Category Archives: News

“Endangered Churches” – From PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly – Featuring 2013 Symposium Keynote Speaker A. Robert Jaeger

1 July, 2014 11:45 pm - Leave a Comment

A recent story featured on the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly includes a discussion with A. Robert Jaeger, the President of Partners for Sacred Places and keynote speaker for our 2013 Sacred Places Symposium.

Across the nation, declining church membership is taking its toll on the physical state of houses of worship. In Philadelphia, churches are venturing into new partnerships to try and preserve their historic buildings. “Congregations have shrunk so much and budgets have shrunk so much that it’s hard for congregations to keep up with their buildings,” observes Bob Jaeger, president of Partners for Sacred Places, who calls the neglect of houses of worship a national crisis. “Unless they do something creative and bold, many of them will close or merge in the next ten, twenty years,” he adds.

You can watch the segment from the PBS video below or see the official show page featuring a transcript of the event.

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SAVE THE DATE: PACNY Sacred Places Symposium on Saturday, November 16th

12 September, 2013 12:40 pm - Leave a Comment

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St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral interior.

The Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY) will be presenting the first ‘Sacred Places Symposium’ on Saturday, NOVEMBER 16th, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral on Montgomery Street in Syracuse. This one day event will address the many challenges and opportunities associated with some of our region’s most culturally and architecturally valued buildings and places – including insights and case studies on assessing, maintaining, funding, and reusing religious properties and sacred sites. This informative Symposium will bring together an array of expert practitioners to discuss (in two learning tracks) the issues that can determine the fate of these magnificent community places and the neighborhoods that surround them. There will be a registration fee for the all day symposium which will be offered to the general public, with a discounted fee to our PACNY members!


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St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral at 310 Montgomery Street. Click for directions.

Stay tuned for more details about the ‘Sacred Places Symposium’ at our website.

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Creative Placemaking — Changing The Face Of Syracuse

3 May, 2013 3:49 pm - Leave a Comment

Syracuse, NY – F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse is pleased to announce Marilyn Higgins, vice president of Community Engagement and Economic Development at Syracuse University; Linda Dickerson Hartsock, director of the Connective Corridor; and Maarten Jacobs, director of the Near Westside Initiative, will present “Creative Placemaking: Changing the Face of Syracuse” on Friday, May 17, 2013. The event will run from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. at the City Hall Commons Atrium at 201 E. Washington St. in Syracuse.

Taking a look at the evolution of the Connective Corridor and Near West Side, they will focus on the vision and unlikely coalitions that are transforming these districts, touching on the past, present and future plans.  Higgins, Hartsock and Jacobs will offer not only a progress update, but insight into trends, opportunities and challenges looking ahead over the horizon line, and lead a discussion on the factors and forces that go into creative placemaking, and how they can produce transformative change. The event is free to the public and all are welcome.

F.O.C.U.S.’s Core Group meetings cover a variety of topics of interest to the citizens of Onondaga County and Central New York. They are open to the public, are free of charge, and are held from 7.30 a.m. to 8.45 a.m. on the third Friday of every month in the Atrium at 201 E. Washington St. in downtown Syracuse.

F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse, Inc., a nonprofit organization at 201 E. Washington St. in Syracuse, engages in research, public policy and public education, enabling citizens to work with governments, businesses and other nonprofits to make sustainable, fact-based decisions that improve the quality of life and economic future for all residents of Central New York.

Posted in: News