Elisa Tedesco
Reaction Paper 2
9/30/2015
Case Study
Michigan’s Sneaky Preservation
Over the past few years, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has worked on numerous projects to improve the local transportation systems and infrastructure.
There were two projects that caught my attention as a historic preservation major. The first project is the reconstruction of the city of Houghton’s downtown business route 1
. The second project is the construction of a new trail, called the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail (PMRT) 2 . Both of these new plans are ingredients for a better quality of life for the residents, but we can see the tricks that MDOT used while promoting the new plans.
In Houghton, Michigan, the goal was to revitalize the downtown area of Shelden Avenue.
The corrections to this downtown area were storefront façade improvements and reconstruction, and turning the road back to brick like it used to be. Or, in other words, preserving the buildings historic architecture, and making the street look the way it did back in the olden days— something I like to call historic preservation. MDOT listed the positive impacts that these changes will have on the community, which are: new businesses, jobs, and residential complexes, better citizen involvement, and physical attractiveness of the neighborhood. As a resident, these are all positive things, so why wouldn’t the rebuilding of the city be a good thing, even if it costs almost a million dollars?
The other project in Michigan is the construction of a new trail using adaptive reuse.
They are taking an 86-mile historic railroad, and re-creating it as a walking trail. In other words, they are demonstrating historic preservation in the form of adaptive reuse. MDOT uses similar
1 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/TE_Case_Study_Houghton_Streetscape_Brick_Street_Reinstallation_422046_7.pdf
2 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/TE_Case_Study_-_Pere_Marquette_Rail_-_Trail_473723_7.pdf

methods of language in the project summary, excluding the preservation terminology. They say that this project will impact the community by: improving the health of local residents using the trail, promote tourism, economically boost the businesses and restaurants that are along the trail, and increase the safety and walkability of the community. Again, as a resident, why wouldn’t you support this project, even if it costs over five million dollars?
In the eyes of a preservation planner, this is historic preservation. In the eyes of a community citizen, this is economic development and the revitalization of their hometown.
Community members have a different viewpoint on these projects because of the language used in the project summary documents. The language that MDOT uses convinces the citizens that this is the right thing to do for the city. Granted, it is the right thing to do for the city, but
MDOT’s decisions are an example of the third dimension of power because it shapes people’s opinions on a project that they otherwise might not approve of. Preservation has a bad name when it is not paired with the correct terminology. If residents saw that MDOT was using federal funds to “preserve” a railroad and building façades in a downtown streetscape, and doing nothing else positive for the community, that would cause many arguments. People want preservation, but they want it to be paired with the health, safety, and revitalization of the city, because that is what people care most about. MDOT’s decision making shapes the community’s responses to these projects. Very stealthy, Michigan, very stealthy.
MDOT is also exercising their informal governance through Growth Machine Theory.
They have partnered with other local organizations (Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the city of Houghton) to increase the land use of these particular areas to benefit the community. The sole goal of growth machines is to promote growth. The language that MDOT uses in the project descriptions is centered on the economic and physical growth of the city. They

are exercising the third dimension of power, but not in a negative light. They are not lying, or doing anything underhanded. They know they can shape the reactions they get based on how they describe their goals. It is all about putting the needs of the public first, and making sure that they know that you understand those needs. The aim of their power is to help Michigan’s transportation systems thrive. MDOT just simply does it in a smart, sly way.