Brian McMahon Preservation

Brian McMahon has been involved with virtually all phases of historic preservation including research, writing, lectures, exhibits, planning, architectural design, construction, development, financial syndication, education, advocacy, community building, marketing, litigation and lobbying. He has written nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, and prepared applications for federal and state historic tax credits. He has restored landmark buildings that met the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. He has worked with varied building types including residential, commercial, and institutional, including a museum complex, courthouse, and movie theater. McMahon’s work has encompassed buildings dating from the eighteenth century to the present time. He has rehabilitated buildings which have been condemned, and helped revitalize struggling neighborhoods. While his strong advocacy efforts have saved some buildings, some were lost. Preservation work is a mission and a constant struggle; even if historic structures are ultimately demolished, there are opportunities to educate, advocate, and lobby.

Brian McMahon is a trained architect, with degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Pratt Institute School of Architecture, and he has studied at the Columbia University Master’s Program in Historic Preservation. He was a licensed real estate broker in his native New York city and in Minnesota. He has published over forty articles on historic architecture, industry and urban planning, and an award-winning book entitled The Ford Century in Minnesota published by the University of Minnesota Press. He is currently completing a book for Wayne State University Press entitled, Architects in the Shadow of Henry Ford.  He taught historic preservation at Pratt Institute and was selected to work with students living in the former Pratt family mansion to do an interpretative restoration program. He also lectured at numerous colleges and universities. He taught continuing education courses for licensed real estate brokers on the Historic Tax Credit Program and has served on several history Boards including the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (now Rethos.)

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