Last week, a pipe burst in the Building for Women, home to the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual
Assault (PAVSA), WE Health Clinic and YWCA Duluth. This week, Northern Bedrock Historic
Preservation Corps is stepping up to provide their expertise and labor to make our spaces once again
ready for programming.
“While PAVSA has expertise in crisis response for sexual assault survivors, when it comes to what’s best
for our historic building, we are grateful for this collaboration with Northern Bedrock Historical
Preservation Corps,” said Mary Faulkner, Executive Director of PAVSA. “Our Art Group Room was
flooded, and we were left feeling exhausted, sad, and uncertain. Northern Bedrock is a bright spot in this
difficult time, and their commitment to showing up for fellow nonprofits demonstrates the best of our
community.”
Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps is expanding its efforts to train the next generation of
preservation trades professionals with a growing focus on preventative maintenance, rehabilitation, and
long-term stewardship of historic buildings that serve communities every day.
Across Minnesota and rural communities nationwide, many nonprofits, social service providers, arts
organizations, and grassroots programs operate out of aging historic buildings. These facilities often
require specialized technical knowledge to maintain properly — from masonry and window restoration to
roofing, drainage, carpentry, and environmental stabilization. Without access to skilled labor and
preventative maintenance strategies, many organizations are only one major building failure away from
losing the ability to provide critical public services.
“Historic buildings are community infrastructure,” said Charley Langowski, Executive Director of
Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps. “When a roof fails, when windows deteriorate, when
water infiltration goes unchecked, the impacts extend far beyond the building itself. Entire programs and
support systems can be disrupted.”
Northern Bedrock’s training programs combine hands-on preservation trades education with workforce
development, preparing emerging professionals for careers maintaining and rehabilitating older buildings
while helping communities build local capacity to care for their built environment.
The initiative emphasizes preventative maintenance as a form of resilience — reducing long-term
rehabilitation costs, extending the lifespan of community-serving buildings, and creating pathways into
living-wage skilled trades careers without requiring traditional four-year degrees.
Through partnerships with preservation professionals, community organizations, and local stakeholders,
Northern Bedrock aims to strengthen both the preservation workforce and the long-term stability of the
historic spaces that communities depend on most.
