Read about the newest initiative to balance hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) and cultural resource management. The Gas and Preservation Partnership (GAPP) formed last year and is an innovative not-for-profit organization whose mission is to work collaboratively and pragmatically with both the energy industry and the preservation community to identify and properly manage historic and cultural resources while encouraging efficient exploration and development of energy reserves.
The Converging Roads to Energy Independence and Heritage Preservation – The Blog for Preservation Leadership Forum. PAWV is heading to Pittsburgh next month to take part in a first-ever summit about promoting this balance. We’ll be reporting on the event and what we learned. We encourage others to attend too! Historic Beverly Preservation, Inc. and Beverly ON TRAC are seeking an AmeriCorps VISTA member to focus on Beverly revitalization development, organizational capacity building and fundraising. VISTA will report to the Beverly Heritage Center director, and will work closely with AmeriCorps member who provides direct service at the site, as well as with board and volunteers.
VISTA oversight is provided through the Pocahontas Communications Cooperative VISTA program. Applicant should be self-directed and have degree or background in public history, public administration, marketing, or related field. For more information about VISTA http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/choose/vista.asp For information about Beverly Heritage Center and Historic Beverly, http://www.beverlyheritagecenter.org Beverly is located in Randolph County, 6 miles south of Elkins, West Virginia. Start date will be in May 2014 for a one year term, renewable for one additional term. For the right person, multiple terms as VISTA could possibly transition to a staff position, if development efforts are successful. Responsibilities will include:
To Apply: Application will consist of resume and cover letter expressing why you think you are right for this position. You will also submit an AmeriCorps VISTA application to Pocahontas Communications Cooperative. Applications will be reviewed as received and will be accepted until position is filled. Materials can be delivered in any one of these ways:
The Craik-Patton House Museum (craik-patton.org) is seeking an individual with exceptional development and fund raising skills for the position of Executive Director. Major responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:
This is the only paid position at this time. Qualifications:
Please mail resumes to Jeanne Grubb, 2809 Kanawha Blvd., E., Charleston, WV 25311 or email to [email protected]. The 2014 West Virginia University Historic Preservation Field School will be held at Coopers Rock State Forest (CRSF) this May. Field School participants will examine three scales of development within CRSF: the Landscape, Structure, and Detail. Landscape analysis will reveal cultural traces of past land uses and bring to the surface former patterns and elements. Structure analysis will include issues in preserving significant threatened pavilions within the park. Construction Detail analysis will reveal the qualities of construction that physically represent an important era in American history. The program is suitable for upper level undergraduate and graduate students; as well as practitioners and other interested parties.
Contact Dr. Kathryn Burton, Division of Design & Merchandising for more information: 704 – P Allen Hall; phone: (304) 293-0814 email: [email protected] By Danielle, Executive Director Six historic structures, including an above-ground pool and one of West Virginia’s oldest mills, were announced as the 2014 West Virginia Endangered Properties List during a press conference at the State Capitol on February 12, 2014. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the revival of Preservation Alliance of West Virginia’s (PAWV) Endangered List, which is a collection of historic resources at risk of being lost from neglect, demolition, and other factors. All of the sites added to this year’s list represent a shared heritage. They are special places that helped to define us as children and unique shops that were staples of the community for years, but as times have changed, they have fallen into disrepair. However, 2014 is a turn-around year for these endangered sites, and with PAWV’s support, their owners have plans to update them while preserving our heritage. Two old schools in Fayetteville and Glen Jean, a Weirton pool, two unique commercial buildings in Belington and Wheeling, and Jefferson County’s oldest intact grist mill comprise this year’s list.
PAWV is the statewide, grassroots organization promoting historic preservation and our state’s cultural heritage. Each year, PAWV releases an Endangered List to highlight the plight of at-risk properties that contribute to the understanding of our heritage. PAWV’s field services representative, Lynn Stasick, works directly with local residents rallying to save and re-use endangered properties. Lynn provides preservation assistance, such as preservation expertise, capacity building, and advocacy. For the first time, PAWV has increased this initiative by instituting the new Five Year Plan of Rescue for endangered property stewards. Its goals are to evaluate the project’s present position, formulate a plan of action, and work to see the dream through to its end, in addition to minimizing the inevitable problems that arise in endangered property projects. “We are offering added support by giving the property stewards a plan to follow that has been proven to work for other endangered sites over the last five years. Although some projects take longer than others, this is a tried and true method that is effective,” explains Danielle LaPresta, Executive Director for PAWV. Properties are selected for the West Virginia Endangered Properties List after a competitive nomination process on the basis of preservation emergency, eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, and local support for a re-use project. To follow the fate of Endangered Properties, look for updates in the Saving Sites section on the PAWV website at www.pawv.org. More information about listed sites and nomination forms for next year’s Endangered Properties List are available at here.
By Tricia When President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, he asked the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Bearing this in mind, PAWV chose this edition of Excuse for an Excursion to bring African-American Heritage in West Virginia to the forefront. The African-American community has had a presence in West Virginia as early as the eighteenth century. In the twenty-first century, the West Virginia Department of Commerce created the African-American Heritage Trail, demonstrating how a once enslaved population could contribute to a state created during the Civil War. This trail features thirty-one sites spread over West Virginia, but concentrated along the I-64 and I-77 corridors, and around the tip of the Eastern Panhandle. Some of these sites include John Brown’s Fort in Harpers Ferry, Booker T. Washington’s boyhood home in Malden, and the African-American Heritage Family Tree Museum in Ansted. Also, in Hinton, the statue of John Henry, the legendary railroad worker, stands tall near Big Bend Tunnel. For more information on West Virginia’s African-American Heritage Trail please click here. More than just John Henry’s ties to the railroad, West Virginia was home to a line of another kind, the Underground Railroad. Several routes ran through the state including some along the National Road, the Northwestern Turnpike, the Parkersburg Staunton Turnpike, and many of the rivers. One such site believed to be part of the Underground Railroad is in Doddridge County. Luke Jaco used a cave near his Inn to help transport slaves along the Northwestern Turnpike from Winchester, Virginia to Parkersburg and the Ohio River. There are names and dates in the Jaco Cave carved by the people who took shelter there. For more information on the Underground Railroad trail through Doddridge County, contact [email protected]. Noticing the mark the African-American community left on West Virginia, it makes it harder to ignore the history that has been lost forever, like the Colored Children’s Home that once stood outside Huntington. This building was on PAWV’s 2011 Endangered Properties list; it was demolished later that same year. By cherishing the history that remains, we can preserve and protect it for the future. So embrace the African-American heritage of West Virginia and let that be your excuse for an excursion – not just during Black History Month, but any month.
It must be that time of year because there have been a lot of Proposal requests. This one comes from the Greenbrier Historical Society.
The Greenbrier Historical Society (GHS), located in Lewisburg, West Virginia, is seeking speakers in May and June 2014 as part of our Vietnam Graffiti Project. The project is a collaborative effort with Carnegie Hall, Inc. (www.carnegiehallwv.org) and LZ Rainelle: The West Virginia Veteran’s Reunion (www.lzrainelle.com) to host a series of special events and programs surrounding a traveling exhibit called Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam. The exhibit has never before been displayed in West Virginia and contains original graffiti-covered canvas bed-racks as well as additional artifacts left behind on the General Nelson M. Walker troopship by soldiers during the Vietnam War. For more information on the exhibit, please feel free to look at the website: http://www.vietnamgraffiti.com/ To complement the Marking Time exhibit, the Greenbrier Historical Society will host a small exhibit discussing the Vietnam War and its impact in West Virginia. GHS would also like to host three to four lectures throughout May and June 2014 that touch on a number of different Vietnam Era topics – from the war itself to counterculture movements such as the “Back to the Land” movement. The Greenbrier Historical Society is inviting historians, veterans, and students to submit proposals for presentations by March 1, 2014. Presentations should be between 40 and 90 minutes long and may include more than one speaker. Topics can be wide-ranging as long as they speak to the Vietnam Era (preference will be given to those with West Virginia connections). Proposals need to be no more than a page and should include your name, contact information, and brief description of the presentation. If you have any questions or to submit a proposal, please contact Elizabeth McMullen at 304.645.3398 or [email protected]. Note: Presentation dates are flexible and some travel assistance and/or honorarium may be available for presenters. By Danielle, Executive Director
Abandoned and dilapidated properties are a problem for almost every community in West Virginia. Statistics compiled by the Coalfield Development Corporation last year reveal there are over 500 derelict buildings in McDowell County, 180 discarded residences in Beckley, and in the last ten years, over 400 neglected structures have been demolished in Clarksburg alone. These numbers are astonishing! Most communities realize the abandoned and dilapidated properties cause a slippery slope to reduced property values and tax base, increased crime and drug activity, significant environmental, health, and safety hazards, and more. Towns and cities all over West Virginia are feeling the effects of a dwindling population and do not know how to handle it. Last year, a group of nonprofit organizations – WV Community Development Hub, WV Brownfields Assistance Center, Coalfield Development Corporation, the Municipal League, and multiple individual communities – joined together as partners to form the Abandoned Properties Coalition (APC). The APC’s goal is to address this pervasive problem plaguing much of West Virginia on a statewide basis rather than on a case-by-case one. The APC is working with state legislators to pass specific legislation to address this problem and working together to remove arbitrary hurdles that make counteracting the epidemic abandoned properties more difficult. The goals of this initiative are to pull together stakeholders wanting to offset the negative effects of abandoned properties and be a unified voice (support organizations plus local municipalities) offering solutions that will have on-the-ground impacts in these communities. This can be achieved by dispersing information and educating communities with abandoned properties, and collaborating with legislators focused on improving policy. These partners realize that communities and legislators need many tools to effectively manage the situation. These tools should not be limited to demolition, the go-to for many town leaders, but also preservation, deconstruction, and adaptive re-use. PAWV joined the APC to bring our expertise in preservation and adaptive re-use of discarded historic properties. This partnership can build upon PAWV’s own statewide initiative, the West Virginia Endangered Properties Program, which works with communities to build support for and brings new life to neglected historic properties. Moreover, PAWV plans to advocate against any impending demolitions of National Register properties by reaching out to the WV State Historic Preservation Office, Certified Local Governments, and Landmarks Commissions. It is our belief that the preservation and re-use of our historic built environment are essential tools to prevent the perpetuating problems initiated by decaying structures and derelict properties. Preservation can reinvigorate a sense of community, and it is proven to increase property values and the tax base. As your statewide advocate for historic preservation, PAWV, in partnership with the APC, promises to continue our efforts to preserve and protect West Virginia’s heritage. Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is currently accepting proposals for its statewide historic preservation conference scheduled for 25-27 September 2014 in Huntington, WV. This year’s conference theme is “From the Ground Up: Archaeology, Brownfield Re-use, & Historic Preservation”. Conference proposals should relate to the theme of archaeology with an additional focus on how archaeology has been used in brownfield re-use and historic preservation projects. Proposals will also be accepted for conference tracks: preservation policy, heritage development, and preservation skills.
In order to have a successful conference we would like to ask those in the preservation field and the general public to propose speakers, facilitators, educators, and more for this year’s event. The conference tracks include: Preservation planning and policy; heritage development and tourism; and Preservation trade skills and methodology. We are looking for knowledgeable professionals willing to lead one or more of the following:
For more information on each of these positions, necessary qualifications, and applications, please see the guidelines below. PAWV will begin reviewing applications on 28 March 2014 and will continue to accept application until all conference programming has been selected. Submit proposals, preferably via email, to info@pawv.org and/or 3 hard copies to: PAWV Darden House 421 Davis Avenue Office #3 Elkins, WV 26241 For more information, please contact PAWV at info@pawv.org or 304-345-6005. This RFP does not indicate any promise to follow through and implement any proposals. We reserve the right to select different trainers for different workshops. PAWV staff will organize and direct the workshops and will have final approval of content. Volunteer presenters are encouraged. Honorarium may be available for some presentations and will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Conference fees at a discounted volunteer rate apply to speakers and trainers wishing to participate in special activities, including the historic preservation awards banquet and luncheon. Proposal Application Requirements: Preservation professionals interested in providing preservation training for any of the above formats — speakers, workshops, educational sessions, roundtables, panel discussions, and/or educational tours should submit a proposal including:
Positions Available:
Three Conference Tracks: Conference attendees can choose to attend workshops and educational sessions related to three conference tracks, which focus on specific themes common in historic preservation projects and development. By featuring three different tracks, conference attendees can choose the topic that best reflects their interests and gain the most from their experience. Attendees will have the choice of Thursday workshops/tours reflective of track themes, as well as Friday and Saturday concurrent educational sessions. Proposals should be related to one of the following tracks.
The West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Centers are currently seeking presentation proposals to fill limited slots for the 2014 WV Brownfields Conference in Huntington, WV on September 11-12.
Example presentation topics include:
The WV Brownfields Conference anticipates presentation formats to include expert panels, interactive workshops, and technical training. To submit your presentation proposal, download this proposal form, enter your information, save it, and email to [email protected] by March 3, 2014. Scanned copies are also acceptable. |
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