Category: Planning (Page 2 of 8)

Large stone bank building with five large windows at an intersection. — The First National Bank building on Brighton Avenue in Rochester, a key historic resource analyzed in this study. Built in 1907, the Romanesque Revival style building has a unique shape to conform to its angled corner lot. Photo date:18 March 2022. Source: evolve environment::architecture.

Deindustrialized Communities Market Study: What We Learned

March 30, 2022 / Guest Contributor / 1 Comment

As we wrote about in a recent blog post, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) has been working on a huge project in our western region, aimed at identifying the challenges and opportunities for historic preservation and economic revitalization in smaller deindustrialized communities, focusing on twelve riverfront municipalities located within two regions of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Row of commercial buildings along a street. — Buildings on Merchant Street in Ambridge, PA. Many of the study area main streets have continuous street frontages where the character of the main street isn’t broken up by vacant parcels. Continuous street frontages allow for a greater density of small businesses that can make main streets more vibrant. Photo date: 15 February 2022. Source: evolve environment::architecture.

Deindustrialized Communities Market Study

March 9, 2022 / Guest Contributor / 3 Comments

The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) has undertaken a project to investigate the economic development and community revitalization prospects in specific southwestern Pennsylvania communities that have experienced significant de-industrialization.

Tredyffrin Township and its Neighbors go to CAMP

February 23, 2022 / Guest Contributor / 0 Comments

Although there were no campfires or smores, the Tredyffrin Township Historical Commission (TTHC) and friends had a lot of fun in summer CAMP.

Homes along River Road, Beaver Borough. Photo by Clio Consulting, 2016.

Preservation Planning in Beaver Borough

January 12, 2022 / Bill Callahan / 2 Comments

Beaver is a lovely community located on the Ohio River bluffs nearly directly across the river from the Shell petrochemical plant. Beaver boasts a large National Register of Historic Places historic district (PA-SHARE Resource #1994RE00048) that consists of large, stately homes, vernacular residences, a thriving central business district bursting with historic character and a series of open spaces and parks that date to the community’s late 18^th century plan. Beaver is home to the National Historic Landmark Matthew S. Quay House (PA-SHARE Resource #1975RE00155) and the site of Ft. McIntosh, a late 18^th century American frontier fort, which is individually listed in the National Register (PA-SHARE Resource #1975RE00024).

The Flagship City is now a CLG!

September 29, 2021 / Bill Callahan / 1 Comment

The PA SHPO extends hearty congratulations to Pennsylvania’s fourth largest city, the City of Erie, which on May 17^th, became one of Pennsylvania’s newest Certified Local Governments (CLG).

The certification of Erie City as a CLG is the latest success in a long string of preservation projects and initiatives undertaken by public, private and non-profit entities in Erie County that illustrate the well-trod aphorism If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

PA-SHARE logo

PA-SHARE’s Surveyor is Here!

August 12, 2021 / Multiple Authors / 0 Comments

Are you ready to put PA-SHARE in your pocket and start documenting Pennsylvania’s historic places and archaeological sites?

The PA SHPO is pleased to introduce its newest set of tools to conduct both above ground and archaeological survey in Pennsylvania – the PA-SHARE Surveyor suite.

Success in All Shapes and Sizes

June 9, 2021 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 1 Comment

Last month, we asked Pennsylvanians to send us their #PreservationHappensHere Preservation Success Stories using PA-SHARE to celebrate National Historic Preservation Month. We enticed them with prizes! And we received many great submissions, making our campaign its own success story!

Mott Street Bridge after rehabilitation was complete, taken from the Milford side looking toward the National Park Service land to the southwest. Source: Kris Thompson, PennDOT.

Rehabilitated Mott Street Bridge Reconnects Milford and the Delaware River National Recreation Area

June 2, 2021 / Guest Contributor / 1 Comment

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.

A technician works on-site at Cantini’s Mosaic Tunnel, 1964. Courtesy: Virgil Cantini Papers and Photographs, c1935-2009, MSS 0722, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center.

Virgil Cantini: A Purpose in Public Art

February 24, 2021 / Guest Contributor / 1 Comment

On a sunny August morning in 2017, a group of Pittsburgh-based architects, historians, artists, students, preservationists and art enthusiasts convened before venturing out with a shared goal; to experience first-hand nearly all public artworks accessible in the vicinity, both indoors and outdoors, created by the late Virgil Cantini (1919-2009).

Kicking Off PA SHPO’s Baseline Survey Effort

January 13, 2021 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 3 Comments

PA SHPO is kicking off a three-year effort to collect baseline survey information about thousands of older and historic places across a huge part of Pennsylvania.