Preservation Resource Center

PRESERVATION IN PRINT APRIL 2007 9
From the
LOUISIANA
State Historic Preservation Office
Office of Cultural Development,
Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism
Jonathan Fricker retiring in August
Phillip Boggan Named New State Historic Preservation Director
W
ith the retirement of longtime
director Jonathan
Fricker approaching, State
Historic Preservation Officer Pam
Breaux has announced the appointment
of Phillip Boggan to succeed
Fricker as director of the Louisiana
Division of Historic Preservation.
Boggan will take over in mid-August.
Phillip Boggan
As director, Boggan will be heavily
involved in the Historic Building
Recovery Grants Program, the
Division’s primary hurricane recovery
program. He will also administer six
other program areas and supervise a
professional staff of eighteen.
Boggan is a graduate of the
University of West Alabama and
Tulane University’s Historic
Preservation program. While at
Tulane, he worked as a design assistant
for New Orleans architect/educator
Gene Cizek, a leading light in
Louisiana’s preservation movement. In
2002, Boggan joined the Division staff
as a designer and certified local government
coordinator for Louisiana
Main Street. He was promoted to state
coordinator in 2003.
Boggan’s accomplishments are
impressive. Under his leadership,
Louisiana Main Street:
• WORKED closely with the National
Trust Main Street Center in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to
manage the distribution of donated
items and funds to evacuation
shelters and communities that were
part of the Louisiana Main Street
program;
• OBTAINED a $20,000 “Your Town”
grant to develop and host a design
conference to assist in the hurricane
recovery efforts for Louisiana and
Mississippi;
• HOSTED the June 2006 National
Trust Main Streets Conference in
New Orleans – one of the first conferences
held in the city after
Katrina – bringing over 1,200 Main
Street downtown revitalization
professionals, architects and preservationists
to the city;
• WON a $150,000 Preserve America
Grant to assist in the start-up of
Louisiana Main to Main: A Cultural
Road Show, which was developed to
collectively showcase the state’s
authentic culture, heritage, and
history during a month-long extravaganza
of special events held
throughout the state during
November; and
• ESTABLISHED an Urban Main
Street program in New Orleans to
assist in the revitalization of the
city post-Katrina.
Additionally, Boggan augmented the
Main Street staff from two to five,
enabling the program to tremendously
increase the amount of technical assistance
provided to participating communities.
Saunders to Head Restoration
Tax Incentive Program
Alison Saunders
State Historic Preservation Officer
Pam Breaux also has announced the
appointment of Alison Saunders as the
Division’s tax credit program manager.
Saunders replaces Nicole Hobson-
Morris, who resigned recently to pursue
other career opportunities.
Saunders’ responsibilities include the
Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit
Program, the State Commercial Tax
Credit Program and the State
Residential Tax Credit Program. Her
goals include continuing to inform the
public of the economic incentives
available for historic preservation,
making as much information on the
three incentive programs as possible
available electronically and aggressively
promoting the residential tax credit
program.
The Federal Rehabilitation Tax
Credit Program provides incentives to
encourage the rehabilitation of
income-producing National Registerlisted
properties. Established long
before Katrina hit South Louisiana, the
program has proven to be a strong
recovery tool. In the year-and-a-half
since the storm, the monetary value of
successful restoration projects leveraged
by the program has increased
from $95 million to $139 million.
A graduate of LSU’s history department
and a Baton Rouge native,
Saunders has been with the Division
for four years.
www.louisianahp.org
www.prcno.org