In 1968, the Whitehill Report on Professional and Public Education for Historic Preservation raised concerns about a dearth of tradespeople qualified in historic preservation work.
As the inventory of existing buildings continues to grow in the U.S., leaders in the historic preservation community are sounding the alarm that the construction industry is in dire need of workers with historic trades training.
Construction jobs are still hard to fill, and experts say efforts are hampered by the stereotypical image of the construction worker and a "market failure" illustrated by differences in how union and nonunion shops approach apprenticeships.