Event will feature experts from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and Preservation Pennsylvania
Trainings will address topics such as: the economic and cultural value of historic preservation; ordinances, tax credits, grants, and other tools for supporting preservation programs; fostering historic preservation in your neighborhood; Erie’s demolition delay ordinance and historic overlay district ordinance; and the importance of performing a historic resource inventory.
ECGRA Executive Director Perry Wood said, “There was a time when main streets were the hub of every American community. Although those corridors no longer serve that purpose, they hold rich history and vast opportunities for community development. ECGRA is committed to helping our municipalities protect their unique assets while evolving to meet contemporary needs.”
Regional municipal and neighborhood leaders, architects and planners, and economic development and tourism specialists are encouraged to attend the community preservation training. Key speakers will include Bureau for Historic Preservation Community Preservation Coordinator Bill Callahan and Archeological Reviewer Kira Heinrich, and Preservation Pennsylvania Field Representative Erin Hammerstadt.
The Bureau for Historic Preservation is part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), the Commonwealth’s official history agency. The bureau administers the state’s historic preservation program and is responsible for identifying and protecting the architectural and archaeological resources of Pennsylvania by working with individuals, communities, local governments, state and federal agencies to educate Pennsylvanians about our heritage and its value. The event is part of the Cultural Resource Essentials Focus workshop series that PHMC is offering regionally.
Preservation Pennsylvania is the Commonwealth’s only statewide, private nonprofit, membership organization dedicated to the protection of historically and architecturally significant properties. The organization assists in protecting and utilizing historic resources Pennsylvania communities want to preserve for the future.
A grant maker, ECGRA’s mission is to galvanize the nonprofit sector toward economic and community development and to elevate Erie County, Pa. Since February 2008, ECGRA has invested more than $28 million in Erie County thanks to the innovative leadership of members of the ECGRA Board of Directors and staff, and Erie County Council. ECGRA’s Mission Main Street Grants are open annually for up to $15,000 per eligible municipalities and nonprofit organizations seeking to complete revitalization projects along historic commercial corridors, e.g., overhauled streetscapes, revamped landscapes and restored façades. Full Mission Main Street Grants guidelines are available at www.ECGRA.org.
Founded in 2007, Preservation Erie works to preserve and protect the unique character of greater Erie by encouraging both a greater appreciation for and the adaptive reuse of the historic buildings, industrial structures, and historic neighborhoods that have shaped our collective regional identity and sense of place. With projects that include such landmarks as the Villa Chapel, Roosevelt Middle School, and the county wide historic resource inventory, Preservation Erie promotes the value of historic preservation and good urban design as key elements of a vision of sustainabledevelopment that can improve the quality of life in the region. For more information, visit, contact or follow us:
Email: info@PreservationErie.org
FB: www.facebook.com/PreservationErie
