Each Valentine’s Day season for the last several years, young historic preservationist groups across the country – including Rochester’s Young Urban Preservationists (YUPs) of The Landmark Society – have participated in “heart-bombings”, posing for photos in front of under-utilized historic buildings with valentines to draw attention to the buildings’ potential through social and other media. And it works: the YUPs’ heart-bombing of the historic Driving Park Hotel on Selye Terrace last year is partially responsible for the building’s rehab by Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services for refugee housing:
The YUPs are unique nationally for having traditionally partnered with young people’s groups to create the valentines and “heart-bomb”, and this year, we’ve been working with students at Rochester’s East High School through the entire process: selecting two underutilized historic properties within walking distance of the school by conducting research and weighing a number of factors, creating valentines that will be effective in drawing attention and catalyzing action on social media, and – this Wednesday – doing the heart-bombing! It is our hope that through this process, students will have learned another way to use the tools at their disposal to advocate for the unique places of which they are a part… and had fun making a potentially big impact.