Preservation Durham Welcomes New History Hub To Downtown Durham

DURHAM, N.C. - Oct. 15, 2013 - PRLog -- (Durham, NC) – When the new Museum of Durham History -- a.k.a. the Durham History Hub (http://www.museumofdurhamhistory.org/history-hub.html) -- opened to the public today at 500 West Main Street, just a few blocks away Preservation Durham (http://preservationdurham.org)’s Executive Director Wendy Hillis could almost hear the coupling between the city’s past and future snap into place.

“We are so excited to have the History Hub finally join us downtown, providing an accessible public venue within which to explore the unique history of our city,” she said from Preservation Durham’s office just off Main on Market Street. “With the opening of the Hub, we can focus our work on what we do best:  leveraging our historic buildings and neighborhoods through continued renovation and reuse, with the ultimate goal of generating a strong real estate engine, with unique assets, for the future of Durham City and County.”

Preservation Durham is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving Durham’s architectural heritage. According to Hillis, the Hub is a natural outgrowth of the role her organization has played in the community since 1974.

“So we can be forward looking, advocating for the importance of our historic places in the future of the city,” she said, “while the Hub can look back and interpret the history that brought us to this point. The museum’s opening also allows us to focus more specifically on the future of historic preservation: the revitalization of historic neighborhoods and buildings.”

The Hub’s Executive Director Katie Spencer and her Board of Directors, three of whom also serve on Preservation Durham’s Board, have been “great partners over the past few years,” Hillis said. “We look forward to continuing this synergetic relationship.  I hope this realignment of our scope will make us more relevant to a larger sector of the population -- those who are drawn to Durham's unique character- - and help us build a support base outside our traditional demographic.”

Wendy Hillis joined Preservation Durham in September of 2012 after serving as Campus Historic Preservation Architect at UNC-Chapel Hill.  She received her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and is a past recipient of the prestigious Richard Morris Hunt Fellowship that allows an American preservation architect to study and work in Paris, France.

Durham’s History Hub will be open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., with extended hours on Thursdays and Third Fridays in the spring and summer months. There is no admission fee. For more information on Hub, go to www.museumofdurhamhistory.org/history-hub.html.

For more information on Preservation Durham, visit preservationdurham.org.

About Preservation Durham:

Preservation Durham is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving Durham’s architectural heritage. The organization was founded in 1974, originally as the Historic Preservation Society of Durham. Preservation Durham has worked to establish historic districts in Durham that provide tax credits for homeowners of historic houses. Preservation Durham ’s Endangered Properties Fund helps buyers and sellers of historic properties protect them with preservation covenants. Its Renovators Network provides information and expertise to homeowners and other renovators. For more information visit www.preservationdurham.org.