Preservation Pennsylvania recently announced the Pennsylvania At Risk 2014 list — seven properties nominated by the public last year that will become the nonprofit group’s work priorities in 2015. The list illustrates a range of threats to historic resources, including 1) demolition; 2) potential loss due to deferred maintenance; 3) loss of vitality due to closure of a downtown anchor; 4) impacts resulting from inappropriately sited intensive development; and 5) physical and economic challenges faced by municipalities as a result of substantial flood insurance premium increases. Preservation Pennsylvania is ready to engage with people interested in working to protect these significant historic places and work to overcome these threats in the coming year.
Category: Philadelphia (Page 10 of 11)
School Daze
No, this isn’t a review of Spike Lee’s 1988 movie. I’m referring to my state of mind when I think about all of the work I’ve done with public schools in Philadelphia over the past few months.
As you may remember from this post, I joined BHP in July and my first assignment was to complete the survey component of a larger project to document Philadelphia elementary and secondary public schools of all types, styles, and dates. I had a good start on the survey work thanks to the headway my predecessor made in 2013 by assembling lists and survey maps, which are organized by zip code. My school daze started when I realized that there were about 300 public schools that qualified for this reconnaissance-level survey. And, even more intimidating, that 205 still needed to be surveyed before school started on September 8th! Continue reading
Paul Heberling, center, accepts the F. Otto Haas Award from John A. Martine, right, and Peter Benton. Top right, Mayor Salvatore Panto, Bottom right, The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka
Each year, Preservation Pennsylvania presents the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards as a way to honor individuals and organizations that exhibit excellence in the field of historic preservation. The 2014 award recipients exemplify some of the core values of historic preservation, such as a community pulling together to save a building from demolition or the revitalization of an urban neighborhood thanks to rehabilitation – not razing — of an aging school.
“Partnerships, cooperation, and taking the long-term view are themes that run through many of this year’s projects,” said Mindy Crawford, Executive Director of Preservation Pennsylvania, the statewide historic preservation nonprofit. “Whether at the local, state or federal level, this year’s award recipients demonstrate how people working together can create positive change.” Continue reading
The Spotlight Series is an occasional series that highlights interesting people, places, programs, and partner organizations working on historic preservation issues.
At the turn of the last century, the 2200 block of West Tioga Street was a fashionable address for business owners and professionals. Homes were up to 5,800 square feet, housing large families and live-in servants.
Architect Edgar Viguers Seeler designed the gem of the block — an 1898 chateau-style twin at 2224-26 West Tioga – for two families that owned the Conkling-Armstrong Terra Cotta Co. In fact, it was an ornate showpiece for their business: making architectural ornamentation. It featured columns encrusted with floral detail, ornate stringcourses and porch balustrades, all made of terra cotta. Combining his training from the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art, MIT, and the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris, Seeler was able to design ornate structures that spanned multiple aesthetics. Continue reading
Sunny and 82 degrees — every day. This type of weather forecast isn’t what I typically look forward to during a conference week. However FORUM 2014 – A Keystone Connection wasn’t your typical conference. Through an unprecedented partnership, FORUM 2014 harnessed the energy of 781 preservation-minded individuals from 48 states. These attendance numbers and ideal weather conditions will be hard to top in future years. Continue reading
As the calendar flips to another Fiscal Year, I want to take a few minutes to review the first year of Pennsylvania’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit and present the first 15 projects to receive historic tax credits in Pennsylvania. Continue reading
As preservationists from all over the country converge in Philadelphia this summer for Forum 2014 it is only appropriate to highlight the fabulous and historic food venue that will host the conference reception on July 18th—the Reading Terminal Market. The Market itself is a real preservation success story. It is a landmark building (recognized as a NPS National Historic Landmark since 1976 and documented as an engineering marvel by the Historic American Engineering Record ) with its own storied history which has survived challenging and uncertain times to delight a new generation of Philadelphians and visitors. Continue reading
A Museum for the 21st Century: The Online Presence of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Editor’s Note: Each year PHMC hosts students from Pennsylvania state colleges and universities through The Harrisburg Internship Semester (T.H.I.S.) program. The interns come from a wide variety of backgrounds and majors and are encouraged to gain writing experience by authoring a blog post on a topic that interests them.
by Kara Adams, T.H.I.S. intern
A lot can be said about where I grew up and where I went to college, but their one feature in common is their rural natures. While rural communities are excellent places to grow up and live, it’s hard to ignore the disconnectedness they experience from cultural centers, such as museums in big cities. Many museums, however, are taking a new approach to providing access to their collections, with a rise in the usage of social media and the creation of collections databases hosted on the museums’ websites. One Pennsylvania museum taking full advantage of the interconnectivity the internet provides is the Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose online collections database and social media pages give a museum experience to anyone with an interest in history and an internet connection. Continue reading
Just Listed is a semi-annual feature of Pennsylvania’s Cultural Resources that were recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Three very different Pennsylvania resources were recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They hold significance for very different reasons, too, ranging from design and architectural merit, to labor history in the textile industry, to the development of Philadelphia’s court system.
Registration is now open for FORUM 2014, July 16-20, in Philadelphia. FORUM is the title for this year’s Statewide Conference on Heritage/Byways to the Past, which has teamed up with the National Alliance of Preservation Commission’s biennial training program for a jam-packed week of workshops, tours, and sessions. Whether you’re a perennial attendee of the Pennsylvania Statewide Conference, or a first-timer, a planner, architect, archaeologist, historical commission or HARB member, elected official, or consultant the combination of these two events in a single place is a training and networking opportunity not to be missed! Continue reading
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