News and Events

Villa Chapel supporters hold (another) Easter event

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At 1pm on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014, members of the Save the Villa Chapel committee of Preservation Erie will convene for the ninth year in a row at the corner of West 9th and Liberty to provide an update on the status of the landmark chapel. Following the announcement, a brief Easter Parade will be held to celebrate the chapel’s survival through another difficult winter.

On Easter Sunday 2005 a group of concerned citizens gathered to protest the rumored demolition of the Villa Chapel.  The resulting Save the Villa Chapel committee has held dozens of fundraisers, raised thousands of dollars, and worked to find an appropriate reuse of the building.

In 2009, Duncan Stroik, a University of Notre Dame professor of architecture and founding editor of Sacred Architecture magazine toured the Villa Chapel and admired the carved woodwork and stained glass saying that the historic building is “a gem that should be saved.” The chapel is on the National Register along with the rest of the Villa Maria complex. The convent and school have been converted to apartments, but the chapel remains vacant, unheated and leaking.

ImageIn 2010, in response to concerns that the chapel was “too far gone to renovate” an engineering expert from Pittsburgh’s Atlantic Engineering was hired to evaluate the building – he indicated that the chapel is stable, but in need of roof and “cosmetic repairs.”  In 2011, a reuse planning session (with stakeholders and architects Dave Brennan, Jeff Kidder, Richard Olaya and Ellis Schmidlapp) resulted in a 2012 re-use report drafted by KidderWachter Architecture and Design. The illustrated report details will be available at the Easter Sunday event.

Due to the chapel’s uncertain future, Preservation PA placed the Villa Chapel on its list of Pennsylvania at Risk properties in 2011.  Dr. Chris Magoc, while serving as Preservation Erie’s Board President, commented that a renovated chapel would “help stimulate community and economic development in a historic Erie neighborhood…”

ImageWhile jobs and tax revenues are crucial for a thriving community, Magoc and many others believe that saving the chapel is crucial to preserving our history, identity and sense of place. Mary Frabrizio McCarthy wrote in an Erie Times News opinion piece that Villa Maria grade school, high school and college students met in the chapel “to learn and sing the songs of our faith, songs that have stayed with us throughout our lives.”  Another Villa alumna, community leader Sally Carlow Kohler, commented that she has “been fortunate enough to have traveled around the world” but that she returned home to realize that Erie’s Villa Chapel “is one of the most beautiful anywhere!”

Preservation Erie and the Save the Villa Chapel committee believe that Greater Erie must both recognize the importance of becoming a wise steward of its many inherited treasures.

Civitas celebrates 10 years in Gem City on April 12

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On Saturday, April 12 from 3-­‐5pm at Frontier Park’s LEAF building, Civitas is hosting a free event to showcase the community organizations they have co-­‐founded as well as the vital projects of these various groups. A display table format will allow the public to talk directly with organizers:

ALL ABOARD ERIE.  Julie Minich and Brian Pitzer will discuss efforts to improve rail and bus service, and will unveil the conceptual model for a Pennsylvania Higher Education Road Network (PHERN).  PHERN proposes to link colleges and universities through direct, frequent bus routes to foster collaboration between higher education faculty and their 20,000 students.

INNOVATION ERIE David Willoughby, Jonathan D’Silva and Eric Dahl will encourage attendees to consider submitting “good ideas” for new products to the Innovation Erie entrepreneurial contest by the May 14th deadline.  The grand prize is $2,000 in cash and thousands more in professional services including legal advice, marketing help, manufacturing guidance and rapid prototyping.

MADE IN ERIE MARKETPLACE Last year’s inaugural Green Friday Made in Erie Marketplace generated $5,000 in income for Greater Erie entrepreneurs selling locally produced music, food and crafts.  Organizer Stephanie Westley will be present on April 12th to discuss the next MADE IN ERIE marketplace event planned for the Masonic Temple’s Camelot Room on Nov. 28, 2014.

PRESERVATION ERIE Melinda Meyer, Eric Dahlstrand, Gail Corwin, Julia Nene, Cameron Robertson will discuss the on-­‐going inventory of historic properties and sell membership tickets to the Greater Erie Awards night to be held May 1 at the Masonic Temple Ballroom in honor of the YMCA, Kraus Dept. Store and the Remnant Shop.  The May 1 keynote presentation will be made by Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C.

RETHINK THE MCBRIDE VIADUCT Adam J. Trott and Michael Beightol will outline the rationale for using the proposed 1.2 million demolition funds to repurpose the East Avenue viaduct.  No longer viable to support dozens of 22-­‐ton trucks crossing over the CSX and Norfolk-­‐Southern rail lines, the McBride Viaduct is still open to pedestrians and bicyclists.  With work, the Viaduct can become an attractive path and park telling the story of the neighborhood and fostering East Side investment and redevelopment.

SAVE THE VILLA CHAPEL Barbara Crone, Audra Alexandra, Sue Moyer and Sheila Murray will outline the nine years of efforts to save the landmark chapel at 9th and Plum including fundraising, creating a website, fixing the roof and funding reuse plans.  Flyers about the April 20th Easter event will be available.

A collaborative “think tank” founded in 2004, Civitas has worked to creatively catalyze grass-­‐ root action in support of Greater Erie. Co-­‐founded by Edinboro University of PA art professor Lisa Austin, self-­‐taught urban critic Stephen Sonnenberg and organizer Laurel Swartz, Civitas has grown to include art historian Lindsey Gearhart and landscape architect Michael Beightol. The mission of the group is to undertake “aesthetic and functional interventions in public space” and has included work in urban design, zoning, preservation, transportation and economic development.

2014 Greater Erie Awards

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2014 Greater Erie Awards: Sustaining the Gem City
When: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 2014
Where: Masonic Temple Ballroom, 32 West 8th St, Erie, PA 16501

Admission to the May 1 Greater Erie Awards is $50 which includes a yearly membership with Preservation Erie as well as invitations to several behind-the-scenes tours of rehabilitated or repurposed historic properties and presentations by local craftsmen who specialize in historic preservation trades (i.e. metal working, carpentry, painting). Greater Erie Awards Facebook Event page

Greater Erie Awards Keynote: Sustaining the Gem City by Ed McMahon

Mr. McMahon holds the Charles E. Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. where he is nationally known as an inspiring and thought provoking speaker and leading authority on topics related to sustainable development, land conservation, smart growth, and historic preservation. Before joining the Urban Land Institute, Mr. McMahon spent 14 years as the Vice President and Director of Land Use Planning for The Conservation Fund in Arlington, Virginia where he helped to protect more than 5 million acres of land of historic or natural significance. He is also the co-founder and former President of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes.

2014 Greater Erie Award recipients, The Remnant Shop, Kraus Department Store and the Downtown YMCA, were selected because of their ongoing commitment to their neighborhoods, historic properties and Greater Erie.

The Remnant Shop on East 11th Street is a resource for high-end fabrics unavailable elsewhere in the region. The Pentz family regularly drives to Highpoint, North Carolina to buy the remainder bolts of designer upholstery fabric, purchased by Erie trades people and artists.

Kraus Department Store has been an anchor on Parade Street offering a variety of products from lampshades to t-shirts as well as heavy equipment rental, window screen repair and wall-paper-hanging clinics. For 125 years, shoppers from Greater Erie have made purchases there.

The YMCA on West 10th nurtured downtown youth and adults for over a century. The Downtown Y recently started a $500,000 renovation project for their expanded Teen Center.

Because of Your Support:
Thanks to the success of the Greater Erie Awards last year, Preservation Erie was able to generate community support for a county-wide inventory of historic properties. Work on the inventory began in December. The inventory will enable Erie County communities, property owners, organizations, and agencies to better appreciate the cultural and economic value of their historic resources, and assist civic leaders in planning for their protection. Preservation Erie also recently joined forces with the Erie County Historical Society to create a Joint Action Team focused on public policy and advocacy.

Preservation Erie Begins Inventory of Historic Resources in Erie, Corry

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Thanks to generous support from the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, Erie Community Foundation, the Perry 200 Commission, and individuals, Preservation Erie has launched an unprecedented county-wide inventory of historic resources. The goal of this project is to provide baseline information to be used in the development of historic preservation plans that can be accepted, adopted and implemented by governments throughout the county. The inventory will enable communities, property owners, organizations, and agencies to better appreciate the cultural and economic value of historic buildings and sites in their communities and assist civic leaders in planning for their protection and integration into economic revitalization strategies.

Preservation Erie is excited to be working with Wise Preservation Planning, an experienced historic preservation planning firm based in Chester Springs, PA. The firm’s principals, Robert Wise and Seth Hinshaw, have more than 30 years of experience with municipal historic preservation planning, preparing historic resource impact studies and historic structure reports, GIS mapping, and conducting specialized trainings for historic preservation commissions. They are certified through the PA Historical & Museum Commission Cultural Resource Essentials program and have certificates in Community Planning from the PA Municipal Planning Education Institute. Wise Preservation Planning has produced an impressive portfolio of 26 National Register nominations for individual properties, districts and landmarks, 12 municipal-wide surveys of all historic resources 50 years old and older, and approximately 10,000 documented historic resources.

Focusing first on historic resources within the cities of Erie and Corry, over the next 3-4 months Wise Preservation Planning will identify, document and map all resources and historic districts that are individually listed on, determined to be eligible for, or appear to be eligible for, the National Register of Historic Places. The remainder of the county will be inventoried in late spring and summer.

The inventory will be completed in accordance with the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Plan (PHPP) and the Bureau for Historic Preservation Guidelines for Comprehensive Surveys.

The last historic resource inventory or survey to be conducted in Erie County occurred in 1982. That document has been a primary research tool for architects, municipal staff, property owners, realtors, historical society/museum staff/volunteers, genealogists and more. Although the survey remains a valuable research tool, it is now 30 years old. Properties have been demolished or altered and other structures now meet the criteria for historic resources.

The results of the 2014 historic resource inventory will be added to the State’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information System, a map-based inventory of the historic and archaeological sites and surveys stored by the Bureau for Historic Preservation (BHP). Web access to all of the historic resource data will be open to the public. Electronic copies of the final inventory will be made available to all municipalities in Erie County, the Erie County Public Library, Erie County Historical Society, Erie Yesterday, the Erie Downtown Improvement District and other interested groups.

When asked about the significance of the historic resource inventory, Mr. Wise stated, “We have completed surveys in one form or another throughout Pennsylvania. A properly mapped and documented resource inventory often becomes the basis for historic resource protection, planning and community revitalization. Current technology already utilized will greatly enhance the survey product and help communities throughout the county make informed land use decisions.”

Might we soon see a deconstruction project in Erie?

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On reuseaction.com Michael Gainer and his staff boldly answer the question “Why do you do what you do?”; they do it to create jobs, provide training for young people, and promote ecological stewardship and community building. It was this commitment to community and economic revitalization that attracted attention here in Erie.

A group of 20, brought together by the Green Building Alliance, gathered Tuesday, Feb. 11 in a classroom of the Mercyhust University Interior Design Department to listen to Gainer talk about the deconstruction industry and his work with Buffalo ReUse (not-for-profit) and ReUse Action (for-profit), two deconstruction outfits he has founded in Buffalo, NY. In Erie, interest has grown locally in developing a deconstruction operation within the last year or two, and this presentation built momentum for the idea.

Deconstruction – a relatively new term for an old idea – is the careful dismantling of a building so that the materials may be reused or recycled. The practice has environmental and economic benefits, and is an unconventional means of preservation. While we don’t advocate for the removal of a building, if it is no longer fit for use, materials that retain value and usefulness can be saved through deconstruction and then integrated into other buildings.

To learn more about deconstruction, we recommend the following sources:

A slow motion deconstruction video produced by Gainer’s crew.

A Report on the Feasibility of Deconstruction and A Guide to Deconstruction, U.S. Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development

Repurpose Plan for McBride Viaduct to be proposed by Volunteer Design Team

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On Saturday, January 25 at 3PM, CIVITAS is hosting a 40-­‐minute presentation (with architect Adam Trott, landscape architect Michael Beightol, urban critic Stephen Sonnenberg and social sculptor Lisa Austin) on their proposal to re-­‐purpose the McBride Viaduct into an urban park and pedestrian transit route. Free and open to the public, the presentation will be held six blocks North of the Viaduct at Poet’s Hall, 1136 East Lake Road, Erie, PA.

Named for a beloved pastor, the McBride Viaduct was built, in part, to allow “safe passage” for children walking from their homes South of the tracks to their school a few blocks North.   Closed to vehicular traffic since 2010 (due to stability concerns) the 1,170 foot long Viaduct still provides a vital service as a pedestrian and bike bridge connecting East 12th and East 19th Streets over the busy CSX and Norfolk Southern rail tracks.

Since the construction of the Viaduct almost eighty years ago, contemporary infrastructure work has carved up and isolated some neighborhoods, inadvertently harming the Eastside.  While logistically sound, the plans to divert pedestrians from the Viaduct to the utilitarian Eastbay Connector overlook the unpleasantness of a daily walk along a busy highway lined with sound barriers instead of enjoying a stroll on sidewalks of neighborhood streets and a human-­‐scaled viaduct.

To maintain the Viaduct’s critical link in the city’s fabric, the volunteer team has created a proposal for an inviting Viaduct Park with rest areas featuring the structure’s expansive views of church steeples, commercial spaces and industry. Architect Adam Trott warns that “demolition will erase these compelling views, turn our back on our industrial heritage and waste the embodied energy of the materials and labor that went into constructing the Viaduct.”

During the January 25th presentation, site plans and drawings will be presented. If the community supports the proposal to re-­‐purpose the Viaduct, the immediate goal will be to gain the ear of elected leaders and Penn DOT administrators. The structure must be immediately stabilized, water drainage must be improved, and lights and security cameras must be installed. Two landscaped entrances will be established.

Additional plans to complete the Viaduct park will evolve organically as businesses and neighborhoods linked to the Viaduct become involved in the project. Organizations including neighborhood businesses, churches and watch groups, the Lake Erie Regional Conservancy, the Erie Art Museum, Bike Erie, Voices for Independence, Penn State Master Gardeners and the Society for Industrial Archeology are potential partners in this project.

viaductThe Viaduct is an opportunity that Erie cannot afford to waste. In addition to protecting pedestrians and connecting neighborhoods, Adam Trott says “a re-­‐purposed Viaduct will finally give something back to residents of the Eastside.” Rather than spending an estimated 1.2 million in taxpayer money for demolition, Stephen Sonnenberg notes that if those funds were used to create a park, “the investment could help spark revitalization along Erie’s historic East Avenue corridor.” Michael Beightol commented, “this 1940-­‐era structure is appropriate to the scale of the neighborhood and can become a regional destination.” And Lisa Austin noted “around the world, larger industrial sites once viewed as eyesores have become a source of pride and economic development.” Examples include:

  • Gas Works Park, 19-­‐acre park at former gas and light company, Seattle; WA (1975);
  • Landschaftspark, Ruhr District industrial sites encompassing 247 acres including a blast furnace turned into a viewing tower – Duisburg-­‐Nord, Germany (1994);
  • High Line Park, on abandoned 1930 elevated rail line 7,655 feet long, NY, NY (1999).

About the team: Erie architect Adam J. Trott heads a full service architectural design firm (www.ajtarch.com.)  Cleveland landscape architect Micheal Beightol, Erie urban critic Stephen Sonnenberg and social sculptor Lisa Austin are members of the Civitas collaborative.  Civitas (Back to Erie, Inc.  http://www.civitaserie.com) was formed in 2004 with a mission of creatively advocating for Greater Erie.  Civitas cofounded All Aboard Erie (transportation advocacy  http://www.allaboarderie.com), Innovation Erie (product design competition  http://www.InnovationErie.net),  Preservation Erie (www.ErieCDP.org) and has sponsored dozens of speakers and events including the Green Friday Made in Erie Marketplace.

Contact: Lisa Austin, http://www.civitaserie.com 814.881.1273, [email protected]

Mercyhurst’s Erie Places, Erie Stories exhibit moves to City Hall January 15

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The Mercyhurst University History Department is proud to announce that Erie Places, Erie Stories – a student-produced photographic and oral history exhibition showcasing Erie’s historic structures – is moving to Erie City Hall, opening with a reception free and open to the public on Wednesday, January 15 from 5:30 – 6:45 pm, preceding a regularly scheduled Erie City Council meeting. Funded by a grant from Arts Erie, Erie Places, Erie Stories will be located in the first floor foyer of Erie City Hall and will be accessible to the public during regular business hours of 8:30-4:30 through Friday, February 7.

Completed by Mercyhurst public history students as a semester-long hands-on learning initiative, the exhibit “makes a compelling case for more fully appreciating and protecting the historic built landscape of a great city,” said Dr. Chris Magoc, Chair of the Mercyhurst History Department.  The exhibition of more than 30 photographs premiered in December at Stairways Bloom Collaborative and now features an interactive element whereby visitors will be invited to write down their own special “Erie Place That Matters,” adding to a list compiled by Preservation Erie, one of the community partners in the project.  The exhibit will also allow visitors to purchase the photographs, with proceeds going to an organization in the neighborhood where the images were taken or to Preservation Erie.  For more information on the exhibit, contact Chris Magoc, Ph.D., at 824-2075.

Chat with us online!

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Join members of the Preservation Erie and Erie County Historical Society on Dec. 18 for a live online discussion about historic preservation. The chat starts at noon at GoErie.com: http://www.goerie.com/chat.

Erie Places, Erie Stories Exhibit Opens December 13th

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Erie Places, Erie Stories Exhibit Opens December 13th

The Erie Places, Erie Stories project involved students from the Fall 2013 Introduction to Public History and Museum Studies courses at Mercyhurst University. Conceived by Bob Wooler of The Nonprofit Partnership, the project had students working in teams to conduct photographic  and oral history studies of neighborhoods or districts of greater Erie. The end result is an exhibition of photographs of particular buildings of focus in those neighborhoods, accompanied by captions that feature some excerpts from the oral histories. The exhibit opens Friday, December 13 5-8 pm at Center City Arts, 26th and Holland Streets.

Preservation Erie and Erie County Historical Society Announce Joint Effort

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The Erie County Historical Society and Preservation Erie would like to commend Gannon University for their recent investment in one of Erie’s landmark mansions, the George Black House. Gannon’s investment in the home shows the school’s continued commitment towards its historic downtown location, as well as historic preservation.

The investment is in sharp contrast to the recent demolition of 329 West 6th Street. Both the ECHS and Preservation Erie believe that there could have been a better approach to the adaptive re-use of the property that would have balanced individual property rights with the best interests of the community.

The Erie County Historical Society and Preservation Erie believe that Erie’s continued loss of properties such as 329 West 6th adversely affect Erie’s neighborhoods, and the overall health of our community. Countless cities and municipalities across the country have integrated historic preservation principles into their economic development strategies with positive results. In fact, recent studies in Pennsylvania show quantitative increases in property values for home located within historic districts. One example, from a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission study, shows house prices in Pittsburgh’s Mexican War Street Historic District appreciated at an annual rate of 4 percentage points higher than the average in surrounding Pittsburgh neighborhoods, and in the year immediately following the District’s expansion in 2008, house prices increased by 15 percent.

Over the next year, the ECHS and Preservation Erie will be working on a joint strategy to further educate the public about the values of historic preservation, as well as further develop the necessary plan to turn dialogue into action.

More about the About the George Black House:
Built in 1908, this former TKE fraternity house is constructed in the Colonial Revival style. It is made out of stucco and has the keystone symbol above the windows.  This structure once housed George I. Black and his wife Laura.  Black was the President of the Walker Foundry Company. Gannon University purchased the property from the TKE fraternity in 2013.

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