was responsible for conducting a survey of assets of heritage interest and initiating the process of registration based on pre-defined technical criteria. Another important initiative was the 1999 Organic Law, which determined that all buildings older than 50 years be submitted to a specialized analysis by the Municipal Council for Historical and Cultural Heritage if there were any intention of renovation or demolition. Finally, in the 2007 General Plan a Special Sector in the city center called Historic Center was defined and put under particular regulation due to its differentiated characteristics, endorsing the determinations of the Organic Law about properties older than 50 years. Despite this institutional and legal support, the Historic Center has only recently become a living reality for the residents of Caxias do Sul. Research by Rosemary Brum in the 1990s stated that the Historic Center was invisible to locals, and only a few people still preserved memories about it. Its current features are the result of profound urban transformations throughout the 20th century, with few of its original buildings remaining. However, today the center is already the object of academic studies and has been integrated into the city's tourist route, with scheduled tours and other activities that seek to recover the legacy of this region so full of meaning and that still preserves several important buildings. At the same time, legislation was defined to minimize the problem of visual pollution in historic buildings that were being covered with advertising signs and suffering from interventions that distorted their characteristics. Another problem that negatively affects historic buildings is the composition of the Heritage Council, the body that approves renovation or restoration projects. In order to democratize the decisions, only a small minority of council members have a background in history or heritage, leading to a loss of focus on the issue of conservation as a science and giving way to personal opinions in the discussions, which are mostly made up of civil servants from other areas, government and community representatives, lawyers, and various representatives of the construction and architecture business. This issue leads to the problem of so-called "restoration" practices that diverge from the standards consensually established in international heritage charters, of which Brazil is a signatory, but that are approved by the council. Municipal Law No. 7,495 of October 19, 2012 prohibits "the demolition, renovation or alteration of the form or facade of the property mentioned in