As a graduate student in my last semester of Heritage Conservation studies at USC, the opportunity to attend the joint APTI/ National Trust for Canada conference in Montreal allowed me to expand my knowledge of the field, connect with other students, and hear about exciting projects happening around the world. The variety of session topics ranging from materials conservation, innovative technologies, to cultural studies helped broaden my understanding of what preservation can mean for the diverse architecture and communities of sites across the United States and Canada. The opportunity to attend this conference in person helped me both form and strengthen connections with people in the field doing work that serves as an inspiration for my own budding career. While my personal expertise focuses mainly on documentation and LiDAR modelling, the conference highlighted ways that these technologies could be integrated in other types of projects to creative ends. I particularly enjoyed the Keynote address by Dr. Lindsay Cook about Notre Dame’s restoration based on Andrew Tallon’s pointcloud, which emphasized the importance of recognizing, documenting, and preserving sites of similarly esteemed cultural value within our own communities.

2024 Student Scholar - Zoe MacMillan

I am immensely grateful for the opportunities the WCAPT has granted me. Given my focus in historical restoration, and my studies at Cal Poly as an Architectural Engineering student, I greatly value learning from leading industry professionals. In the WCAPT general meeting at Hearst Castle, for example, I was delighted to discover the intricate process of retrofits on a grand and luxurious scale. The projects were revealed in a tantalizing fashion; I have rarely been so lucky to learn so much in just one day. At the surface, these projects are necessary retrofits using modern technology (i.e. LiDAR imaging, crystalline, base isolation, lead and asbestos abatement, analyzing core samples, etc.) However, these retrofits mean so much more. I find that historic structures hold a wonderful magic, unique to the spirit of human innovation. Throughout our tour, we were told tales of splendor: divers injecting ink into water to trace its disappearance, the mysterious formation of stalactites underneath a 345,000-gallon pool, pontoons built for scaffolding climbing high above the water to remove enchanting fish from the ceiling, and antiquities from far distant lands shipped to sunny California. With the help of modern science and countless creative minds, professionals within APTI can preserve these stories and connect them to future generations. In the process of retrofitting the Neptune Pool and the Roman Pool, and preserving priceless sculptures and curios, modern day engineers, artists and historians worked hand in hand with Julia Morgan. In some ways, getting to be a part of saving such history is akin to time travel, as we breathe life into our past and preserve it for our future. It is a unique gift of old structures to be able to provide this magic and my upmost joy that the WCAPT and APTI fight so hard to keep this magic alive.