Reacting
to reports that the White House had eliminated funding for the Save America’s
Treasures and Preserve America programs, preservation economist Donovan Rypkema
(see “What Is Preservation Worth?” CPN, January/February 2010) published
comments in “Place Economics Blog” On February 8. SAT was founded during the
Millennium celebrations (see CPN, March/April 1999) and extended because of its
success. Moreover, as Rypkema points out, both programs also contributed significantly
to job creation:
Between 1999 and 2009, the
Save America's Treasures program allocated around $220 million dollars for the
restoration of nearly 900 historic structures, many of them National Historic
Landmarks. This investment by the SAT program generated in excess of $330
million from other sources. This work meant 16,012 jobs (a job being one full
time equivalent job for one year...the same way they are counting jobs for the
Stimulus Program). The cost per job created? $13,780.
This compares with the White
House announcement that the Stimulus Package is creating one job for every
$248,000. Whose program is helping the economy?
To read Rypkema’s comments in full, visit www.placeeconomics.com/blog.html
