A growing network of young people is challenging the perception that historic preservation is an old activist’s game.

Incorporating new communication and promotional tactics, as well as their professional training, the Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia are becoming a strong voice and an effective force in protecting the city’s historic resources.

Their social media fingerprints can be found on the successful effort to preserve the Fairmount Park Welcome Center during LOVE Park’s planned renovation. Their sweat equity and professional skills have assisted in window restoration of Victorian homes on Viola Street in Parkside. And their “hearts” have kept the focus on renovation of the Hale Building, an architectural wonder at Juniper and Chestnut Streets.

They have become an energetic complement to the work of the Preservation Alliance, and they are attracting a lot of attention and appreciation for the value of Philadelphia’s historic fabric.

“This is a group interested in expanding the boundaries of what preservation means,” Patrick Grossi, advocacy director at the Preservation Alliance, said. “And while many young friends groups are typically about social events as a way to drive membership, this group is very interested in and driven by advocacy. They’re a logical extension of our efforts, and they bring their own arguments to the table.”

Latest generation

Attempts to form a Young Friends corps in the preservation community have gained and lost steam over many years. An increase in the younger demographic in the city and the growing interest in urbanization seem to have laid the foundation for a more sustainable network this time around.

A kickoff event, with the new motto “In with the Old,” in January 2014 at the just-renovated Fringe Arts Building drew 150 young people including Lynn Alpert and Molly Lester, both graduates of the University of Pennsylvania preservation program.

Alpert and Lester joined the 10-person steering committee of the revived Young Friends, which requires no dues, is strictly volunteer, and mainly consists of 21- to 40-year-olds. “But our events are open to everyone,” Lester said.

Subsequent events and programs have had 100 participants on average, and the group’s Facebook followers are up to 500.

Alpert, 33, a native Philadelphian, fell in love with historic architecture as a Temple art history major wandering through Rome. She graduated from Penn’s preservation program in 2012 and has been working for a cultural resources consulting firm in Central Jersey ever since.

Lester, 29, has been interested in architecture since she was a child growing up in Pottstown, and received her undergrad degree in architectural history at the University of Virginia. After her grad work in historic preservation at Penn, she worked for a tax credit consulting company and is now a freelance architectural historian and consultant.

In addition to preservation professionals, other members of the steering committee include an architect, a historic site administrator/community liaison, and a second-year law student.

But the Young Friends group is trying to appeal to peers with a variety of backgrounds and interests beyond preservation.

“I think young people don’t necessarily concern themselves with historic preservation. They think of it as preserving George Washington’s birthplace,” Lester said. “I think they’re more concerned with urbanization, especially with so many people moving back to the cities. They’re interested in quality of life issues and city planning,” which is reflected in the current popularity of urban exploring and an Instagram focus on city buildings.

“We want to reach that larger audience,” Lester explained. “We don’t necessarily want them to be preservation school grads. We want to reach those who have an interest in how Philadelphia continues to evolve and who want to be part of that.”