In Riverside… New is Old Again

Success can spawn many things. And success can come in many forms. Over the past few years, Riverside has experienced some of the many flavors of success. Old, neglected homes are bought and lovingly restored, while new, historically-inspired homes are being built to fit into the neighborhood.

SRG Homes & Neighborhoods, the builder who can claim much of the responsibility for Springfield's revitalization currently has three new homes under construction in the district. CEO Mack Bissette cites the recent growth in the area as one of the reasons for the new construction, but says that converting College and Post Streets back to two-way is what encouraged him to begin construction on the homes now.

The complete story can be found in a great article at the Daily Record.

The Value of Historic Preservation

I was reading some of the regular blogs and came across this post. I can't validate these numbers, but they do make you think. If you want to read more, visit the Urban Planet website.

Now id like to share something i read about Historic Preservation. This Article was by a author and economic development professional , by the name of Donovan Rypkema, who is NOT , per se a preservationist. This is to quote the article....

"In Florida, $1million spent rehabilitating a older building creates 36.9 Jobs--20 in the construction industry and 17 elsewhere in the economy. That is-- about 2 more jobs than the same amount spent in new construction."

"In Florida, $1million of HISTORIC PRESERVATION creates NINE more jobs than manufactoring a million dollars of electronic equipment, EIGHT more jobs per million, than a million dollars of wholesale activity,and EIGHT more jobs than producing a million dollars of agricultural products. HISTORIC PRESERVATION means jobs for Florida."

"In Florida, $1million spent rehabilitating an HISTORIC building ultimately adds OVER $2MILLION to the state's economy."

That alone is food for thought, when one poses the question, is THIS historic Landmark worth saving?

Special ShAdCo Meeting

Next ShAdCo meeting will be a joint meeting with Sectors J, K, and L. Sheriff John Rutherford will be speaking on the rising murder rate and his new initiative "Operation Safe Streets." This will be on Tuesday, July 25 at 7:00 at FCCJ-Kent Campus.

Unfortunately, there probably won't be time to discuss local criminal activity at this meeting, but it sounds like it will be interesting.

At last month's meeting one of our neighbors reported that there was not much new news about Operation Showdown currently in force in the Riverside area. When asked of the progress being made, one of the officers responded that they really feel that crime has decreased in the Showdown area. He reported that when they do a typical "sweep" in the area, they often find several folks with outstanding warrants; however, they found no outstanding warrants last time they performed a sweep. This should cause concern, as this officer gave the impression that he felt Showdown could be
winding down. (Our neighbor was not sure if this was the official policy or his own personal opinion.) We know that there is still crime in the area that needs to be addressed.

PLEASE remember, call in all suspicious activity. The more calls made in our area, the more attention we get from the police. If there are still problematic activities going on in the Showdown area, the police need to know. The phone number is 630-0500 if it is not an emergency situation.

The Preservation and Repair of Historic Clay Tile Roofs

Clay tiles are one of the most distinctive and decorative historic roofing materials because of their great variety of shapes, colors, profiles, patterns, and textures, and they are frequently seen throughout the historic district. Traditionally, clay tiles were formed by hand, and later by machine extrusion of natural clay, textured or glazed with color, and fired in high-temperature kilns. The unique visual qualities of a clay tile roof often make it a prominent feature in defining the overall character of a historic building. The significance and inherently fragile nature of historic tile roofs dictate that special care and precaution be taken to preserve and repair them.

Clay tile has one of the longest life expectancies among historic roofing materials-generally about 100 years, and often several hundred. Yet, a regularly scheduled maintenance program is necessary to prolong the life of any roofing system. A complete internal and external inspection of the roof structure and the roof covering is recommended to determine condition, potential causes of failure, or source of leaks, and will help in developing a program for the preservation and repair of the tile roof. Before initiating any repair work on historic clay tile roofs, it is important to identify those qualities important in contributing to the historic significance and character of the building.

This Brief will review the history of clay roofing tiles and will include a description of the many types and shapes of historic tiles, as well as their different methods of attachment. It will conclude with general guidance for the historic property owner or building manager on how to plan and carry out a project involving the repair and selected replacement of historic clay roofing tiles.

Visit the government site for more information.

Congratulations to Councilman Corrigan

Riverside Avondale Preservation would like to extend our congratulations and best wishes to one of our own as Michael Corrigan, Jr. is installed as the City Council President. It's a bit belated but certainly deserved.

Corrigan stressed the importance of mentorship, which will be among his primary topics as Council president. He said he also wants to focus on issues such as the mayor’s budget, consolidated government and updating the zoning codes. “This year, it’s time to finish what we started,” said Corrigan.

More coverage and photos of last Thursday night's installation ceremony can be seen over at The Daily Record.

Cummer Café Night Thursday, July 13

It's a great night out. Meet old friends. Make new ones and make some sweet art in the process. It all happens next Thursday, July 13 from 6 - 9 p.m. and features the latest exhibition A New Narrative: Marden, Fitzpatrick, Stella, Warhol. If you have already seen the show… see it again! And then enjoy art-making projects, demonstrating artists and live music by Catharsis. There will be a cash bar and hors d'oeuvres by Nonie's.

Members are free, but it will cost all you non-members $8 museum admission. So why don't you join and save the eight bucks! The night is hosted by Up & Cummers.