The workshop “Charetting the Jenkins House” at the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia 2014 Conference, was a natural workshop to attend. The Jenkins House (Green Bottom) is an 1825 plantation house on the Ohio River. The home, currently owned and mothballed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been meticulously restored to its appearance in 1825. The Jenkins House operated as a house museum for a time. During this period the house would host Civil War encampments and special holiday events. The Jenkins House currently awaits a new use.

The charette was a refreshing change in house museum narratives. Local historical societies typically receive the unfair stereotype of being inflexible in their beliefs. The stakeholders of the Jenkins House were interested in restoring the old museum events but also interested in expanding the scope of activities at the site. The site has an excellent view of natural wetlands and ample space for people. The natural beauty lends itself to its use as an event space. Other options discussed include a community garden, a historic gardening site, or community space for local events. As a government property, the Corps of Engineers is responsible for upkeep and bills for the Jenkins House. The Jenkins House is in an advantageous position to experiment with new uses. This gives the property an advantage, allowing the stakeholders to put more resources into developing alternative uses for the property.

Charettes are just one example of how historic preservationists can interact with the local community to preserve local heritage. The PAWV Conference allowed me to get hands on experience on the benefits and uses of charettes. Classroom experience can never equal field experience.

Ritter Park Walking Tour
Thursday, September 25
11:30 am – 2:30 pm

This year’s PAWV conference will feature a walking house and park tour. Huntington is known for having a great sampling of historic houses including Craftsman Bungalow, Early Classic Revival, Italian Renaissance, and many more. The tour will take the group around the neighborhood surrounding the famous Ritter Park, explaining the background on select houses that exhibit unique architectural features.

Ritter Park is a fine example of the City Beautiful Movement in West Virginia.  “The City Beautiful advocates sought to improve their city through beautification, which would have a number of effects: 1) social ills would be swept away, as the beauty of the city would inspire civic loyalty and moral rectitude in the impoverished; 2) American cities would be brought to cultural parity with their European competitors through the use of the European Beaux-Arts idiom; and 3) a more inviting city center still would not bring the upper classes back to live, but certainly to work and spend money in the urban areas. The premise of the movement was the idea that beauty could be an effective social control device”. (Citation HERE)

Enjoy the view of homes and the award-winning Ritter Park – which were influenced by this nation-wide movement.  Other examples of City Beautiful neighborhoods include Schenley Farms district of Oakland in Pittsburgh and Coral Gables in Florida.

The walking tour will include stops on Eighth Street and Thirteenth Avenue. Enjoy the view of Marshall University’s President’s House and the Wright House. There will also be a tour of Switzer Wallace Plaza and the award-winning Rose Garden in Ritter Park.

After the walking tour, participants are invited to join PAWV at a private residence near the park.  It is not within walking distance so we will need to drive there.

Total walking distance will be about 1.5 miles total. Wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella.  “A Room with a View” in Ritter Park is the location for tour registration and the end point of the tour. Refreshments will also be available. Parking available in Amphitheatre Parking Lot. Address for A Room with a View is 1310 8th Avenue, Huntington.

The 2014 PAWV statewide conference will be held in Huntington, WV from September 25 – 27, 2014.  You can register for the conference and learn more about it by visiting our EventBrite page.
​
The conference has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior and the WV Division of Culture & History, State Historic Preservation Office.

Regulations of the U.S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination in departmental Federally Assisted Programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by a recipient of Federal assistance should write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240

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:

• Plenary speaker
• Panel presentations
• Half- and full-day workshops
• Educational walking or driving tours
• Short educational sessions
• Student poster sessions
• Round-table discussions 

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:

• Qualifications, credentials, and experience:
• Skill(s) that you are qualified to teach
• Teaching or training experience
• A short one-paragraph bio suitable for use in conference handouts
• Organizational affiliation, if any
• Description of proposed presentation, no more than one page
• Short abstract, no more than 150 words, for use in conference handouts
• Tools or equipment, if applicable, you can provide for the class and student use
• Materials and site requirements you would expect to be provided
• Availability 

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 ate apply to speakers and trainers wishing to participate in special activities, including the historic preservation awards banquet and luncheon. 

Positions Available: 

• Plenary speakers
  We are seeking three plenary speakers for a 15-30 minute speech on local history for an opening plenary session on Friday, 26 September; a 30-45 minute keynote speech about the conference theme for the awards banquet on Friday, 26 September; and a 30-45 minute speech about the conference theme on Saturday afternoon, 27 September.
• Workshop leader
  ​Trades workshops are best held at a historic property, with hands-on work performed on the property as part of the workshop.  Some workshops include a classroom component or may be intensive training on a focused topic. Occasionally other formats, such as a longer training period, or combining multiple skills in one workshop, may be offered. These workshops can be either a half or a full day. Trainers should have extensive experience in the specific skill, thorough familiarity with historic preservation issues regarding that skill, and experience in teaching the skill. Trainers are encouraged to bring additional hand tools for students’ use for hands-on practice.
• Educational speakers
  Educational speakers will lead a 75-minute session. Each session will most likely be held at an educational breakout room assigned at a specific site.  Conference participants will have the option of attending various sessions throughout the three-day period.  Speakers should have extensive experience in the specific topic, thorough familiarity with historic preservation issues regarding that skill, and/or experience in teaching the skill.
• Round-table leaders
  The round-table discussions will be 75-minutes long and will be located at a specific educational breakout room.  Leaders of round-table discussions must have widespread knowledge and experience working with a specific topic.  Leaders will be available to discuss and answer questions asked by conference participants regarding the discussion topic, and to encourage constructive input and sharing of experiences from the participants.
• Panel presenters and moderators
  Leaders/moderators of panel presentations will assemble 2 or 3 panel presenters to each give a short presentation related to the same theme, followed by discussion led by the moderator. Names and qualifications of each panel participant should be included in the proposal. Panel sessions last 75-minutes and will be held at a specific educational breakout room. 
• Tour guides
  Walking tours generally run from 1 ½ to 3 hours. Driving tours may be a half-day or longer.  Guides must have pervasive knowledge of the historic structures and properties described on the tour.  It is requested that tour guides are not only knowledgeable in the historic uses of the buildings but also the preservation methods and/or technologies used during the preservation of the structures/sites. While a primary focus or theme of the tour will be an aspect of local history, we encourage tours to also have an educational component related to the conference theme and/or one of the conference tracks. 

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.

• Preservation planning and policy: This track aims to educate about best planning practices, capacity building, and incentives for archaeology and historic preservation projects at the local, state, and federal level by working with/as government entities and non-profit organizations.  Proposals about overcoming obstacles in preservation planning are highly sought.  However, proposals discussing state and federal legislation and preservation will also be considered.

• Heritage development and tourism: Emphasizing economic development through archaeology, brownfield re-use, and historic preservation, this track’s themes include heritage and cultural tourism and the process of developing an economically beneficial basis for such.  Proposals discussing interpretation of sites and landscapes will also be considered.
• Preservation trade skills and methodology: Focused on the reasons for proceeding with archaeology, brownfield re-use, and historic preservation, as well as the tools/skills needed to do so, this track will emphasize the best steps in initiating, performing, and completing archaeology and historic preservation projects, which also includes brownfields and landscapes.  Hands-on workshops and how-to sessions will be considered for this track.  

For the Preservation Alliance of WV conference, Sept. 27-29, in Jefferson County, there has been a change of Plenary Speaker on Friday afternoon.

Instead of Dr. Vishakha Maskey presenting, we will be having Dr. Peter Schaeffer from West Virginia University’s Division of Resource Management.

Here’s a sneak peek into Peter’s talk.  Sounds intriguing!

On the Logic and Limitation of Economic Approaches in Historic Preservation

Since the 1980s, economic market solutions to public policy problems have gained acceptance in such areas as environmental protection and historic preservation. This pre­sen­tation explains the logic and philosophy behind such economic approaches. In so doing, the presentation indicates limitations of an economic approach, particularly when economic values conflict with non-economic values, such as those labeled sentiment and symbolism by the Walter Firey, a pioneer in the field of urban ecology.

You can register for the conference at http://www.pawv.org/conferences/conf12.htm.