Tis the season to be thankful – after all, Thanksgiving was just last week and more holidays are just around the corner – and I for one have been rattling off a list of all the great places in Pennsylvania that I am thankful for and appreciate. The SHPO Shout Out, which, btw, turns 1 year old this month, was intended to send out a big thank you in celebration of all the great people and projects that preserve Pennsylvania’s history everyday. Thank you for all you do to help preserve, protect, and promote Pennsylvania’s historic places and spaces! Read on to see who gets a Shout Out Thank You this month. Make sure to let me know who else we should be thanking and recognizing!
We couldn’t have done it without these guys…
I have to extend a HUGE thank you to all of the local partners who helped us with the nine Open Houses we had in October and November for the next statewide historic preservation plan. Our generous hosts opened their doors to us and the general public, stayed open late, helped set up and clean up, talked to attendees, advertised, and patiently worked through logistics with our partner in this effort, Preservation PA. Our hosts included: Pennsylvania Military Museum (Boalsburg), Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum (Lancaster), Pennsylvania Lumber Museum (Galeton), Manchester Schoolhouse (Erie), Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum (Scranton), Northampton County Community College (Bethlehem), Arch Street Meeting House (Philadelphia), Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh), and the Heritage Discovery Center (Johnstown). I also have to send a similarly HUGE Shout Out to all of the local partners who helped staff the Open House – advertising, bringing cookies, taking lots of notes, setting up, and so much more. We couldn’t have done it without you!
The statewide Open Houses were a success with the help of these local partners.
Middletown has been busy!
There is a lot of great community and preservation work happening in Middletown Borough, Dauphin County these days. Within the National Register-eligible Middletown Historic District (Key #089500), they have started a streetscape project, renovations to the historic Elks Theater, and some grant funding in on the way for some downtown façade improvements, too! The streetscape project, being tackled in phases, started with replacing aging water and sewer mains and has moved to installing enhancements like new curbs, trees, streetlights, and more. While they might not fit within your typical idea of a preservation project, these efforts all contribute to making Middletown an attractive and inviting community.
Middletown, Dauphin County
Recognizing great preservation people, projects, and places…
I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards in York last month and I was inspired by the amazing work being recognized by Preservation Pennsylvania at this annual event. Andrea MacDonald told you a bit about the Otto Haas and PA SHPO Community Initiative Awards in this post from a few weeks ago, and I wanted to make sure we got a Shout Out to all of the other award winners. I highly recommend checking them out!
Preservation PA’s 2016 Historic Preservation Awards newsletter. Check it out to read more on these award winners!
- Henry A. Jordan Award for outstanding historic preservation efforts at the local level: City of Lancaster
- Chairman’s Award for demonstrated leadership in historic preservation: Brandywine Battlefield Task Force
- Ralph Modjeski Award for excellence in transportation, design, preservation, or archaeology: Quaker Bridge (Mercer County) and honoring Nathan Clark from the Historic Quaker Bridge Foundation and Brian Yedinak, PennDOT District 1
- Sustainability in Historic Preservation Award: Rupert Elementary School (Pottstown, Montgomery County) and honoring the Pottstown School District and Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, Architects
- Preservation Planning Award: York County Heritage Plan and honoring the York County Commissioners and York County Planning Commission
- Grassroots Advocacy Award: Carol Bear Heckman and Darrin Heckman (Bath, Northampton County)
- Communication Award: Preservation Erie (Erie County) and honoring Preservation Erie and Wise Preservation Planning
- Community Involvement Award: Friends Housing Cooperative (Philadelphia) and honoring the Cooperative and Past Forward Architecture
- Education Award: Zimmerman Center for Heritage (York County) and honoring the Susquehanna Greenway Heritage Area, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, Yost Strodski Mears/YSM Landscape Architects
- 2 Stewardship Awards: John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion (Harrisburg, Dauphin County) honoring the Historical Society of Dauphin County and Bryn Mawr Film Institute honoring the Institute, Voith & Mactavish Architects, and AthenianRazak LLC.
Peter Benton and the team from the John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion.
In addition to all those well-deserved awards, there were quite a few in the category of Construction Project Awards:
- John H. Briggs House (Harrisburg, Dauphin County) honoring Harrisburg Building & Grounds Co., KD3 Design Studio, Inc., and Vartan Group, Inc.
- Susquehanna Art Museum (Harrisburg, Dauphin County) honoring the Museum and EwingCole
- Beth Sholom Synagogue (Elkins Park, Montgomery County) honoring the Beth Sholom Congregation, John Milner Architects, Inc., and Hanson General Contracting, Inc.
- Forum Auditorium (Harrisburg, Dauphin County) honoring the PA Department of General Services, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, and New York Fine Arts Conservation, Inc.
- Southern, Southwest, Northeast, and Northwest Middle Schools (Reading, Berks County) honoring the Reading School District, Kautter & Kelley Architects, and Barton Associates
- South Conservatory, Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens (Pittsburgh, Allegheny County) honoring the Gardens and Greenhouse Renovation Services Incorporated.
That’s it for this month, folks. Come back next month for more preservation good news! I’m always looking for great Shout Outs, so send me any and all ideas. Thanks!
