By Maxwell Zulu –
Heritage resources are diverse. They may include historic places and landscapes, ethnic festivals, and even living traditions, such as the production of local crafts.
In other words, historic places are often an important draw for visitors who are seeking authentic, unique sightseeing opportunities and can extend beyond historic sites to other related activities such as walking tours, and visiting historic towns and privately owned historic buildings, including hotels and bed and breakfasts. As seen in other countries, Zambia inclusive, heritage attractions draw visitors to many parts of the country.
Sadly, what I have come to see over the years is where many people, out of ignorance or otherwise, often perceive heritage or historic buildings to be a liability, with many owners and occupiers considering conservation and/or modern adaptation time consuming and very costly.
This nostalgic perception is against the setting that through life-cycles and use-cycles buildings become redundant, no longer able to serve the function for which they were originally built.
Some are adapted to new functions, others lie vacant; they may be valued for their historical quality, association or contribution to the landscape, but urgently require a living role for this relationship to prosper.
At its worst some buildings have suffered or risked demolition.
A good example is the 1934 Lusaka Jewish Synagogue that once stood at the corner of Cha Cha Cha and Katunjila roads in the Central Business District (CBD) of Lusaka now a pile of rubbles as shown in the picture. What people ignore is the fact that heritage buildings can work for them and contribute to a community’s sense of place. Heritage buildings and icons help create a city’s distinctive character. They reflect the rich cultural traditions of the city and enhance the sense of time and place for its citizens.
Ancient buildings have cultural and educational benefits that link us to events and styles of the past. This squares well with Saugatuck City Manager, Gordon Gallagher of Michigan, USA who once said “History is not dates, but layers”. That is to say,  old buildings are a prism of different civilisations of years bygone. Because of this it suffices to mention heritage initiatives have a strong positive impact on developing complete communities and creating a vibrant culture of creativity and innovation. They also contribute significantly to attractive pedestrian-oriented spaces.
To this end National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC) brings together architectural planning and design with thoughtful heritage conservation. It specialises in place making, bringing vitality into the built environment and landscapes while sustaining the social and heritage values and cultural significance.
According to NHCC East Central Regional Director Kagosi Mwamulowe, “The institution’s aim is to bring dynamic and innovative, yet attractive and functional solutions to architectural projects and heritage management either within a new building or adaptive re-use environment.”
You may contend that the conservation of historic settings is incompatible with the economic growth of city centres. On the contrary my view is that historic buildings can enable stronger business development and economic revitalisation.
For instance, a growing appreciation of the economic and cultural value of our built heritage can drive an increasing need for traditional trade skills and professional heritage advice, which work in tandem to conserve and maintain our built heritage.
Hence, historic architectural heritage preservation can add value to the lives of all Zambian residents and visitors.
It is not in contention that Zambia’s historic properties are invaluable cultural, aesthetic, and educational resources. But my argument is that our historic sites provide opportunities each day to appreciate the legacy of Zambia’s rich past.
Historic heritage preservation is not only a significant economic component but its activities are also cost-effective tools that may be used to leverage private capital, create jobs, revitalise neighbourhoods and business towns, and stimulate a wide range of other economic activities.
In a nutshell, preservation protects and revitalises historic resources.
In this view Mr Mwamulowe urges Zambian property owners to take advantage of free technical advice from NHCC to help rehabilitate historic buildings.
He says that this gesture would ensure historic resources continue to serve our neighbourhoods and business centres where ancient buildings are situated.
Historic architectural preservation creates jobs and income benefitting surrounding communities.
It calls for increased community involvement and pride, and considerable private investment and overall economic improvement in the area.
Additionally, preservation attracts visitors thus creating a link between preservation and tourism which is well established.
In other words, preserving historic character helps support tourism by providing interesting and unique opportunities for visitors, and tourism supports preservation by providing resources for ongoing preservation efforts.
Historic architectural rehabilitation happens each day in a wide variety of contexts – from minor repairs on historic homes to large-scale renovations of landmark commercial buildings.
As Zambians let us inculcate love for the old buildings for their historic character.
Historic preservation is an environmentally, socially, and fiscally responsible strategy for revitalizing communities.
As already stated in the foregoing, rehabilitation activities create jobs and enhance the local economic climate.
Eventually, they can result in greater tax revenues for the nation and local governments by increasing the revenues collected from property, income, and sales taxes.
Historic preservation is a good economic development strategy and that is very obvious from the progress that has been made in Livingstone, the tourist capital of Zambia over the years.
Astute investors for example, have seized chance in the town – they have made an investment in what were disinvested buildings and the subsequent improvements there have worked to the benefit of the entire tourist capital.
Take a look at former Nanoos Cash and Carry shop (built in 1910) at the junction of Zambezi Street and Mosi-Oa-Tunya Road and marvel at the transformed place, now a mini complex.
This is why NHCC urges other developers to invest in heritage preservation. What I am saying is that in Livingstone buildings within a radius of one kilometre of the CBD take you back to the historic times of Northern Rhodesia. These buildings are indeed historical and well preserved.
The success of this is a consequence of working and collaborating with stakeholders such as owners and occupiers of historic buildings not forgetting those in the tourism sector.
We are privy to the fact that tourism is a vital component of Zambia’s economy and is generally considered to be the second largest industry after mining.
In summing up, preserving historic heritage does not only promote an increased appreciation of the past; it is also often a key feature of successful community planning and economic development.
From the above-mentioned, you are able to see how historic heritage can add to the economic success of Zambia, and why a commercial approach to heritage conservation benefits business and community.
Historic heritage preservation is a smart investment. As NHCC a variety of programmes and tools are being used every day to protect and revitalize its historic resources.
These programmes not only help to preserve the past, but also provide tangible economic benefits. It is for this reason that NHCC would like to offer free rehabilitation advice to homeowners, even for property owners wherever they may be in the country.