ABSTRACT
Preservation has come a long way from a focus on protecting architectural jewels and landmarks to caring about cultural heritage as a whole, mundane buildings included. The preservationist Donavan Rypkema made the economic argument in his "Economics of Preservation" as early as 1997. Preservation has since become an integral part of community development and sustainable community strategies on the state and federal level. The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) set out to meet it together with the Urban Land Institute in the Partnership for Building Reuse. One of Baltimore's watershed preservation battles dates more than 30 years back. Emboldened by the impasse on preservation, community activists collaborated with Baltimore's Neighborhood Design Center to produce a report about their own vision. The preservation of the American Can left the question of what to do with the buildings and their industrial heritage. Adaptive reuse is not limited to the conversion of former industrial buildings to lofts or offices.
