Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office
It’s almost spring in Washington, D.C. and for us here at the PA SHPO it doesn’t mean cherry blossoms – it means Advocacy Week! Next week, Pennsylvania’s Preservation Delegation heads south to talk about one of our favorite topics (historic preservation!) in a fresh new way (with videos!) and we are ready to go.
I don’t want this month’s Shout Outs to get lost in the holiday shuffle of office parties, vacation days, and last-minute lunch-hour shopping trips so I’m bringing it to you a week early. Consider it an early present from your favorite SHPO!
Interested in working at the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office? PA SHPO has received approval to hire an Architectural Designer 2 (AD2) for the position of Tax Credit Reviewer. PA SHPO encourages anyone with an interest in working with the PA SHPO’s state and federal historic tax credit programs who meets AD2 class specifications to take the Civil Service test to be posted to the AD2 list. The test closes on February 25, 2017. Continue reading
It’s that time again!
As some of you may know, the National Park Service highlighted Pennsylvania in their #50for50 social media campaign earlier this month. This initiative is part of their broader effort to celebrate and recognize the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act this year. Each week, NPS has been promoting the interesting, meaningful, and successful historic preservation work being done in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. (FYI, this week is South Carolina’s turn!)
Here at PHMC, we participated by adding the #50for50 and #Preservation50 hashtags to all of the preservation-related posts on the Pennsylvania Trails of History Facebook page and @PHMC Twitter feed. I think NPS could have featured Pennsylvania’s successes for a year and still not have gotten through them all, but alas, we need to share the limelight. So, I thought it would be a great idea to share with you some of the stories that didn’t get aired that week and that we haven’t covered in previous posts and Shout-Outs.
We’re back to our regular SHPO Shout-Out post this month, and I get to tell you about some great local preservation activities, two national award winners, and a cool new park in Jefferson County. Two quick things before I launch into my list of happy news: have you taken our online survey for the next statewide historic preservation plan yet? Or have you registered for the upcoming Statewide Conference on Heritage? There is still time to do both! Continue reading
How often is it that we, as preservationists and champions of history, get to hear some good news about historic preservation? When I check my Facebook feed every morning, I usually see one post after another calling attention to the plight of our cherished historic places and spaces. Finally, one morning, I said, “Enough! There has to be some good in the world!” And the SHPO Shout-Out was born…
During my tenure with Pennsylvania’s Historic Preservation Office, I reviewed numerous legislative drafts for the long-awaited Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Tax Credit program. Early drafts included a historic homeowner component. Later versions proposed grants instead of tax credits. All dozen or so drafts were bypassed in the legislative process until the approval of the Pennsylvania Historic Tax Credit program in the Fiscal Year 2012-13.
After a successful launch of the program in Fiscal Year 2013-14, I was eagerly anticipating the approval of the first historic tax credit project. My money was on a project from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. These two cities received the most state tax credit allocations and have a long track record for project completion. To my surprise, those two cities will need to take a back to seat to the Flagship City of Erie – our Gem City situated on the sparkling water of Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie – and the striking rehabilitation of the CF Adams Building by the Erie Insurance Exchange. Continue reading
The mansion at Grey Towers National Historic Site.
Offbeat Outings is a bi-monthly series that highlights the travels of BHP staff as they experience history first-hand throughout Pennsylvania.
Although I’m Pennsylvania born and raised, I’m the first to (sheepishly) admit that there are many counties within the Commonwealth where I have never stepped foot. So when the invitation arose under the guise of project and covenant review to visit Pike County in the far northeast reaches, I eagerly accepted and grabbed an able co-pilot, Karen Arnold, for what turned out to be a gorgeous day in April. (Disclaimer: the musings of one mere BHP staffer does not do these places justice –if you’ve never been, add them to your bucket list – they do not disappoint [unlike my writing skills]). Continue reading
Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it.
– Anonymous
It’s that time of the year for excess chewing, and it’s also timely for the Bureau to take a mid-plan stretch (after a turkey-induced slumber) and to regain focus on evaluating the accomplishments of Pennsylvania’s Statewide Historic Preservation Plan, Building Better Communities: The Preservation of Place, 2012-2017. The Plan includes an ambitious Action Agenda that was developed with the direct intent of being highly responsive to public needs and desires. While the Plan was created for all Pennsylvanians and depends on assistance and full participation for it to be successful, Goal 5’s objectives and strategies resulted from some internal soul-searching. Continue reading
There is an armory in almost every county in Pennsylvania. Some counties have two or three. They are one of the most historically significant and, in most cases, architecturally distinctive buildings in the communities lucky enough to host one. The National Guard in Pennsylvania has a long history of military and civic service and the armories are the physical expression of that history. The Department of General Services is offering eleven of these historic armories for sale. This is the perfect opportunity to adaptively reuse these buildings and retain an important landmark in your community. Continue reading
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