NEWS


More on Housing
 To spur public-private ini-
tiatives in affordable housing
and neighborhood preserva-
tion, The American Institute of
Architects has urged Congress
to support critical legislation
that would revitalize historic
rehabilitation and low-income
housing efforts nationwide.
 The Community Revitali-
zation Act of 1989 would in-
crease incentives for private-
sector investment in rehab
projects across the country.
The bill enhances the viability
of rehab and low-income hous-
ing tax credits while still main-
taining limits on credit use. It
would also increase the pool of
investors eligible to use the
credits, reduce transaction costs
by expanding the number of
practical financial mechanisms
and simplify the use of these
credits by applying uniform
eligibility rules to all taxpay-
ers. The AIA firmly supports
Congress' efforts to encourage
public-private sector initia-
tives.
 Also related to the matter of
housing is the projection that
house building in Florida may
decline another 4.9 percent in
1990. That statistic is predicted
by economists at the Univer-
sity of Florida who believe that
single-family housing starts
will decline to 103,600 in 1989.
They further anticipate that the
figure will dip under 100,000
in 1990.
 Also down are multi-fam-
ily houses (apartments and
condominiums) which have
fallen to a predicted 52,700 in
1989.


UF Gets National Regis-
ter District
 A six-block area on the
University of Florida campus
has been designated a National
Register Historic District, and
that recognition of its past could
translate into millions of dol-
lars for its future.
 The part of the campus


which has been given National
Register status has been recog-
nized for its architectural, his-
torical and cultural signifi-
cance. It lies between Univer-
sity Avenue, 13th Street, Sta-
dium Road and North-South
Drive. The area is architectur-
ally significant because many
of its buildings were con-
structed before 1925 and were
designed by William A. Ed-
wards in a style now known as
Collegiate Gothic. Traces of
the original landscape designed
by Frederick Law Olmstead
can still be seen between Pea-
body Hall and Library East.
 The National Register des-
ignation recognizes the histori-
cal significance of eight UF
buildings and with the desig-
nation comes the possibility of
funding to rehabilitate several
structures that are within the
district.
 UF is one of two Florida
campuses, Florida Southern in
Lakeland, is the other, to re-
ceive National Historic Dis-
trict designation.


Using Motor Vehicle Re-
ports As A Loss Preven-
tion Tool

 For many employees, mo-
tor vehicle accidents represent
the number one cause of lost
work time and on-the-job fa-
talities. Such accidents caused
by the negligent driving of
employees while acting within
the scope of their employment
can, therefore, be costly to their
employer in many ways.
 Increased losses can trans-
late into increased auto premi-
ums. If your employees are
injured, you pay for lost pro-
duction time. Auto accident
injuries, if sustained while on
the job, may result in claims
against your workers' compen-
sation coverage, even if your
employee is not at fault.
 You can reduce your poten-
tial liability by routinely ob-
taining Motor Vehicle Reports
(MVR's) on existing employ-
ees or any potential employees
prior to their employment.
These reports may be obtained


from your automobile insur-
ance broker and in many states,
directly from your department
of motor vehicles.
 The best loss prevention
measure is to encourage your
employees to be safe, careful
drivers.



Handling Manpower and
Billings Projections

 "Manpower needs and bill-
ings projections are not a sci-
ence, but they are definitely an
art. As such, at the best, they
are judgmental and subjective."
So says Robert Olden of Olden
Associates, in the current issue
of Professional Design Prac-
tices Business Newsletter.
 Olden draws on thirty years
of practicing the business of
architecture and engineering
for the writing of his newslet-
ters. An annual subscription is
$49 and can be obtained by
writing to Olden Associates,
Business Consultants to Archi-


 Fletcher Hall,
 built in 1939

 Sledd Hall
 built 1928-29

 Lelgh Hall,
 built 1926-27


 'The area in grey
 outlines the six-block
 boundary designated I
 as a National Historic
 District.


 MICHELLE SHAPRO/[he Gainesvile Sun
FLORIDA ARCHITECT September/October 1989