Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Historic Preservation (Page 1 of 50)

Out with the Model Ordinance in with the Ordinance Guidebook and Workbook

For many years, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) had a model historic preservation ordinance to help Pennsylvania’s municipalities protect historic places in their communities. The tool, while it had its uses, proved to be unequal to the task of accounting for the wide variety amongst Pennsylvania’s more than 2,500 municipalities. The model ordinance helped communities answer the question ‘how can we protect historic places,’ but it did not help communities address why they want to protect historic places or determine what residents in their communities valued.

The PA SHPO’s new Preservation Ordinance Guidebook and Workbook seeks to address not only how but also what and why to help communities develop implementable preservation ordinances which meet community needs.

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HPIP Spotlight: Christ Episcopal Church of Reading

Looking up while shading our eyes, we stood in awe under the 180-foot-tall ornate spired bell tower designed in the nineteenth century by renowned architect, Edward T. Potter, and the rusticated brownstone exterior with Gothic ornamentation, pinnacles, and tracery executed by master mason, George Maltzberger.

On February 13, 2025, PA SHPO’s Historic Property Inspection Program (HPIP) staff ventured to Reading, Pennsylvania for a property inspection of the Christ Episcopal Church of Reading (PA-SHARE Resource # 2018RE00954), a contributing resource within Reading’s Callowhill Historic District (PA-SHARE Resource # 1979RE00447).

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