Archives for Preservation Pennsylvania

Preservation Erie and the Erie County Historical Society Collaborate to Present ECGRA Mission Main Street Workshop

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Event will Feature Experts from the Pennsylvania Historical and
Museum Commission and Preservation Pennsylvania

Preservation Erie and the Erie County Historical Society are collaborating to present an Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority Mission Main Street workshop. The event will take place June 20, 2014, from 9 a.m. to3 p.m. at the Jefferson Educational Society, 3207 State Street, Erie, Pa. Event updates and RSVP details are available under the Events tab on Preservation Erie’s website, www.PreservationErie.org.

Trainings will address topics such as: the economic and cultural value of historic preservation; ordinances, tax credits, grants, and other tools for supporting preservation programs; fostering historic preservation in your neighborhood; Erie’s demolition delay ordinance and historic overlay district ordinance; and the importance of performing a historic resource inventory.

ECGRA Executive Director Perry Wood said, “There was a time when main streets were the hub of every American community. Although those corridors no longer serve that purpose, they hold rich history and vast opportunities for community development. ECGRA is committed to helping our municipalities protect their unique assets while evolving to meet contemporary needs.”

Regional municipal and neighborhood leaders, architects and planners, and economic development and tourism specialists are encouraged to attend the community preservation training. Key speakers will include Bureau for Historic Preservation Community Preservation Coordinator Bill Callahan and Archeological Reviewer Kira Heinrich, and Preservation Pennsylvania Field Representative Erin Hammerstadt.

The Bureau for Historic Preservation is part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), the Commonwealth’s official history agency. The bureau administers the state’s historic preservation program and is responsible for identifying and protecting the architectural and archaeological resources of Pennsylvania by working with individuals, communities, local governments, state and federal agencies to educate Pennsylvanians about our heritage and its value. The event is part of the Cultural Resource Essentials Focus workshop series that PHMC is offering regionally.

Preservation Pennsylvania is the Commonwealth’s only statewide, private nonprofit, membership organization dedicated to the protection of historically and architecturally significant properties. The organization assists in protecting and utilizing historic resources Pennsylvania communities want to preserve for the future.

A grantmaker, ECGRA’s mission is to galvanize the nonprofit sector toward economic and community development and to elevate Erie County, Pa. Since February 2008, ECGRA has invested more than $28 million in Erie County thanks to the innovative leadership of members of the ECGRA Board of Directors and staff, and Erie County Council. ECGRA’s Mission Main Street Grants are open annually for up to $15,000 per eligible municipalities and nonprofit organizations seeking to complete revitalization projects along historic commercial corridors, e.g., overhauled streetscapes, revamped landscapes and restored façades. Full Mission Main Street Grants guidelines are available at http://www.ECGRA.org.

Preservation Pennsylvania Acknowledges Efforts to Save the Villa Maria Chapel

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On January 17th, Preservation Pennsylvania published the 2011 Pennsylvania at Risk listing, a listing of ten endangered resources in the State. Villa Maria Chapel made the cut. Although it is currently an unused space, the Chapel has been an architectural cornerstone of its residential neighborhood since 1925. Over the last six years Save the Villa Chapel volunteers, a subcommittee of the Erie Center for Design and Preservation (ECDP), have held more than a dozen fundraising events, paid for temporary roof repairs and facilitated communication with the Chapel owners. In an effort to find an adaptive reuse plan and long-term steward for the property, Save the Villa Chapel Committee and ECDP hosted a day-long design charette for the Villa Chapel in September. The charette generated several reuse concepts (see Erie Times-News article), including plans for a restaurant, an apartment building with efficiency units and a combination venue with a day care on the ground floor and space above for events like weddings and recitals. See the proposal prepared by Kidder Wachter Architecture and Design here.

Preservation Pennsylvania has been a great help to the Save the Villa Chapel Committee and the Erie Center for Design and Preservation. We thank them for their support and acknowledgement!