Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is pleased to welcome Lynn Stasick of Morgantown as the organization’s first full-time field representative.

Beginning Aug. 31, Stasick will work to deliver services supporting preservation and rehabilitation of historic properties on PAWV’s Endangered Properties List. Services will include on-site assistance such as help with needs assessment, redevelopment and sustainability plans as well as identifying funding sources and assisting with grant-writing for preservation projects. 

PAWV Executive Director Karen Carper said this is a very positive step for the organization and the state. “Preservation Alliance is so excited to bring someone with Lynn’s qualifications to help meet preservation needs in our communities,” she said. “This is a first for PAWV and West Virginia.”

A native of Bergen County, New Jersey, Stasick has lived in West Virginia since 1973. He operated a contracting business out of Morgantown for nearly twenty years before enrolling as a freshman at West Virginia University in the fall of 1998. Among other work, his business was involved in restoration, stabilization, and maintenance projects at historic properties as well as retrofitting buildings for handicapped accessibility post 1991.

Chosen as a West Virginia University Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Scholar in 2001, Stasick completed a master’s degree in public history and received a state certificate in cultural resource management in 2006. Both programs required considerable field work. Hired by the McNair Scholars Program later that year as a Ph.D. graduate assistant, Stasick has successfully completed the necessary doctoral course work in Appalachian studies at WVU and has begun reading for the comprehensive examinations.

Stasick’s position with PAWV is funded in part by a $75,000 National Trust for Historic Preservation Partners in the Field challenge grant. The NTHP funds will be matched dollar-for-dollar by PAWV donors who have pledged their support to the field services program. Preservation Alliance hopes to continue the program beyond the three-year grant period.

PAWV’s 2009 Endangered Properties include Hinton’s McCreery Hotel, the Capitol Theatre of Wheeling, First Ward School of Elkins, Wyco Church near Mullens, the Tyler County Home in Sistersville, Mannington’s Bowers House, the Glenville Bridge and the Waldo Hotel of Clarksburg.  Nominations to the 2010 Endangered Properties List will be accepted in November.

For more information, visit the Endangered List page on this site.