It’s Sarah Marsom’s business to help connect communities to the places around them, be they the physical spaces and buildings in which they live, work, shop, and dine, or the stories and cultures that make up a larger neighborhood fabric.
It’s why the Columbus, Ohio-based heritage resource consultant is traveling north to Michigan for a series of discussions. Michigan Young Preservation, or MY Preservation, has tasked Marsom with leading the People Passionate About Place discussions in Bay City, Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti.
Marsom will lead and facilitate conversations designed to help MY Preservation learn how people think about Bay City as a place. The preservation organization is working to create a strategic plan to inform future programming.
"This is for anybody that’s passionate about place. They might be history nerds or people shopping for antiques downtown or people interested in development," Marsom says.
"We want to know what people need to be better connected to the community."
Marsom will lead a discussion and open a conversation with the audience with questions designed to help guide the process. She says the event is a get-to-know-you opportunity for members of the community, and especially preservation-minded ones.
"Historic preservation is valuable because the past impacts our day-to-day lives. How old buildings are constructed, why people live in the specific neighborhoods that they do--this can be of real value to people," Marsom says.
"It’s imperative in determining how we can use the past to create more vibrant places where people want to live."
The Bay City People Passionate About Places event is planned for Thursday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Old City Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
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