IT’S ALIVE!
I wish I could say I am able to walk through every building about which I write. Out of the hundreds of buildings I’ve written about during my career, I’ve probably only stepped foot in as many as I can count on my fingers. Instead, I rely on building professionals to share their vision for and memories of a project with me during telephone interviews. Then, I condense 30-minute-plus conversa- tions with each person I interview into a 1,500-word story, which is probably the most difficult part of what I do. You may have noticed I often write beyond that self-imposed word count, and there still are many tidbits of fascinating content I have to leave out of the magazine because we just don’t have the space. Enter the Web. When I first started my publishing career in 2000, websites were not
retrofit Giveaway!
my concern. Somebody else posted information to the website, and it mostly just re- peated what already was in the magazine. As the years passed and the Web became something none of us could live without, I realized a website can be an amazing exten- sion of a magazine. Every day I’m able to post news items that would be old by the time the next print issue hits the streets. I can load new products galore when we only have space for a handful in the magazine. I can post thought-provoking online exclusives that link to outside sources for more description, further educating readers. (See our Online Exclusives table of contents, page 18.) I also can add content that complements individual stories in the issue (see Online Buzz at the end of several articles in this issue). retrofit’s website,
www.retrofitmagazine.com, also ensures photos and information that didn’t fit within the magazine’s pages now are seen. Even more exciting are the Web’s video capabilities.
WIN A STAY AT THE MARSHALL HOUSE HOTEL
retrofit is offer- ing one qualified reader of the magazine a $500 gift certificate to- ward a stay and
incidentals in the beautiful Marshall House hotel (March-April issue, page 52, or online at
bit.ly/16LnQ5T). The winner will receive a private tour of the hotel, highlighting its history, architecture, and the artifacts uncovered and donated during the hotel’s renovation. To enter, fill out the subscription card in
this issue and mail it to us. One lucky win- ner will be chosen and announced in the September-October issue of the magazine. You must fill out the subscription card to win—even if you are currently receiving the magazine. (Your subscription will not be duplicated.) Questions? Contact John Riester,
retrofit’s publisher, at (919) 641-6321 or
john@retrofitmagazine.com .
EDITOR’S CHOICE: FAVORITE QUOTE FROM AN INTERVIEW “Buildings want to be used. Historic buildings want to be occupied. They don’t want to be museums either. They want to be lived in; that’s really the only way they can truly be preserved.”
—Kevin Allen, Historic Curatorship Program manager, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Boston
With this issue, we are launching
retrofitTV.com, a ro- bust video player that will host continuing education, product demonstrations, advice and opinions, and— what I’m most thrilled about—our cover-feature tour series. We’re actually bringing our cover stories to life via professionally shot video walkthroughs with project stakeholders and design and construction team mem- bers. The high-definition walkthroughs will focus on unique aspects of the building’s retrofit; in- teresting facts that didn’t make the magazine article; and historic background about the project’s design, construction and uses. We’re visualizing the tour series to be similar to some of those popular HGTV shows (minus the fictitious budgets). We want the tours to be educational and fun to watch. Our first tour of this issue’s cover feature, Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in Wilmington, Del., is available for viewing now. During a recent trip to North Carolina, I had the chance to tour Saxapahaw Rivermill, our March-April cover feature. (We hope to create a video of Saxapahaw for
retrofitTV.com soon .) I realized during the tour that actually walking through a building is a completely different experi- ence than hearing or reading about it. Each of our imaginations is unique and, no matter how well something is described, the way you and I visualize it will never be exactly as the project’s team created it. Thanks to the Web, retrofit now can virtually transport you to our cover features so you can see exactly what the design and construction team intended. We are tremendously excited about this opportunity and would love to know what you think of our first tour, as well as what else you’d like us to showcase on
retrofitTV.com and
www.retrofitmagazine.com.
READ ABOUT how the Historic Curatorship Program allows citi- zens to live in historic buildings in Massachusetts’ state parks in “Residential,” page 52.
CHRISTINA KOCH Editor in Chief
follow us 14 RETROFIT // May-June 2013
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