Meet Lindsey Wallace, recently promoted to Services Director at 106 Group! In her new role, Lindsey provides strategic oversight and direction for our project work. Lindsey also leads our cultural heritage planning sector. She partners with clients to thoughtfully integrate heritage resources into the planning process. We sat down with Lindsey to talk about historic preservation, cultural heritage planning, and why they matter.
Why is historic preservation important?
Historic preservation isn’t just about saving an old building. Preservation is about recognizing and celebrating the elements that make a place special — whether it’s the people who occupied the space, materials, craftsmanship, or the stories embedded in its walls. Preservation is also about understanding a building or special place as a tangible link to the past — a physical reminder of what makes a place meaningful to the people who live there.
What got you into this line of work?
I’ve always been very interested in history, both just as a nerdy topic, but also in how we can draw from history to improve our present-day lives and make places in our community story more meaningful to our neighbor. I know, I know – that’s a very broad answer, but I’ve always been interested in social history manifested in the built environment and in the connectivity among people that you see over time. So, to me there’s a lot of power in preserving physical spaces or stories that reflect our cultural heritage to remember what’s come before.
Congrats on the promotion! Tell me a little about the new role.
The Services Director at 106 Group is both a strategizing and technical knowledge position. I oversee the company’s project work, to ensure the work meets our clients’ and agency’s needs, while also supporting our technical staff. We’re lucky to have staff with such diverse expertise—from archaeology and architectural history to cultural heritage planning to interpretation and graphic design. We’re working collaboratively to keep an eye out for opportunities that use our multi-disciplinary services – that approach often brings great benefits to our clients’ projects. The Services Director position requires strategic thinking and supporting all our staff to ensure we provide the best support to our clients.
You spent a decade in Chicago and worked for Main Street America. Can you tell us a little about Main Street America?
Sure! Main Street America, formerly National Main Street Center, is an independent nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The organization incorporates preservation as a revitalization or economic development tool. Since I left, Main Street America has significantly grown their talented staff and nationwide network, and they’ve been operating as an independent subsidiary since 2013. The program has grown exponentially and has an ethos that ties preservation into a much broader community building approach.
When I worked at Main Street America in Chicago, I directed design services for physical spaces in commercial districts. I advocated for historic preservation guidelines and attaining certified local government status so you can receive money from SHPO to do cultural heritage surveys, etc. It was a preservation-based approach, but it had many other components – you would also have other professionals, like economic development professionals, event planners and contractors, who are working hand-in-hand with preservationists. I found that comprehensive approach very powerful with preservation, because I think that preservation in the U.S. can be seen as exclusive and alienating.
At 106 Group, we approach preservation in a similar way, where cultural heritage planning is as much about preserving physical places as it is about supporting communities in achieving a higher quality of life through leveraging their resources for the common good.
Lastly, what’s been your favorite project?
There are several projects that I just really love and am very grateful to be a part of.
One was the Restorative Neighborhood Planning Study in Rondo, a historically African American neighborhood in St. Paul. I got to be a part of a big team of really wonderful people who were all experts in different areas of planning, economic development, and cultural resource. That was, and is still, an incredible experience professionally and personally, to be both learning from people and offering my area of expertise towards a comprehensive, community-led approach. I think that’s where I want my preservation work to be going.
Need support for a cultural heritage planning project? Get in touch — I’d love to help!
Click Here to Contact Us
Lindsey Wallace
Lindsey is an architectural historian and planner with 15 years of professional experience working at the intersection of historic preservation, cultural resources, grant management, and community development. Congratulate her on the new promotion to Services Director!
Ben Duckworth
Ben is a proposal writer for 106 Group, with a background in copywriting and professional communications.
