By Jim Mountain, Regeneration Associate, National Trust for Canada
In my ongoing work with the National Trust’s Main Street program, so much of what I do is seeking people out, hearing their stories and helping them understand what Main Street is about. Main Street is about more than buildings: it’s about people.
When I tell people my job at the National Trust is all about promoting and supporting the regeneration of historic sites, I get some puzzled looks. For us heritage types who use the Standards and Guidelines, we can understand that regeneration includes all the activities under the conservation umbrella. But for most people, the light bulb only really goes off when I say that our objective is to revitalize historic sites in a sustainable way that makes them relevant to today’s society.