Sometimes maintaining history is as important as the history itself.

There’s an effort to preserve a building that has been home to a printing press, a beloved restaurant and a beacon of LGBTQ and women’s literary movement.

“Doing preservation work is always more effective if we're acting proactively, and we're preserving the building and documenting it before it's under threat,” said Jeffry Iovannone, with Cornell University.

That's the case for a piece of LGBTQ history at the base of Cayuga Lake.

“Firebrand was a small, nationally significant lesbian, feminist press. It was founded in Africa in 1984 by Nancy K. Bereano,” said Iovononne. “Looking at it from a historic preservation standpoint, this would be the first local landmark in Ithaca that's related to women's and LGBTQ history.”

For the time being, the building isn't under immediate threat. 

“This is the kind of thing that Jeff, through his work, is trying to preserve, so that many more people for generations to come will be able to know about this,” said Luca Maurer.

As interim director of student equity and belonging at Ithaca College and the director of LGBT education, outreach and services, he knows what a landmark designation for this building means.

“LGBTQ history is American history,” Maurer said. “And so again, work to document some of these places and the spaces that have always existed. It brings to the forefront aspects of, of our identities and our communities that have been overlooked or ignored, sometimes erased.”

The pair are helping to preserve the building, regularly collaborating along State Street and the commons.

“It's not just about preserving the brick and mortar of the building,” said Iovannone. “But the way that the building allows us to tell about who we are.”

The brick, mortar, glass and stone structure has been home to several businesses and carries lifetimes of historic value. But what's important to Maurer and Iavonne is what's ahead.

“We’re still in a place where LGBTQ books are being censored. Our history is being taken out of the curriculum, and if we know where we've been and where things were like, we're much better poised to address the present challenges,” Maurer said.