Paul Bruhn: Preserving Vermont for All Generations

PAUL BRUHN: PRESERVING VERMONT FOR ALL GENERATIONS -- (Senate - September 21, 2005)

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure today to congratulate Paul Bruhn and the Preservation Trust of Vermont on an anniversary that marks 25 successful years of protecting and celebrating Vermont's historical treasures.

I am proud to be able to call Paul not only an accomplished Vermonter but also a very good friend. He was my first campaign manager and my first chief of staff, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont is only one of his significant gifts to the Green Mountain State.

Paul became the founding executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont in 1980, after helping me find my way through the Senate during my first term. Since then he has helped the Preservation Trust save countless architectural treasures in every corner of the State, helped reinvent communities that had eroded through years of neglect, and helped our State capitalize on its unique identity. Thanks in large part to his leadership, the Preservation Trust of Vermont has been a respected, appreciated, and integral part of Vermont's culture for the past quarter century.

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My wife Marcelle and I consider ourselves highly fortunate to call Paul a close personal friend. Before my campaign in 1974, we saw in Paul attributes that we knew would bring Vermont wonderful things. As the consummate connector, Paul has been a humble servant of the public interest, forging and leading broad community coalitions to overcome some of the most difficult growing pains of development--retaining a community's character. He has used these talents to bring attention to and preserve the most unique and defining aspects of Vermont. From making sure Vermont music legend Sterling Weed had a band stand, to bringing attention to the wonderful architecture at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, he has helped Vermonters embrace their unique spirit and storied history.

Paul has always understood that a community's future vitality is directly linked to its past. When the city of Burlington was preparing to level the historic firehouse on Church Street--one of the most beautiful and unique buildings in the city--it was Paul who convinced me to open my first Senate office there to save the building from the wrecking ball. Years later, as historic downtowns across the country were being shuttered and demolished because of urban sprawl, Paul helped me work with local and State officials to find millions of dollars in Federal investments to revolutionize Burlington's historic center of commerce, turning Church Street into an award-winning pedestrian marketplace. Today the historic facades that have hung over Church Street for a century or more remind shoppers of Burlington's rich history.

There is hardly a nook or cranny, village or gore, throughout Vermont that has not felt the touch of Paul and the Preservation Trust of Vermont. Whether through a small Preservation Trust grant for the refinishing of a church tower, or through a multimillion dollar campaign led by Paul and the talented people he works with, every corner of the State from Burke to Bennington has benefited from Paul's community- and consensus-building.

Just last year, this native Vermonter was at the heart of an effort to have the entire State of Vermont designated as one of the top 10 endangered places by the National Preservation Trust. It was the first time in the organization's history that an entire State was added to the list. He helped the city of Rutland persuade Wal-Mart to anchor in the community's historic downtown instead of outside of town in a vacant field, a victory that few other communities across the country have won. That was not enough though, and he has brought Rutland's story to other communities throughout the State, where no matter the outcome, he has helped empower community leaders to make decisions rather than bow to the whims of out-of-state developers.

In my lifetime of public service, I have never met a person so adept at bringing people together and finding ways to make sure everyone has a voice. Years before he came to work for me, Paul was a key player in setting up the consumer fraud office within the Vermont attorney general's office, where he not only protected consumer rights, but also helped the office create a toll-free number that revolutionized the way Vermonters communicated with their government. When I entered the Senate, Paul and I brought this concept to the greatest deliberative body in the Senate by operating the first toll-free phone line in the Congress.

Paul has always put the interests of all Vermonters ahead of himself or any organization he has ever steered. The Preservation Trust of Vermont has been no different. Through his involvement, Vermont is a better place and Vermonters have realized the wonderful things our past has to offer. Thank you Paul, and congratulations to you and everyone who has ever helped make the Preservation Trust of Vermont the success it is today.