Many people involved in the early planning of the 2027 conference also took part in the stakeholders’ gatherings held around the state by SHPO this past year to help define goals for the state’s next long-range plan. One issue came up repeatedly: Michigan’s housing crisis. Those of us involved in historic preservation well know the housing options Michigan communities open for themselves when they work with their older building stock, but not everyone else knows this!

The “working” theme for the conference thus immediately took shape: “The Roof Over Our Head: Preservation’s Role in Solving Michigan’s Housing Crisis.” There is a rich vein of topics to tap – the adaptive recycling of non-traditional buildings into housing, the pros and cons of increasing density in historic neighborhoods, the “Lights on Downtown” initiatives to add housing in the upper stories of downtown buildings, the “Missing Middle” programs that provide multi-unit residential-scale homes compatible with detached single-family homes, “Pattern Book Homes” that create new infill housing evocative of the last century, and just the basic reasonableness of keeping existing historic residential stock in full use.

Thursday and Friday are our major program days. Approximately 24 in-seat sessions are needed for three in-seat program tracks. At noted, the Theme Track welcomes presentations that explore the housing options provided by older buildings of all types, for different housing markets, at varied price points. As usual, however, the Information Track and the Case Studies & Applied Skills Track provide participants with the latest practices and tools needed for any kind of project, housing or otherwise. Abstracts are welcomed from Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas as well as from other states and Canada. They may come from individuals and panels.

There already are so many options being considered in our communities that we know there are others. Do YOU have a session to propose for the Capital Area Conference in 2027?