Alumni Gazette

Caitlin Meives ’05 is such a preservationist that she recently found in her attic the Rochester history department flier that inspired her to become one in the first place.

Meives is the preservation planner for the Landmark Society of Western New York, a Rochester-based nonprofit that maintains and celebrates historical sites within and near the city. But as a soon-to-be graduate in 2005, Meives, a history major, had no idea what she wanted to do until she spotted the flier featuring a flowchart of advanced degrees and career paths related to her major—including master’s programs in historic preservation. After earning an MS in historic preservation from the University of Vermont, she returned to Rochester to launch her career.

Meives gets excited about things like peeking around early 20th-century Park Avenue houses to spot intricate detailing on their garages. But she noticed that the people at Landmark Society events who would come and “nerd out” like she did weren’t like her. Patrons tended to skew older. “It was really important to do something for [the Landmark Society] to start cultivating and growing the next generation of preservationists and members,” she says. So in 2013, she cofounded the Young Urban Preservationists, or “YUPs,” in order to preserve preservation itself.

“I have this theory that all of you are closet preservationists,” Meives told the audience at TEDxFlourCity in 2015. While none of them identified as a preservationist, plenty said they enjoyed things like walking their dogs through Highland Park, or eating out on Park Avenue. “Most of us are actively supporting preservation and being preservationists, and we just don’t realize that,” she told the group.

Such closet preservationists are drawn to events like Bikes, Beers & Buildings, YUPs’ annual scavenger hunt by bicycle that draws about 75 people to ride around the city. They hunt down places like the Driving Park Hotel and the oldest synagogue in Rochester, stopping for beers at Fifth Frame Brewing along the way.

Another favorite of the YUPs is their biannual trip. They visit cities of the Rust Belt Coalition, a collection of young preservationist groups scattered around the country. Rochester hosted the coalition last summer. They brought people to eat at Nick Tahou’s and the Public Market, partied at Swillburger and Radio Social, and took them on walking, biking, and dog-walking tours through places like Mt. Hope Cemetery, the abandoned subway, and the RG&E hydroelectric station at Lower Falls.

Melissa Baxter, a member of YUPs’ executive team, explained why she finds preservation important. “Preservation is a way to combat this whole way that capitalism can kind of gobble things up. Saying, ‘this is old, let’s just tear it down and build it up new’—if you constantly are doing that, I think you lose touch with those that have come before you and even the environment.” Instead, she says, “you can adapt what you already have and make it better in its own right.”

The YUPs have finished a strategic plan that includes a comprehensive list of goals and actions with five pillars: becoming more diverse and inclusive, developing strategic partnerships, focusing their impact, holding events that engage and educate, and making a difference in the world of preservation.

Meives spoke at length about the first and last pillars—about how she wants to challenge the field to grow and adapt, particularly when it comes to racial and socioeconomic diversity. “Preservation has a lot to offer people of every background, and so we want to make it open and welcoming and serving to everyone,” she says.

For Meives, preservation is as much about the future as it is about the past: ensuring the continuation of the Landmark Society, adapting historical sites for future generations, and ushering preservation into a new era.

“The thing that really makes me happy is when I see people using historic spaces and enjoying them, because that’s what it’s all about—creating communities people live in and enjoy,” she says.

The rest is history.

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Aroesty is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer.