota in 2008, Nick previously worked for the National Main Street Center, providing planning and preservation expertise to communities around the Midwest and the county. Nick holds a Bachelor of History from Elmhurst College and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Michelle Michael has been the Historic Preservation Planner for the Town of Wake Forest since 2014. Michelle received her Master of Historic Preservation degree from the University of Georgia in 1994. Since that time, she has worked in a variety of roles within the historic preservation field including for Preservation North Carolina, as a private historic preservation consultant, and as the architectural historian for Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As a consultant Michelle completed National Register Nominations in North and South Carolina, two large-scale municipal architectural surveys in Fayetteville and Edenton, local landmark designations, design guidelines, and tax credit project applications. Michelle’s most recent position before coming to Wake Forest in 2014 was as the Architectural Historian for Naval Facilities Engineering Command and Navy Commander Region Southeast based in Jacksonville, Florida where she provided historic preservation support to twenty-two military installations in seven states. While at the Town of Wake Forest, Michelle has worked to promote and educate the public on the importance of historic preservation in Town Planning. A few of the projects she has worked on during her time in Wake Forest include walking tour brochures and apps, archaeology workshops at the Ailey Young House, the rehabilitation of the Ailey Young House, the architectural survey update (1958-1975), the Design Standards for Historic Districts and Local Landmarks, the NE Community Plan Update, the NE Community Story Map, and the Historic Preservation Plan Update which was adopted in October 2022.

Adrienne Burke is Principal/Owner with Community Planning Collaborative, an urban planning and historic preservation consulting practice whose purpose is to elevate the voices and culture of those traditionally excluded from urban planning, land use and zoning. She most recently served as Principal Planner with Miami-Dade County, working on historic preservation and long-range planning. Prior to joining Miami-Dade, she worked in Northeast Florida as Planning Director for Nassau County, Executive Director for nonprofit organization Riverside Avondale Preservation, and Community Development Director for the City of Fernandina Beach. Adrienne’s expertise is in cultural and natural resource policy, as well as land development code and comprehensive plan management. Preservation specialties include cemeteries, African American history, and sea level rise planning. Adrienne has an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Virginia, and graduated from the University of Florida with a master’s degree in historic preservation/urban planning and a law degree. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Florida Bar, and on the Board for the Florida Public Archaeology Network.