[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 71 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3691-S3692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO PAUL BRUHN

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, one of the people who has done the most to 
protect so much in Vermont is Paul Bruhn. We Vermonters know that Paul, 
as the executive director of the Preservation Trust, has done an 
enormous service by leading conservation efforts to save the very best 
of our State.
  I ask unanimous consent that the full article by Virginia Lindauer 
Simmon, from the April edition of Business People Vermont, be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From Business People Vermont, Apr. 2008]

Past Perfect: Guiding the Conservation of One of the Country's 11 Most 
                           Endangered Places

                     (By Virginia Lindauer Simmon)

       Paul Bruhn hasn't strayed far from his roots. What he has 
     done is continue to tweak them, to the benefit of us all.
       Bruhn is executive director of the Preservation Trust of 
     Vermont, which he helped to found in 1980. The list of 
     properties the organization has helped since then--more than 
     1,500--reads like a compendium of places that make Vermont . 
     . . well, Vermont.
       The organization's story is much broader than preserving 
     historic structures. The work involves, for example, a 
     partnership with Mad River Glen to reconstruct and 
     rehabilitate the single lift chair, an icon of skiing in 
     Vermont; helping people in Starksboro establish a village 
     store--so crucial to community life in small towns and 
     villages; acquiring a geologic site in Isle LaMotte; 
     encouraging large-scale retailers such as Wal-Mart to 
     consider building smaller-scale stores in Vermont's 
     downtowns; underwriting publications that speak to the 
     Vermont way of life; aiding community-supported agriculture 
     or a group in Hardwick that, says Bruhn, with contagious 
     enthusiasm, ``figured out that if you're going to have a good 
     community and downtown revitalization project, you need a 
     great small restaurant and pub that serves the entire 
     community.''
       Bruhn's passion for his work makes perfect sense, 
     especially when it comes to downtowns. He grew up in 
     Burlington, where his family owned Bruhn Office Equipment on 
     Church Street--in the same building where Bruhn's office is 
     today. ``I used to hang out this same window when I was a 
     little kid watching parades,'' he says.
       After graduating from Burlington High School in 1965, Bruhn 
     studied at Fairleigh Dickinson and the University of Vermont. 
     ``I left without graduating, and just before they were 
     probably going to throw me out,'' he says with a grin.
       At the time, he was working for the Suburban List community 
     newspaper and its founders, Proctor and Ruth Page. ``I 
     started out selling advertising at $25 a week,'' he says, 
     chuckling. ``I was a reporter and took care of the paper when 
     they were on vacation. They really gave me my start in 
     life.''
       That start included backing him when he launched Chittenden 
     Magazine, a monthly publication he poured his life into from 
     1969 to '73, including mortgaging his house for living 
     expenses. ``Proc and Ruth backed it for four years, and it 
     was arguably an artistic success and not a real financial 
     success.'' He laughs heartily. ``That was my real `college' 
     education.''
       When the magazine folded, Bruhn found work with his friend 
     Patrick Leahy, the state's attorney for Chittenden County, as 
     a consumer fraud investigator. A year later, he was tapped to 
     run Leahy's campaign for the U.S. Senate.
       ``That, obviously, was an amazing experience. I went down 
     to Washington and served as his chief of staff for four 
     years. I was 27, and fortunately lots of people took me under 
     their wing and helped me through the intricacies of the 
     operation of the Senate.''
       Bruhn planned on staying two years, but lasted four, during 
     which his interest in historic preservation grew.
       Returning to Vermont in 1978, he went into consulting, 
     first helping to organize the restoration of the Round Church 
     in Richmond. In Washington, he had worked with Leahy on 
     obtaining federal funding for the development of the Church 
     Street Marketplace. Back home, he helped put together the 
     campaign for the required local 10 percent match.
       When a group he had encountered during the Round Church 
     project--the Vermont Council of the Society for the 
     Preservation of New England Antiquities--decided to start a 
     statewide preservation organization, Bruhn was hired to run 
     it, ``because I was available and inexpensive,'' he says with 
     typical humility.
       The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation had provided 
     a good infrastructure for preservation work in the state, 
     having worked since the early 1970s on the state survey of 
     historic places. More than 30,000 buildings and numerous 
     historic districts are on the state register in Vermont, and 
     10,000 of those are also on the national register.
       Grant-making has been a piece of the organization's work 
     since the early days, starting with small seed grants of $250 
     to $500. Funding comes from various sources. In the late 
     1980s, the organization started the Fund for Vermont's Third 
     Century to encourage people to celebrate the bicentennial in 
     ways that would last. It ran for four years leading up to and 
     through Vermont's bicentennial in 1991.
       In 1994, a special partnership was developed with the 
     Freeman Foundation. ``It would be impossible to overstate how 
     important it's been,'' Bruhn says. ``We're the nudge, the 
     supporter, the enabler--and are lucky to have partnerships 
     like this.'' Funding from the Freeman Foundation has provided 
     grants to more than 300 projects and played a key role in 
     over $115 million worth of rehabilitation work, he says.
       Bruhn's lively, creative mind, good sense of humor, and 
     ability to inspire affinity have served him well in his 
     chosen career. James Maxwell, a Brattleboro attorney and a 
     member of the board of the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, has 
     seen this first-hand. He was president of the board in 2000-
     2001, when the BAI became involved in buying the Latchis 
     hotel and theater complex.
       ``Paul is a man of wide comprehension as to the needs of 
     downtowns in Vermont, and I would venture to say in the 
     country as a whole,'' says Maxwell. ``Not only is his 
     knowledge comprehensive, but he is a feeling human being, 
     someone who resonates with groups that he works with and is 
     of incredible assistance, not only in the nuts and bolts of 
     how you go putting together a deal, but also how you move 
     things along.
       ``He is a congregator. Without getting up on the pulpit and 
     giving a sermon, he is able to congregate people in a 
     situation.''
       This talent and Bruhn's understanding of the benefit of 
     being willing to change with the times have helped keep the 
     organization strong.
       He inspired change 10 years ago, when the organization 
     entered a nationwide competition sponsored by the National 
     Trust for Historic Preservation and the Mellon Foundation, 
     seeking ideas on how to improve the delivery of services and 
     the effectiveness of the historic preservation movement 
     nationally.
       Vermont was one of two states whose submissions were 
     chosen, says Bruhn. ``We were selected for developing a 
     program for providing field services, so instead of providing 
     support to local organizations via telephone calls and some 
     visiting in the field, we would hire two part-time people who 
     would spend the vast majority of their time in the field 
     working with local organizations helping them move their 
     projects along.''
       The Preservation Trust of Vermont received a significant 
     grant ``It was $170,000, and that was 10 years ago,'' says 
     Bruhn--which provided full funding the first year, 70 percent 
     the second year, and 30 percent the final year.
       The program so impressed the National Trust, it recently 
     dedicated a $5 million grant it received to helping other 
     statewide organizations establish their own field service 
     programs.
       Another big change came, says Bruhn, when Robert Hoehl, the 
     co-founder of IDX, and his wife, Cindy, purchased the former 
     Camp Marycrest from the Sisters of Mercy, then donated it to 
     the Preservation Trust in 1997. ``We had not owned property 
     prior to that--hadn't dreamed of owning property--but this 
     was an amazing opportunity.''
       The organization gratefully accepted and formed a 
     partnership with caterer and former restaurateur and 
     innkeeper Beverly Watson, who leases the property. ``We use 
     it largely for weddings on weekends during the summer. During 
     the week, it's used for retreats and training.''
       A big turning point was in 1993, when Vermont was named an 
     endangered state by the National Trust. This brought the 
     issue of sprawl to the fore. ``We became a much more visible 
     organization,'' he says, and work very closely with citizen 
     groups and partners like the Vermont Natural Resources 
     Council and Smart Growth Vermont on the issue of sprawl and 
     the negative impact that big-box retailing can have on our 
     downtowns and village centers and how they change downtowns. 
     In 2004, the National Trust again named Vermont one of the 11 
     most endangered places in the nation.
       Bruhn was the only staff person early on, and even today, 
     the staff is small, with the equivalent of four full-time 
     employees.
       The other full-timers are Elise Seraus, the office manager/
     administrative assistant, and

[[Page S3692]]

     Ann Cousins, who splits her hours between field services and 
     fund raising. Bill Polk, the financial officer, works one day 
     a week. Eric Gilbertson, who was deputy director of the 
     Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and recently 
     retired after almost 30 years, works half time in field 
     services. Meg Campbell, also half time, manages the facade 
     easement program, does field services in Bennington County, 
     manages the Web site, and produces the electronic newsletter.
       Because he's been with the organization for so many years, 
     Bruhn says, ``there are people who say, `Well, the 
     Preservation Trust, it's just Paul Bruhn.' It's not even 
     close to that.''
       ``I've always had a very strong, very involved board of 
     directors who provide a lot of the direction for the 
     organization.'' The directors, he says, genuinely like each 
     other, are very proud of the organization, ``but that doesn't 
     stop them from having good disagreements and good debate.''
       The secret to keeping a board active and involved, he says, 
     is to have two-day board meetings four times a year. ``In 
     February, in the middle of a snowstorm, we went on a two-day 
     tour around the northern part of the state.'' He counts off 
     eight towns (and multiple projects within them). ``We talked 
     all the while on the bus, a great discussion about what's 
     happening in Vermont, how the community's doing, and this 
     work--the support we try to give to local organizations.
       On the importance of the organization's downtown work, 
     Bruhn is adamant. ``I love downtown Burlington. I grew up 
     here, helped secure funding for the Marketplace when I was 
     working for Sen. Leahy; but downtown Burlington has become 
     one that focuses on entertainment, high-end retail and 
     tourism. We get that there are a lot of people in Vermont who 
     need to be able to shop at a place like Wal-Mart, but 
     wouldn't it be terrific if Wal-Mart would be interested and 
     willing to build a smaller-scale store in downtown 
     Burlington? It would insure that downtown Burlington would 
     serve the entire community.''
       Bruhn pauses and takes a breath. ``We're not in favor of 
     pickling Vermont,'' he says. ``On the other hand, we've got 
     to find ways to grow that reinforce what's important about 
     our place. It's essential that we are good stewards of our 
     place.''

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