BEHIND THE BRICK
Approaching Preservation With A Deep Respect for Character & Individuality
Shannon L. Papin has over twenty-seven years of professional experience in architectural history, historic resource management, and historic preservation planning, policy, and economics. Her qualifications meet and exceed the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards in History and Architectural History. She has worked at the local, state, and federal levels and has played a leading role in advocacy for preservation issues at the national level. Shannon has a proven track record of historic resource management and preservation consultation services for all stages of project development, preparation of required documentation for environmental compliance, project review and permitting, and implementation of mitigation measures. Her rich and varied work history offers a valuable perspective on historic preservation projects and a strong background in communications and writing.
Shannon most recently spent five years with Environmental Science Associates (ESA) in Los Angeles, CA, where she served as a Senior Architectural Historian and Architectural History Program Manager for Southern California. While at ESA, Shannon authored numerous historic resource assessments, State and National Register Nominations, historic structure reports, CEQA Impacts Analysis, historic resource technical reports, environmental impact reports, feasibility studies, LAHCM nominations, and HABS/HAER reports. She served as the Project Director for the Second Baptist Church Historic Structure Report, which won a 2026 Preservation Award from the California Preservation Foundation in the Cultural Resource Studies and Reports category.
THE BEGINNING
Before moving to California in 2018, Shannon lived in Santa Fe, NM for 15 years, where she helmed Common Bond Preservation with a friend from grad school. As is the case in many smaller markets, projects ranged from simple residential assessments to complex evaluations and documentation for top-secret military installations and everything in between. Shannon consulted extensively for New Mexico MainStreet, where she became familiar with the issues facing smaller towns and rural areas a
Shannon previously served as Director of Communications and State Services for the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) in Washington, DC. She was the primary liaison and resource for all fifty-nine State Historic Preservation Offices, where she represented NCSHPO to Congress, the administration, and the federal government as well as the press, partner organizations, and general public. She worked extensively with the National Park Service on national preservation policy issues and served on task forces that developed Programmatic Agreements concerning Capehart and Wherry Era Army Family Housing and the streamlining of the Section 106 process for communication facilities.cross the United States.
PRESENT DAY
Shannon has managed and conducted planning and technical studies for a broad range of clients and projects throughout Southern California, New Mexico, Arizona, and South Dakota. She spent five years with CarrAmerica Urban Development, Inc. where she was involved in the redevelopment of some of Washington’s premier historic buildings and gained valuable skills in the business side of preservation. She has spoken at numerous state and national conferences, including the California Preservation Foundation Conference, the National Main Streets Conference, the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Conference, and the Rural Economic Development Through Tourism (REDTT) Conference. Shannon was one of the original founders of http://www.offtheroadnm.com, a website promoting heritage tourism in New Mexico’s MainStreet communities.
Shannon resides in the San Gabriel Valley with her two dogs, where she can enjoy views of significant historic architecture every day.
