New promotional video created to attract investment

WARRENBURG | From Saratoga to the Canadian Border, one place dominates all others in terms of historic register designations. With over 225 properties listed, the Hamlet of Warrensburgh Historical District is a place ripe with potential, restoration, and investment. And a new promotional video now released will introduce Warrensburgh to the world, getting opportunity's eye on long-term economic development and steering potential investments towards helpful financial avenues. "It is Warrensburgh's historic architecture that is an asset and a reason why people should invest in the community," noted Erin Tobin, Executive Director of Adirondack Architectural Heritage. "We have seen this demonstrated in historic districts and towns all throughout the Adirondacks and honestly, across the country. Investing in what makes Warrensburgh Warrensburgh is the best avenue for economic development and community building." Established in 1813, the Town of Warrensburgh is the hub for many county offices and is rich in historic and natural resources. Known as the "Gateway to the Adirondacks", "Queen Village of the Adirondacks", and the "Antiques Capital of the Adirondacks," Warrensburgh has a plethora of both modest and grand homes, built with locally sourced wood and stone. Located along the Schroon River, where hydropower once led to many industries, Warrensburgh's private and commercial properties whisper stories from long ago, and are now being recognized for adaptive uses while preserving the character of the town. "We were on the forefront here of getting so many properties on the register, but we are still behind the curve in terms of taking advantage of them," admitted Teresa Whalen, Chairperson for Warrensburgh Beautification, Inc. The new video hopes to help change that. Content focuses on the economic incentives to investors made possible by the State and National recognition of the hamlet's historic buildings. "Business owners share their stories of why they chose Warrensburgh, the support they have received from the community, and how working with Town government has allowed for present and future grant opportunities," Whalen explained. The video addresses programs the State Office of Historical Preservation has been trying to promote for years with presentations and workshops and zooms and webinars. "Even people interested in restoring historic properties and rehabilitating them and repurposing them may not be aware of these programs," Whalen said. "I have been trying to help investors as they have been inquiring, but I am always surprised at how little information people seem to have about these things." And that's why creating a video seemed like a practical and effective targeted approach. "For investors, Historic District properties in Warrensburgh already qualify for both Historic Commercial and Homeowner Tax Credit Programs, as well as matching grant programs offered by both the State and Federal governments for private investors," Whalen shared. "Also, both State and Federal Grant Funding is available for purchasing and renovating these properties if you are a nonprofit or a municipality. And the reasons for investment in Warrensburgh have impacts greater than an investor's own bank account; investment in historic architecture ensures the Town thrives in a modern world. "Historic buildings are often where the local businesses go, that is where you see sustainable long-term growth and development," Tobin said, adding that something new and shiny can fall out of fashion just as quickly as it falls in. Take Dollar General, for example. According to Tobin, the chain is currently closing stores all across the country. In Warrensburg, a building was torn down so that the Dollar General could go up. "At some point, if that building closes here, they will have taken down a house that could have been repurposed for a variety of purposes and they will be stuck with this box building," she predicted (pointing to the vacant Lowe's in Ticonderoga as a perfect example). "We see that with the CVSs that have been closing around the region, we see that with other dollar stores closing. When you have businesses coming in that don't care about the community, there is not a reason for them to stick around." In Whalen's eyes, most of the time it doesn't make good financial sense to start from the ground up. "If you were to tear down a building and build something new, chances are there isn't going to be any money to do that, only it would cost you more to do that than rehab and existing building," she said. And then of course is perhaps the biggest tragedy of all, the loss of character. "No matter how you try to duplicate some historic architecture, there is nothing like the original," Whalen remarked. "Our town has been blessed with so much of this over the years, and we have luckily retained a lot of it." Tobin identified Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs, and Saranac Lake as towns that have done it right and set terrific examples of what could be possible in Warrensburg. "People don't want to go to a place that just looks like everywhere else, they want to go to a place that feels special," Tobin noted. "In Saranac Lake, you see a large downtown village, a historic district, you have small businesses, and almost every storefront is occupied." A collaborative effort by Warrensburgh Beautification and the Warrensburgh Thurman Historical Society, both one-minute and four-minute versions of the video were made possible by videographer Justin LaRose and the assistance of Ed Larkin of Lake George TV. Both versions are available for viewing at: https://lakegeorge.tv/en/movies/wburghistres https://lakegeorge.tv/en/movies/wburghhistres To learn more about the significance of the National Register designation and financial incentives to invest in Warrensburgh, please visit: https://aarch.org/ or email Teresa Whalen, Chairperson, Warrensburgh Beautification Inc. at taawhalen@yahoo.com. To discover more about the overall history of the town and its historic properties, visit: https://www.warrensburgheritagetrail.org/ or https://www.whs12885.org/ or call Laura Moore, Curator, Warrensburgh Museum of Local History at 518-623-2928. "The Town of Warrensburgh sells itself, we are in a strategic location and we have so much to offer, and even more so with these designations of our historic properties," Whalen said.

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New promotional video created to attract investment

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