Q&A with Stephanie Richard, Indiana Landmarks southwest field office director
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Stephanie Richard is nearly four months into her new role as Indiana Landmarks’ southwest field office director in Evansville. The not-for-profit organization with nine offices across the state helps people reimagine, rescue and revive historic places.
Richard spoke with Inside INdiana Business about the experience she brings to Indiana Landmarks, why she accepted the director role and her goals for Evansville’s southwest field office.
Tell me about your background before joining Indiana Landmarks.
I worked for Architectural Renovators for twelve years with Michael Martin, and we were a general contractor that specialized in old and historic buildings. Most of our work was in downtown Evansville. We worked on several projects in conjunction with Indiana Landmarks and the director at that time, Stewart Sebree.
Describe your role as the southwest field office director.
I’m still learning about all of the things that come with this role, but I would say I’m a liaison when it comes to historic preservation. Part of my role is to connect people and property owners to resources and other organizations that can help them. Indiana Landmarks also has several grant programs and funding sources that could be available to historic property owners.
Part of this role is also to increase awareness in the community about different historic properties and their importance. If they are in a state of disrepair, how that can be helped and that sort of thing. Indiana Landmarks also holds covenants and easements on some historic properties. Part of my role is to monitor those that are within my region, which includes six counties: Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Pike, Gibson and Posey
Why did you want this job?
I worked many years with Architectural Renovators where I was on site working on buildings, taking care of the administrative work that comes with construction. As things shifted at Architectural Renovators, as far as what the focus of the business was, my time there ended. I was excited when I realized this position was available, because it’s the perfect extension of my work at Architectural Renovators with a bit more community involvement.
Now I get to meet with a lot of people and put on more events and work a little bit more in education rather than the nuts and bolts that come with a construction project.
What are your short-term goals as the southwest field office director?
I’ve been thinking about how many things have come across my desk since July. And the list is huge. The Lynnville Library, historic New Harmony, Warrick County jail, old YMCA gym—this was my first week—historic Warrick County Bridge No. 140, the Reitz home, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Hulman Building and Sollman School.
My short term goals are try to be where I’m needed and respond to everyone that’s reached out already and continue the work that had been started in this region that maybe fell off a little bit during COVID while trying to find a consistent person to be in this role. Another goal is to secure a physical office in downtown Evansville.
What about long-term goals?
I want to meet even more people that can be influential not only in historic preservation but also in community development in Evansville and the other counties. Also, increase programming and the presence of Indiana Landmarks in southwest region. Even when Stewart Sebree was in the role, I don’t think there were a lot of public events. And Stewart was in the role for quite a long time.
After him, Candace Croix was hired. She started right before the pandemic hit. She decided to go back to law school; she was from California. And then Danielle Bachant-Bell filled in for a while. She lives in Bloomington and had some connection to Evansville. She was here a little bit, but it was a temporary solution. And then Taylor Burden was the last person in the position, and she ended up finding her dream job in folk art somewhere down south.
So I was excited about this position because I’m from Evansville, I’ve worked with a lot of people in downtown Evansville and I don’t have any intentions of moving from the area. I intend to be in this position for a long time.
You mentioned Sollman School earlier. The Gibson County building made Indiana Landmarks’ 10 most endangered list this year. Do you think that distinction will help efforts to save it?
The top 10 most endangered list is a tool to bring awareness to those properties that need some attention. That’s especially the case with the Sollman School because it’s not in a largely populated area. Although the people around the school know of its importance, maybe not as many people outside of Snake Run know about that.
So it helps bring awareness. It possibly opens up a few more funding opportunities and gets the media’s attention. It helps galvanize people who are interested in doing something to help save the building.
What challenges do you expect to face in your new role?
Historic preservation is always challenging. It’s never easy. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a thing. New uses have to be identified for buildings sometimes. I know from experience that when you open up walls and look into structural details, there’s always a surprise coming. You just don’t know exactly what it’s going to be, how extensive it will be and how much it’s going to affect your budget.
Sometimes people look at these projects and it would be easier to tear down and build something new because it’s more of a known quantity. But there’s a reason to save these old buildings.
What can people who want to save endangered historic places do to further their causes?
One of the first things to do is to figure out how much support you have for the project, whether that’s interest among the community but also financial support. Most grant opportunities you’re going to come across will have a matching requirement, which means they’ll give you money, but you’ll have to match that money. If you’re not prepared to pay for the whole project, then you’ll need some partners to try to move that forward, depending on how big the project is.
The other thing is approaching these projects in a positive way is going to get you farther than pointing fingers about why the building is in the state that it’s in or how we got to this point. The important part is moving forward to save the building, not focusing on how terrible it is.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m proud to be working with Indiana Landmarks. It’s an amazing organization. And while I thought I knew a lot about it because I had worked with Stewart Sebree and the other folks at Indiana Landmarks previously at Architectural Innovators, I’m amazed every day at how big the organization is and how far it reaches. I’m also proud of the fact that it’s the premier organization of its kind in the country here in Indiana, which is pretty amazing.