The Massachusetts Historical Commission’s 25th Anniversary Preservation award Willian J. Tinti William Tinti came to Salem in the late 1960s, an attorney with an appreciation for historic buildings that had grown out of his daily walks as a teenager through the McKnight neighborhood of Springfield. Salem enthralled him—it was a place with “one of the world’s most precious collections of historic architecture’ and he recalls his first weeks of residence in the city as ones of exploration and discovery, in 1971, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Salem Redevelopment Authority. In that role and subsequently, in 1973, as chairman, Tinti was a key player in saving Salem's downtown from the complete and total demolition called for by the city's original redevelopment plans. After a third of the downtown been destroyed without commitments from developers in place for new construction, the city adopted new plans under Tinti’s leadership that included rehabilitation and restoration of existing structures. As a result, demolished buildings were replaced with carefully thought out new structures. Critical to the success of Tinti’s and the SRA's new plans was the notion of design review Equally crucial was Tinti’s introduction of the innovative use of facade easements as a means of financing rehabilitation. This concept was later adopted in a number of other cities, including Newburyport. At the same time, Tinti and the SRA sought to increase public awareness of Salem’s special qualities. Tintis personal enthusiasm for the city was contagious. Promotional campaigns were launched to convince people that their city was special, worth investing in and worth reserving. By the time he left public service to form his own law firm in 1982. Tititi had proven that preservation and politics can successfully go hand in hand. Among Tinti’s achievements in the private sector have been the preservation of two important Salem buildings - the early Federal- period Joshua Ward House. Successfully rehabilitated in 1982 with the help of a grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the Masonic Teniple Building, constructed in 1911 and damaged by fire in 1982. The latter was a joint venture in preservation and rehabilitation that drew on creative funding and the financial backing of five local banks. Bill Tinti’s experience, first as an attorney in the public sector and today in private practice. has proved that preservation may serve as a tool to arrive at a specific end— in this case, the spectacular rebirth of one of New England’s oldest cities.

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