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P.O. Box 362, Wallingford, CT 06492 Tel:(203) 265-4025 |
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Unique Aspects of Our ProjectsUnique to our projects is the integration of the past with the present, of the old with the new.Making the Past Part of the PresentTraditional historic sites, such as Old Sturbridge Village or Colonial Williamsburg, attempt to recreate the past by putting a real distance between the past and the present. At Sturbridge, buildings have been relocated from around New England to a remote wooded area where visitors must purposefully go. At Williamsburg, buildings original to the town but later than the eighteenth century period have been moved or demolished to recreate Williamsburg as it appeared at a particular time, rather than as it evolved.Both sites are marketed as the quintessential representation of "Colonial New England" or "Colonial Virginia". While they certainly serve their purpose, and are valuable educational tools, they send a subtle message that the past really can't be part of the present. In contrast, our projects are not in isolated, purpose-built settings. Each sits side-by-side with more contemporary buildings in a working class New England community, clearly linking the past, the present, and the future of our town. Making the Past a Part of the "Real World"Traditionally, this separation of the past from the realities of the present has also been fed by the fact that many preserved and restored historic places are located in resort communities or upper income areas. This can easily lead people to the conclusion that large-scale and community-wide historic preservation is a laudatory goal, but that it can only happen in these types of places, and not in the real communities that can be found across the nation.This is a message - and a conclusion - which needs to be changed. This is one of the goals of the Trust's properties: to show that preservation and heritage tourism should be part of the economic redevelopment of every community in Connecticut and the Northeast.
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