I can hear the collective groan at that tired old archaeology joke, but I couldn’t resist. We have four new(-ish) archaeologists on the PA SHPO team and I wanted to officially welcome them with a blog post. I am confident that you’ll enjoy working with them at the PA SHPO just as much as I do.
Continue readingCategory: PA SHPO (Page 12 of 24)
Are you interested in joining a pro-active and dedicated team of preservationists, historians, and archaeologists?
The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) is seeking a manager to lead the Environmental Review Division and help advance PA SHPO priorities. This position is ideal for a professional with proven relationship-building skills and has broad knowledge of federal historic preservation programs.
This is a PA SHPO leadership position!
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Historic Tax Credits + Artists + Braddock = Preservation Success
There are great examples throughout Pennsylvania – and the country – of historic buildings being repurposed to support, house, and celebrate local and regional arts communities. Two specifically come to mind in Pennsylvania, the GoggleWorks in Reading, Berks County and the Walk In Art Center in Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill County. The Ohringer Artist Residences in the former Ohringer Home Furniture store 640 Braddock Avenue in Braddock, Allegheny County can now be added to that list.
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Rehabilitated Mott Street Bridge Reconnects Milford and the Delaware River National Recreation Area
Driving along East Harford Street in Milford, a compact borough in Pike County nestled between National Historic Landmark Grey Towers and National Park Service’s Delaware River National Recreational Area, it is easy to miss Mott Street.
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National Historic Preservation Month was started in 1973 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to draw attention to older and historic places across the country and to highlight the benefits of historic preservation in the nation’s communities.
This year, we’re celebrating National Historic Preservation Month by asking our readers to share with us a Preservation Success Stories in their communities. And you might just win something!
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The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) is seeking a Historic Preservation Specialist to serve as a Review Archaeologist to work between disciplines and advance SHPO priorities. This position is ideal for a detail oriented and flexible preservation professional with a knowledge of state historic preservation programs.
Continue readingTo say that COVID-19 changed things about away we live our lives would be the understatement of the century. Virtually everything about the ways in which we live, work, learn, recreate, shop – everything – changed in an instant and we have spent the last 12+ months learning how to adapt, as individuals and communities. The pandemic has also prompted a lot of pondering and forecasting about the long term effects on our society and how many of these adaptations will become part of our “normal” lives going forward. In Pennsylvania’s traditional communities, the sudden loss of foot traffic, festivals, and events hit small businesses and restaurants especially hard. Revitalization organizations and local governments have had to reimagine, with little or no time or experience, how to allow people to use streets, sidewalks, parks, and trails in a safe and responsible manner. Enter Designing for Distance.
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Rehabilitating Wilkes-Barre’s Memorial Presbyterian Church
Rehabilitating a religious property, like a church, using historic tax credits can be very challenging because it is often difficult to match the building’s desired new use with the historic floor plan and character-defining spaces. Design professionals and building owners have to negotiate a difficult balance between preserving a church’s large, open sanctuaries with the need for income-producing spaces like apartments or multi-tenant office spaces.
The rehabilitation of Wilkes-Barre’s Memorial Presbyterian Church is a good example of how to apply the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, which are the guiding principles for historic tax credit projects, to church buildings.
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“March Madness” in the historic preservation world isn’t quite the same as the highly competitive, single-elimination college basketball tournaments that happen each March.
I’ve coopted the phrase to describe National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week and the days leading up to it in our office. Just like the NCAA I players that begin prepping and practicing weeks and months before their games, we kick off each New Year with making plans, preparing materials and partipants, and scheduling visits for Advocacy Week.
One big difference, of course, is that preservationists don’t compete against each other in a nail-biting, winner-takes-all game. One big similarlity, however, is the frenzy of activity, nerves, and excitement before the big event.
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The 2020 PASS Report
For the past several years, PA SHPO archaeologists have issued an annual report – known as the PASS Report – detailing the ongoing efforts to record Pennsylvania’s archaeological sites.
Despite 2020’s many challenges, over 280 new archaeological sites were recorded thanks to cultural resource management (CRM) projects and continued contributions from independent research projects, members of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology (SPA), and long-time avocational archaeologists.
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