After more than 12 years, Cincinnati Preservation Association Executive Director Paul Muller is stepping down. Muller is leaving CPA in May to return to his architectural practice. A national search is underway to find his replacement. The application period is currently closed but you may click here to learn more about the search.
Muller became executive director in March 2010 and before that was a CPA trustee. In previous terms he also served as the president of the board of trustees. Muller brought great passion to Cincinnati Preservation, advocating for dozens of buildings during his tenure.
“Historic buildings are everywhere – they’re in everyone’s neighborhoods,” he once noted. “We want to make sure that people experience the community benefits that these magnificent buildings can contribute.”
Under Muller’s guidance the CPA board focused on a vision that historic structures have significant unrealized cultural and economic value, and there is a powerful emerging market demand for unique, interesting cities. With that belief in mind, strategies were developed to fund an expanding portfolio of initiatives, to increase partnerships and collaborations with other organizations, and to engage the public in preservation.
The success of these initiatives led to the CPA board being recognized by the National Historic Trust for Organizational Excellence, several awards from the Ohio History Connection and locally by the Cincinnati Business Courier for board excellence.
Among Muller’s other accomplishments:
- Restoration of the 1938 Rauh House in partnership with Emily Pulitzer with awards from Docomomo-US and the Ohio History Connection.
- Renewal of Lytle Park Historic District as well as renewal and expansion of Dayton Street Historic District.
- The restoration of Hauck House in the West End with multi-year support for the John Hauck Foundation at 5th3rd
- Acquisition and renovation of Pinecroft, the Estate of Powel Crosley Jr., and opening it as an event venue in partnership with Funky’s Catering.
- Establishing a Revolving Fund with grants from 1772 Foundation which was used to purchase and save the 1833 Dennison Homestead in Batavia and the Eckstein School in Glendale.
- Hosting the National Preservation Partners Network Annual Meeting in Cincinnati.
- Advocating for the 1948 Terrace Plaza Hotel including an “11 Most Endangered Place” listing by the National Historic Trust and an award for advocacy from Docomomo-US.
- The initiation of “Sites of Black History in Cincinnati” project with support from the Haile Foundation and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
- Collaborating with Margaret Valentine in growing the annual Fall Forum into a leading lecture series on emerging civic topics.
- Growing CPA assets to $7.8 million, operating in the black for almost every year since 2012, and increasing the CPA endowment from half-a-million to $1.4 million.
And while doing all of this….and more… Muller also worked to strengthen many partnerships with Cincinnati organizations and institutions.
He promoted a vision of preservation as a holistic activity that can impact and contribute value to many aspects of contemporary life…while fostering a culture of inclusiveness and professionalism that has strengthened CPA and expanded the community it serves.
We wish Paul well in his return to architecture and know he will not be a stranger to Cincinnati Preservation as we move forward with new leadership.