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2013 Preservation Celebration

Join Historic York, Inc. as we celebrate preservation at our annual Preservation Celebration! This year’s event will be held at the historic Central Market House, which was built in 1888 and designed by noted York architect J.A. Dempwolf. Scott Butcher, former Historic York president and author of several books including York’s Historic Architecture and the new release Historic Architecture of Pennsylvania, will be our guest speaker. His presentation is entitled This Place Mattered: A Voice for the Fallen. Historic York’s annual Preservation Awards will also be given out during the event.

Friday, May 3, 2013 (First Friday)
5 – 7 pm
Historic Central Market
34 West Philadelphia Street
York, PA
(free meter parking after 5 pm)

Please RSVP to Alycia Reiten at 717-843-0320 or areiten@historicyork.org.

CELEBRATING 38 YEARS OF PRESERVING YORK’S TREASURES!

HISTORIC TAX CREDIT CALL TO ACTION

The National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) and their preservation partners have drafted an organizational sign-on letter showing support for the Historic Tax Credit (HTC). Please contact them by April 12 if your organization is willing to co-sign this letter in a show of support for the HTC.

Background

To prepare for possible tax reform, the House Ways and Committee has divided into 11 working groups that will review and make recommendations on various sections of the tax code. We’ve been told that the HTC falls under two groups – 1) Real Estate and 2) Debt, Equity & Capitol. The organizational sign-on letter will be sent to both working groups (the second letter will be the same except addressed to the working group led by Reps. Merchant (R-TX) and McDermott (D-WA).

Action

Please sign-on and share the letter with any/all of your partners interested in preservation – e.g., statewide and local partners, local governments, private companies, developers, investors, etc. We need to show as broad a support base as possible!

In order to sign on, you may contact any of the following:

John LaRue at Preservation Action
JLaRue@preservationaction.org

Jen Tolentino Guayante at the National Trust
jGuayante@savingplaces.org

Elizabeth Hebron at NCSHPO
hebron@ncshpo.org

Click here to view the organization sign-on letter.

Preservation of Historic Homes in York — Who Cares?

Mike Johnson, past president of Historic York, Inc., authored a piece for the York Daily Record / Sunday News:

Whether you’re a native Yorker or new to the area, you’d probably agree that York has lots of old buildings – including downtown bars and restaurants, office and apartment buildings and homes. But so what? We generally measure economic progress by the number of new homes built, new office buildings, new shopping centers … “new” equals “good.”

So, why care about old – or historic – homes? Let me tell you why I care and see if you agree.

Since 2005, I’ve worked with a couple of partners to restore three large historic homes and have just started on a fourth (see http://www.900southgeorge.com for one of the completed restoration projects). All were built in the late 1800′s – one for the founder of the Peterman Shoe Company (now the Maewyn’s Pub on North George); one for York’s most famous architect (John Dempwolf) and one for the man whose son became president of York Bank & Trust (now M&T).

All three homes had fallen on hard times before restoration – a vacant dentist’s office, a condemned rest home and a dilapidated college student party house. After lots of sanding, scraping, caulking, repairing and painting – all three are once again well-maintained family residences and have helped to stabilize their historic neighborhoods.

A lot of people have asked me why I get involved in these projects. It’s not because I love sanding walls, filling holes in rotted wood or peeling hideous wallpaper. So why do I do it? To me, new isn’t always best. While I applaud, believe in and support the growth and new development in downtown York, I believe that both the old and the new are critical parts of what can make York special.

So, why do I think that old can also equal good?

Click to keep reading.

Ten Endangered Commonwealth Historic Resources Named to the

2011 Pennsylvania At Risk List

Preservation Pennsylvania released its annual Pennsylvania At Risk list. A full press release and a copy of the Pennsylvania At Risk publication are attached.

Mindy Gulden Crawford, Executive Director of Preservation Pennsylvania, announced the 10 endangered resources on this year’s list at a gathering in the lobby of the Hanover Theater (Hanover, York County) one of the 2011 At Risk-listed sites.

“We know from experience that properties listed on At Risk do get saved,” said Crawford, “not all of course, but many. The more visibility this story has, the better chance we have of finding the right combination of folks to make it work.”

2011 At Risk List

Preservation Pennsylvania – Newsletter

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- THIS PLACE MATTERS -

TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

241 E. King Street, York City

Built in 1896, the church was designed by Harry E. Yessler

This architecturally significant icon is being threatened by a deteriorated roof structure but otherwise is structurally sound. This beautiful building has been a long standing icon in the community. Please join Historic York by voicing your opinion about the importance of this iconic architectural gem because