The PAPA held its annual Spring Workshop Meeting on March 6th at the offices of the Piedmont Environmental Council. Brian Broadus, an associate with a Charlottesville architecture firm, explained how to register for the joint PAPA blog. David Neuman, PAPA representative from the University of Virginia and the Architect for the University, offered to host the Fall 2008 PAPA meeting at a University venue that he will determine. The tentative meeting date would be Thursday evening, September 18th. Following the PAPA Steering Committee’s recommendation, the University’s organization of the Fall meeting will seconded by another PAPA member, which will in turn organize the following PAPA gathering. The backup for the Fall meeting will be Preservation Piedmont, which will also act as the 501(c)(3) organization with which PAPA organizational dues will be deposited, but sequestered from Preservation Piedmont’s own monies. Preservation Piedmont will organize the March 2009 Spring Workshop Meeting.
The annual dues for each dues-collecting member of the Piedmont Area Preservation Alliance would be $200.00, payable to Preservation Piedmont, and used for the annual gatherings and other Alliance expenses.
The PAPA decided that it would hold a press conference and issue a press release announcing the formation of the organization in May 2008.
The PAPA discussed sponsoring a publicly-directed event during Preservation Month in May 2009, in cooperation with the University of Virginia.
Each delegate to the workshop suggested a topic on which the Alliance might concentrate its attention:
- Hold an energy-conservation workshop directed at historic homes
- Hold a class for homeowners who wanted to research the deed for an historic property
- Give tours of grand homes and African American churches along the Journey Through Hallowed Ground route
- Hold a class that gives an expert’s introduction to the Virginia and Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit Programs
- Provide hands-on assistance to help maintain rural African-American churches and Rosenwald Schools
- Sponsor building restoration trades workshops
- An Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society exhibit on successful historic preservation and restoration projects
- Print a poster designed for the signature event to help connect public to specific organizations
- Realtor and Real Estate Agent training sessions about register-eligible properties and archaeological digs
- Since buildings with recorded Virginia historic preservation easements are required to be open to the public one day each year, coordinate an open house of such properties, perhaps using a “living history” technique of docents dressed as historical occupants
- Ideas from bottom up – involve neighborhoods in City’s historic preservation deas – they could request info or markers for their neighborhoods
- Hold a “grand homes tour” as a fundraiser. Use the funds for a workshop for the preservation and restoration of rural African-American churches or Rosenwald Schools
- Tour local historic preservation landmarks, including limited-resource preservation success stories such as the Nimmo House
- Sponsor lectures by international preservation specialists, coordinated with the lecture series for the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture
- Lead an “anti-tour of Vinegar Hill” that describes the buildings and community that was lost to “urban renewal” there
- Showcase ways that historic buildings have been incorporated into new developments. Show how the old meets the new and that historic preservation is complementary to modern and “sustainable” design.
- Demonstrate the value of Virginia’s Historic Marker program in calling attention to historic resources and increasing neighborhood pride
- Tour lesser-known African-American buildings, and Odd Fellows Hall, Westhaven, and Vinegar Hill, etc.
- Spotlight demolitions in Fifeville
The Steering Committee will continue to meet monthly. Anyone may join that wish to begin planning for the Preservation Week 2009 event should meet at 8:00am April 18th at the Blue Moon Diner.
