Speakers
Kathy Kottaridis
Director of the Office of Historic Preservation
City of Boston
Kathy has served as the Executive Director of Historic Boston Incorporated (HBI) since 2007, where she led the rehabilitation of numerous threatened historic buildings, successfully raising more than $5 million in capital grants and overseeing development projects valued at $39.7 million. Her leadership has transformed many of Boston's architectural treasures into revitalized community spaces including the Fowler Clark Epstein Farm, a historic agricultural property in Boston, the Alvah Kittredge House, which was purchased by HBI in 2011 and completed a $3.8 million rehabilitation in 2014, and the Upham's Corner Comfort Station, a former rest station, converting it into the restaurant Comfort Kitchen, a full-service award-winning café and restaurant. Kottaridis holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, a Master’s in Historic Preservation from Boston University, and a Bachelor’s in History from the University of New Hampshire. Her career also includes positions with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Bostonian Society.
James B. Lindberg
Nicholas Armata
Senior Preservation Planner
City of Boston Landmarks Commission
Nick serves as the Senior Preservation Planner for the Landmarks Commission, responsible for the City's Aberdeen and Beacon Hill historic districts. These districts maintain some of the largest collections of 19th- and early 20th-century architecture in the country, which are synonymous with Boston's identity. He is also responsible for community outreach for the department. Nick's mission is to promote and enhance these districts through design review management, community engagement, and policy enforcement. Before joining the team in January 2018, Nick developed a unique collection of professional experiences in planning, government, construction, account management, and social media engagement roles throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Nick feels passionately that well designed, historic cities are a critical component to its citizens well being and productivity. He earned an Associates degree in Communications, a Bachelor's degree in Regional Planning and GIS from Westfield State University, and a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning with a focus on Cultural Heritage from UMass, Amherst. Nick has been a certified planner through the American Planning Association (APA) since December of 2021.
Gabriela Amore
Preservation Planner
City of Boston Landmarks Commission
Gabriela serves as the Preservation Planner for the South End, Highland Park, and St. Botolph historic districts. In addition to this, she also serves as the Volunteer Coordinator. Before joining the Preservation team in July 2018, she was involved with institutions such as the Boston National Historic Parks and the Museum of Science. Gabriela graduated from Suffolk University with a degree in History and a concentration in Public History, and from Boston University with her Master’s Degree in Preservation Studies, concentrating in Architectural History.
Rachel Ericksen
Preservation Planner
City of Boston Landmarks Commission
Rachel serves as a Preservation Planner for the South End, Fort Point Channel, and Mission Hill Triangle historic districts. She believes the historic fabric of a neighborhood has a story to tell and only by working to preserve and adaptively reuse it can those stories be fully shared with future generations. Rachel holds a BA from the University of Michigan in English literature, a JD from Santa Clara University, and a MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Prior to joining the Boston Landmarks Commission, Rachel was the 2021 Adolf Placzek fellow for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Chelsea Blanchard
Staff Architect
City of Boston Landmarks Commission
Chelsea has been working to preserve buildings in Boston and New York for the past 25 years. Chelsea holds a Masters of Architecture from the Boston Architectural College and a Masters of Historic Preservation from Boston University. She is a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards certificate recipient and is a registered Architect in Massachusetts and Florida. While working at some of Boston and New York’s top architecture and construction firms, she gained a breadth of construction experience, finely-tuned design skills, and an expertise in zoning and building code. She is passionate about designing projects that reflect this integrity of historic buildings but also their surrounding neighborhoods and landscapes. Her work has been featured in Design New England Magazine, Boston Home, and New England Home Magazine. During the past seven years, she has been running her own architecture firm, Blanchard Architects, which specialized in restorations and additions. Chelsea’s firm was renowned for historically appropriate yet beautiful design solutions, all while requiring the highest quality construction on their projects.
Dorothy Clark
Assistant Survey Director
City of Boston Landmarks Commission
In her capacity as Assistant Survey Director, Dorothy brings strong research and writing skills, as well as a boundless sense of curiosity, to her work at the Boston Landmarks Commission. Of particular note, she will be shepherding the completion of study reports for pending Landmark designations across the city. Dorothy is personally and professionally passionate about history—reading it, researching and writing it, disseminating and discussing it. Her personal mission is to promote the relevance of historical and cultural resources to foster the public’s critical and enlightened engagement with knowledge of the past. Before joining the Boston Landmarks Commission, Dorothy served as editor of Historic New England, the member publication of Historic New England. A full-time journalist in her previous career, Dorothy has worked for the Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Bay State Banner. She holds a master's in Design Studies/Historic Preservation from the Boston Architectural College, a master’s in American history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a bachelor's in English/journalism, also from UMass Amherst.