The West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Centers will hold the 2013 State Brownfields Conference on September 12-13 at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown, WV.

The West Virginia Brownfields Conference is an annual statewide event that combines exceptional educational programs with outstanding networking opportunities between communities, development professionals, and service providers. The 2013 event will include sessions covering all aspects of redevelopment, interactive workshops on project funding, specialty training on remediation, a project showcase banquet, and much more!

Economic Development professionals can receive 10 LED Continuing Education Credits for attending. Find more information at the WV EDC website.

Visit the 2013 WV Brownfields Conference page for more information and to register.

The West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, in conjunction with the National Park Service, Department 0f the Interior, is sponsoring a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Training Workshop for local preservation commissioners and staff, architects, engineers, consultants, real estate professionals and other individuals interested in preservation.

LEED is an internationally recognized program that promotes a Whole-building approach to sustainability in architecture by recognizing performance selection and indoor environmental quality.  The LEED rating system was developed in 2000 t0 provide means of certifying the “greenness” 0f certain projects, but has not always worked cooperatively with projects trying to meet the Secretary of the Interior ’s Standards for the Treatment  Properties.

The two-day training Workshop will educate those who would like to learn more about the program’s interconnection with historic preservation and the Standards. The workshop will focus on general sustainability in the context of preservation, and will also include training and preparation for anyone wishing to take the LEED Green Associate exam.

The workshop will be held Sept. 9-10, from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm at the Culture Center in Charleston.  It is FREE for members of Certified Local Governments and $100 per person for others.  Registration is due by Monday, August 26th.  To register and for more information, contact Pam Brooks at pam.a.brooks@wv.gov or by calling 304-558-0240.

The Coal Heritage Highway Authority and National Coal Heritage Area Authority work to preserve, promote and interpret the rich coal heritage of southern West Virginia.  Throughout the region, there are many individuals, communities and organizations that perform that work on their own, or in partnership with the two Coal Heritage Authorities. To honor the work of these people, the Coal Heritage Highway Authority and National Coal Heritage Area have implemented an award program to acknowledge the work that is being done to preserve coal history.  Once again the agency will recognize these outstanding achievements and is now accepting nominations for award winners is six different categories.  Projects must have taken place within the National Coal Heritage Area which included the counties of Mercer, McDowell, Raleigh, Summers, Wyoming, Fayette, Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wayne, Lincoln, Cabell and the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek watersheds in Kanawha County or provided a benefit to these counties.

The Nick Joe Rahall Award for Outstanding Achievement in Coal Heritage Preservation:  Presented to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of hard work of the men and women of past coal communities. This award is given to acknowledge years of service and dedication the individual has made to coal heritage projects that have had significant impact in the National Coal Heritage Area.

The Coal Heritage Award for Excellence in the Arts:  Presented to an individual, community or organization who has captured the history of coal in artistic endeavors within the National Coal Heritage Area.  This award acknowledges the creative efforts that bring coal history to life through the arts. This includes, but is not limited to, dramatic performances, music composition or recordings or the visual arts.

The Coal Heritage Marketing Award:  Presented to an individual, organization or community that has created an outstanding marketing program promoting an attraction, community or event within the National Coal Heritage Area.  This included, but is not limited to, brochures, print ads, web site design, television or radio ads or earned media pieces.

The Coal Heritage Interpretation Award:  Presented to an individual, organization or community that has achieved excellence in interpreting coal heritage within the National Coal Heritage Area.   This includes, but is not limited to, exhibits, walking tours, interpretative brochures, audio guides, travel guides, docent interpretation or guided tours.

The Coal Heritage Preservation Award:  Presented to an individual, organization or community for an exceptional project that preserves artifacts or structures relating to coal heritage within the National Coal Heritage Area.  This includes, but is not limited to, historic building renovation or restoration, adaptive re-use of historic buildings, designation of historic districts, artifact restoration or display, or oral history collections. 

The Coal Heritage Research and Documentation Award:  Presented to an individual, organization or community for an outstanding research project that includes areas within the National Coal Heritage Area as part of the focus area.  This includes but is not limited to articles, books, oral history projects, websites, or photography collections.

In 2013, the awards will be presented at the 2013 Miner’s Celebration Conference at a special reception to be held on October 3, 2013 at the Tamarack Conference Center. Nominations will be accepted for any worthy individual, organization, group or community. Nominations must be received by August 2, 2013 An entry form to submit a nomination for one of the above categories is available by calling the office of the Coal Heritage Highway Authority at 304-465-3720 or by emailing Linda Hawkins at lhawkins@coalheritage.org;  or can be found here
http://coalheritage.org/DocumentsCenter/Awards%20nominating%20materials%202013.pdf

​Nothing demonstrates the Power of Preservation like before and after photos.

What were once most likely considered “eyesores” in the community have been transformed into a flourishing heritage tourism destination.

These photos of Arthurdale are definitely worth a view.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99906870@N06/sets/72157634948746544/

To learn more about Arthurdale, the nation’s first New Deal homestead community, visit
http://www.arthurdaleheritage.org/.

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces that the West Virginia Botanic Garden, Inc., is the recipient of an Award of Merit from the AASLH Leadership in History Awards for “No More Wiggle-Tail Water:” Interpreting the History of Morgantown’s Water Supply.”  The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 68th year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.

The award recognizes the eight interpretive signs that were erected in the Spring of 2012 and related programming to tell the story of Morgantown’s early water supply, especially focused on the resources at the West Virginia Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden located at 1061 Tyrone Road in Morgantown includes the now-drained reservoir that supplied water to Morgantown from 1912 to 1969 as well as the land protecting the reservoir basin.  The West Virginia Humanities Council funded the design and construction of the signs. The extant features related to the reservoir include the main earthen dam and embankment, spillway, outlet tower, diversion dam and accompanying pipe to the reservoir basin, wooden pilings for the treatment pond, and foundations of the chemical feed house and reservoir manager’s house. Barb Howe, the WVBG board member who directed the project, said, “We designed the signs to help visitors understand how the extant features related to the natural environment as shaped by successive water companies; by ‘benign neglect’ after 1969; and, since 2000, by the West Virginia Botanic Garden, Inc.” The signs were developed by Erin Smaldone, education director at the WVBG with assistance from Dave Smaldone, associate professor of recreation, parks and tourism at WVU using the research compiled by Howe and historian Michael Caplinger.  The award nomination also included an article by Howe and Caplinger entitled “’No More Wiggle-Tail Water’” in the Papers and Proceedings of the Monongalia Historical Society (December 2010); an article on the project in History News: The Magazine of the American Association for State and Local History (Autumn 2012); and a forthcoming article on the Botanic Garden in Wonderful West Virginia (August 2013). The West Virginia Botanic Garden also now has an entry in e-WV, the on-line encyclopedia of the West Virginia Humanities Council. The West Virginia Botanic Garden, Inc., is a 501 ( c ) (3) organization that manages the Botanic Garden under a lease from the City of Morgantown, which owns the property, and the Morgantown Utility Board. The Botanic Garden is open daily from dawn to dusk free of charge. More information is available at www.wvbg.org.

This year, AASLH is proud to confer eighty-eight national awards honoring people, projects, exhibits, books, and organizations. The winners represent the best in the field and provide leadership for the future of state and local history. Presentation of the awards will be made at a special banquet during the 2013 AASLH Annual Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday, September 20. The banquet is supported by a generous contribution from the History Channel.

The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States.  The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievement in the field of state and local history, but also brings public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions, and programs to make contributions in this arena.  For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at 615-320-3203, or go to http://www.aaslh.org.

The American Association for State and Local History is a not-for-profit professional organization of individuals and institutions working to preserve and promote history.  From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides leadership, service, and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful in American society.  AASLH publishes books, technical publications, a quarterly magazine, and monthly newsletter.  The association also sponsors regional and national training workshops and an annual meeting.