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By Peter Miller, Restore Media LLC
Sometimes you have to lose something to appreciate what you have. We have lost our new construction boom in a sub-prime morass. Banks won’t lend. Cheap fuel is lost forever. Ex-urban Mcmansions are boarded up in ghost town cul-de-sacs across America. This is good news for the $170 billion traditional building market. Read More…
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Franklin & Marshall Writers House will be hosting a panel discussion and publication party for Intersection, a book of essays about sidewalk life and culture edited by the poet (and F&M adjunct instructor) Marci Nelligan on Thursday, April 2, at 4:30 pm. Read More…
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Live Green is presenting a workshop on Energy Solutions for City Homes on Tuesday March 24 from 6 - 8 PM at Building Character.
“Learn how urban homes and their occupants use and lose energy. Hear how a residential energy efficiency and conservation expert advises row homeowners and tenants how to use less energy and make Lancaster more livable.”
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Community Heritage Partners has provided services to many farmers markets in places from Pennsylvania to Maine. We’ve analyzed buildings and operations, completed feasibility studies and market research and more. Our staff are dedicated market shoppers and as a firm, we’re committed to the local economy and local foods. Read More…
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200 Block of West King Street looking toward Penn Square, early 20th Century
217 - 219 W. King Second Story Parlor Today
Some background information on Community Heritage Partners’ real estate development projects in process follows.
For much of Lancaster’s existence, a tavern stood at 217-219 West King Street. The present two-and-one-half-story Federal brick building likely dates from c. 1828, when Daniel Harman purchased this land along King Street for $800. By 1832 a tavern known as the “Sign of the Treaty of Ghent” operated here, and by 1852 the name had changed to the “Manor Hotel.” Harman owned the site from 1828 until his death in 1865. Read More…
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Something new from National Trust for Historic Preservation - just profiled in their Preservation mag.
The idea that Preservation is the greenest approach to building needs to be promoted more, in our humble opinion. Watch our site in the coming weeks for more ideas and resources around understanding the embodied energy of buildings - and how preserving them is good for both built and natural environments, historic town plans and people who live in and around them.
In the meantime - check out this flickr set (or post your own photos) of historic buildings that could be rehabilitated or reused (from the National Trust).
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Hylton will discuss “Save Our Land, Save Our Towns: Growing Communities, Not Sprawl” on Monday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Stahr Auditorium, Stager Hall at Franklin & Marshall College.
The talk, co-sponsored by the Center for Liberal Arts and Society, the Campus Sustainability Committee, and the Susquehanna Sustainable Business Network, is free and open to the public and is in celebration of Sustainability Week.
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The Lancaster County Planning Commission just posted some new resources on their website: http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/toolbox/site/default.asp?toolboxNav=|&planningNav=|.
According to the County, “The Envision Smart Growth Toolbox is a resource for communities that want to translate smart growth principles into action. The Toolbox includes a wide variety of strategies, ordinances, programs, and best management practices that can be applied by communities to implement the goals and objectives of the County Comprehensive Plan as well as regional and local comprehensive plans.”
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A great article Ben pointed out after an office round of ‘count the franchises’ in Lancaster City.
How many can you count?
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Armstrong - headquartered here in Lancaster - is offering tours of their Platinum LEED-certified building on Columbia Avenue on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM. Read More…
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We’ll provide some updates now and again about the project that Community Heritage Partners has taken on in the 200 block of West King Street over the past 8 months or so.
The overview is the purchase of two side-by-side parcels: 213-215 and 217-219 West King Street. Both are in need of considerable renovation and updating. We’re just about finished with the first stage - which is the renovation of the rear of 213-215 West King - which fronts onto West Grant as 214 West Grant - otherwise known as our new office space. Read More…
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Image from Gateway Plan - courtesy of Lancaster County Planning Commission (by Rettew, Inc.)
gateway-booklet-12-23-08
We’re glad to see some studies going on locally like the one above: an EPA-funded study for Lancaster County Planning Commission. More details - and other plans - can be found here.
This particular plan looks at a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) approach for the Stockyards parcel, which is virtually adjacent to the Lancaster Amtrak Station, which will be undergoing some $12 million in renovations soon.
The opportunity to do innovative development with an eye to the long-term on a parcel like the Stockyards in a location by a major rail line don’t come along very often. We’ll continue to watch and advocate for smart growth and sustainable development.
We do know that the actual development plans on record are not following a model quite like this - but may be leaving the door open to some of the concepts.
A NY developer is working to bring two firms to the site for office/research operations, which will create opportunity for jobs in Lancaster City (which seems to be a higher priority - from the City’s perspective - at this point than new housing). The buildings on record are being tweaked through the planning review process to be closer to streets with parking behind, etc. - but they are still single story office use. There is conversation about building some structures in a way that would accommodate phased upper levels/expansion, etc.
There is no transit-oriented component to the actual plan currently. But we’ll hold out some hope on this, as the rumor is that the developer comes on Amtrak from NYC when he comes to Lancaster…
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Good article, which I saw promoted in 10,000 Friends of PA.
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Some interesting links to check out:
David saw this article about suburban housing and future trends in the New York Times.
(image from NYT article)
Good quote: “I still dream that some major overhaul can occur: that a self-sufficient mixed-use neighborhood can emerge. That three-car-garaged McMansions can be subdivided into rental units with streetfront cafés, shops and other local businesses.”
Also - news from across the state in Pittsburgh. East Liberty Development (coincidentally the neighborhood I lived in for 10 years prior to moving back to Lancaster) received a grant from PHFA to “be one of the pilots across the state to think outside the box for sustainable development”. These are all infill houses - on vacant lots in a low-income neighborhood and are 40% more efficient that houses built to code - with warranties of 20 years.
Any possibilities here for Lancaster - particularly the city? Brownfield development in the works right now includes the former Armstrong site and the former Stockyards - both of which are awfully close to a major rail station.
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Stevens & Kleiss Exisiting Conditions
Stevens & Kleiss Architectural Rendering
For Community Heritage Partners, much of the past several years has been consumed with the historical documentation and architectural design of the Stevens and Smith Historic Site, a project of the Historic Preservation Trust.
In short – the project is the restoration and reuse of downtown properties associated with Thaddeus Stevens, a congressman from Lancaster in the 1860s and those of his housekeeper and confidante, Lydia Smith.
It is worthy to note the historic relevance of this project with current events. Stevens was one of the primary authors and proponents of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments – those that ended slavery, extended equal protection to all citizens, and granted all male citizens the right to vote. The direct effect of Stevens’ work can be seen in the inauguration of our first African-American president. With this election, people are thinking more about how democracy has evolved over the history of the United States, and the recognition of Thaddeus Stevens in the shaping of that democracy is timely. Culturally and historically, this project is an opportunity to bring Thaddeus Stevens’ ideas into the forefront – where they deserve to be.
Architecturally, this literal knitting together of this project with the $170 million Lancaster County Convention Center (the largest economic development project in Lancaster City in decades), accomplishes the following:
- The preservation and reuse of six important historical buildings, including the house and law offices of Thaddeus Stevens and the historic Kleiss Tavern, that were initially threatened with demolition as part of the convention center project;
- The preservation of an underground cistern in the courtyard behind the Stevens House & Office and Kleiss Tavern that archeologists believe was a secret hiding place for runaway slaves on their way to freedom in the North;
- The preservation of elements of the historic streetscape in the midst of the convention center development; and
- The redevelopment of components of a historic neighborhood that have been neglected for decades.
When complete, the buildings will house a museum and exhibition space encompassing the Stevens house, portions of the Kleiss Tavern, and the underground cistern area. Remaining space will be developed as mixed-use office and retail.
The convention center is slated to open in Spring of 2009 with the coinciding completion of the exterior renovations of the Stevens and Kleiss buildings. The interiors of the buildings are scheduled for completion by 2012. Advance marketing of the convention center has strongly highlighted the historical nature of the site and the draw that the Stevens and Smith Historic Site will be for convention-goers and visitors.
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Welcome to the Community Heritage Partners’ inaugural blog post. Our intent for this space is to draw attention to smart growth, green architecture and sustainable urban planning - specifically in and around Lancaster, PA.
We will highlight our projects (we are architects, town planners and preservationists) and those of our colleagues in Lancaster. We will also look at projects around the country that we can learn from here.