New City Historic Preservation Program Manager Bethany Emenhiser to Present at the National Preservation Conference in Washingto

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct. 21, 2015

For more information, please contact

Bethany Emenhiser, Historic Preservation Program Manager, Housing and Neighborhood Development, 812.349.3507, emenhisb@bloomington.in.gov

Lisa Abbott, Director, Housing and Neighborhood Development, 812.349.3420, abbottl@bloomington.in.gov

New City Historic Preservation Program Manager Bethany Emenhiser to Present at the National Preservation Conference in Washington, D.C.

Bloomington, Ind. - On Nov. 5, Bethany Emenhiser, City of Bloomington Historic Preservation Program Manager, will be speaking at PastForward 2015 Conference in Washington, D.C.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual conference, PastForward, is held Nov. 3rd through 6th at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, in Washington, D.C. More than 2,000 attendees are expected to attend, including historic preservationists, architects, city planners, developers and public and private-sector professionals. The conference this year kicks off the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Emenhiser will be presenting in the "New Thinking, New Perspectives in Historic Preservation" Learning Lab. Learning Labs are 75-minute, in-depth educational sessions that cover key preservation issues and feature industry thought leaders. Emenhiser is one of four emerging preservationists selected by the National Council for Historic Preservation Education and will be presenting on her master's thesis. Her thesis, "Hidden Communities: Creating a preservation plan for underutilized alleyways as a tool for reactivation," explores the formation of hidden communities within the alleyways in Washington, D.C., the legislation and policy that shaped them and discusses future potential for underutilized alleys.

"I was lucky enough to attend and participate in many of the sessions at last year's conference that was held in Savannah, GA. I am excited to once again be able to attend and participate in the conference. I am particularly excited to engage with preservation professionals from across the country, many of whom I aspire to be someday," Emenhiser said. "While I am there, I will also be attending training sessions and learning about other community's preservation practices and hope to bring back that experience to Bloomington."

Conference programming also includes educational day-long Preservation Leadership Training Intensives, Field Studies that take attendees into the community and four marquee TrustLive presentations. TrustLives will be live streamed and virtually attended by people from across the nation and around the globe, and will focus on urban strategies including Main Street approaches to saving historic places; federal innovation and excellence in historic preservation; telling a more inclusive story of preservation by featuring multiple voices and experiences; and the next 50 years of preservation.

For more information on the PastForward 2015, the National Preservation Conference, visit www.PastForwardConference.org. PastForward 2015 is brought to you by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Bethany Emenhiser is the new Historic Preservation Program Manager with the City of Bloomington, Ind. in the Housing and Neighborhood Development Department. In her capacity with the City, she serves as staff to the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission, assists with the environmental review process and serves as technical assistance to the City and its' residents. Bethany graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in May 2015 with an M.F.A. in Historic Preservation. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in History from Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, IN.

For more information on Historic Preservation or the conference, please contact Bethany Emenhiser, Program Manager, HAND, at 812.349.3507.

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