What We Do

2025 Destination Downtown Conference

September 10 – 12, 2025

El Dorado Conference Center

311 S. West Avenue, El Dorado, AR

Destination Downtown is the South’s premier downtown revitalization conference, hosted through a partnership among Main Street Arkansas, Louisiana Main Street, and the Mississippi Main Street Association. Preserve Arkansas is excited to partner with our friends at Main Street Arkansas to bring you a “preservation track” during Destination Downtown in El Dorado, September 10-12, 2025. 

Preservation Track Sessions:

• Making the Capital Stack – sponsored by Murphy USA
– Joe Borgstrom, Place + Main Advisors, LLC

This session will explain the strategic use of Historic Tax Credits, syndication, and local incentives with examples to illustrate how these sources work together to make challenging preservation projects financially feasible.
This session is worth 1.25 LU Continuing Education Credits through the American Institute of Architects.

• Heritage Tourism, Storytelling, and Placekeeping – sponsored by Kudzu Collective
– Justin Burch, Washington County Economic Alliance, Greenville, MS
– Daniel Boggs, Greater Greenville and Main Street Greenville, MS

This session will examine how community-led preservation efforts in the Mississippi River Delta support the rehabilitation of historic places through culturally informed design, economic development, and long-term stewardship.
This session is worth 1.25 HSW Continuing Education Credits through the American Institute of Architects.

• Sustainability and Deconstruction – sponsored by Clark Contractors
– Mae Bowley, Big Tree Projects, LLC

This session will trace the history of building deconstruction and reuse as a sustainable practice and explain how responsible deconstruction is an alternative to demolition when buildings cannot be preserved in place.
This session is worth 1.25 HSW Continuing Education Credits through the American Institute of Architects.

• Emerging Technologies and Historic Preservation – sponsored by CADM Architecture, Inc.
– Huy Pham and Paul Kim, APIAHiP: Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation

This session will demonstrate how AI can help visualize community-led revitalization projects and support everyday tasks in preservation work like drafting grant applications, writing social media posts, and producing outreach materials for heritage tourism.
This session is worth 1.25 LU Continuing Education Credits through the American Institute of Architects.

• Preservation Advocacy – sponsored by Landmark Preservation Consulting, LLC
– Vincent Michael, Ph.D., Conservation Society of San Antonio

This session will deal with several aspects of preservation advocacy, including direct lobbying at the federal, state, and local levels for preservation programs like the Historic Tax Credit and Historic Preservation Fund; coalition-building to influence policy decisions and attract broader support; public relations strategies to gain media attention and support; and petition drives and other grassroots campaigns.
This session is worth 1.25 HSW Continuing Education Credits through the American Institute of Architects.

This project has been funded in part by a grant from the Arkansas Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.