Preservation Georgia Online March 12-18, 2007 In this issue: County Breakdown of Preservation Tag Orders Shows More Outreach is Needed Americus tornado damage site visit report reminder: Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission Preservation Events Calendar Subscription Information ************************************************************************ County Breakdown of Preservation Tag Orders Shows More Outreach is Needed As of February 1, historic preservation license plates had been sold in only 79 of the 159 Georgia counties. The remaining 80 counties have seen no activity at all. The top ten selling counties are: DeKalb in first place at 61; Fulton comes in second with 55; followed by Cobb 34; Chatham 32; Clarke 16; Glynn 13; Gwinnett 12; Cherokee 11; Muscogee 11; and Thomas 11. Surprisingly, 31 of the 79 counties that have seen tag activity have only sold one license plate each. At the current rate of selling approximately 10 historic preservation license plates per week, we will not meet our goal of 1,000 tag orders by December 31. Production of the plate by the Georgia Motor Vehicle Division will not begin until 1,000 orders are received. We need your help as our preservation network in this campaign. Please help us spread the word that $22 from each $25 license tag fee will go directly to funding the Georgia Heritage Grant Program. These grants help stabilize, rehabilitate, and preserve important landmarks across the state by matching funds with grant recipients who propose worthwhile development and predevelopment projects. Visit HPD's Web site at www.gashpo.org to order your tag today. For more information, contact grants coordinator Carole Moore at 404-463-8434 or e-mail carole_moore@dnr.state.ga.us. ************************************************************************ Americus tornado damage site visit report On Tuesday, March 13, HPD's Richard Cloues, deputy state historic preservation officer and Survey & Register unit manager, and Bill Hover, architectural reviewer, joined a tornado damage assessment team in Americus. The following excerpt from their site visit report deals with damage within the historic district. We toured the disaster area with local historic preservation commission officials, accompanied the National/Georgia Trust field assessment team on site visits, participated in a planning meeting with the field assessment team and local preservation officials, and participated in an evening public information meeting. As far as historic buildings are concerned, the damage is extensive but not disastrous. Most of the damage is to houses; the downtown business district was for the most part spared. There is widespread minor damage to many houses from wind and trees falling on roofs or porches. There is more extensive damage to historic houses in three small areas: a block along S. Lee Street between Dodson and Glessner at the south end of the historic district, a block or so around all sides of Reese Park on the east side of the historic district, and a block or so along E. Church Street near the cemetery. It appears that only one or two historic houses may be total losses; all the others, even the more extensively damaged, look repairable. One large early 20th-century former school building at Reese Park was badly damaged, with large portions of the rear walls and the roof over the rear auditorium blown away. Originally the city thought the building--which was undergoing rehabilitation--would have to be condemned. But after inspection by the field assessment team it was agreed that the building could be repaired and the rear portions rebuilt. Many large trees throughout the historic district, in a swath running from southwest to northeast, have been blown down or stripped of branches. This single factor alone has dramatically changed the appearance of the historic district. Oak Grove Cemetery in the northeast part of the historic district was right in the path of the tornado and suffered extensive damage, especially to trees--virtually every large cedar and magnolia tree was knocked down, and those that survived lost many branches. Damage to monuments and fences is extensive but not as bad as originally feared. A team of cemetery experts from the Chicora Foundation will be spending time assessing the cemetery and making recommendations later this week. Local historic preservation officials and the visiting field assessment team appear to be doing a great job assessing the situation and providing guidance. Most of the work that we saw being done by property owners appeared to be appropriate. There seems to be a prevailing sentiment to save whatever can be saved. Private homeowner insurance appears to be covering most of the repair and reconstruction costs. We provided the local historic preservation commission with information about tax incentives for homeowners and guidance for selecting contractors. We also explained our access to technical information to help solve particular repair or rehab problems that might turn up. Prepared by: Richard Cloues - March 14, 2007 For more information, please visit http://hpd.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=365 Photos taken by HPD division director Ray Luce on March 6 are now posted. ************************************************************************ reminder: Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission In September 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor was designated by Congress to recognize the important contributions made to American culture by enslaved Africans who were brought to this country to work in the rice plantations that once existed in the barrier islands and coastal regions of North and South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Because of their geographic isolation and strong sense of community, the Gullah/Geechee people developed a creole language and preserved many elements of their African roots that remain intact today. The Heritage Corridor will enhance the preservation and interpretation of the language, arts and crafts, folklore, religious beliefs and foods that are significant to Gullah/Geechee culture. The legislation creates a Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission to develop a management plan for the heritage area. The commission will consist of 15 members, including six from South Carolina and three each from Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. Two individuals will be nominated by the state historic preservation offices in these states and one will be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. To receive consideration for the management commission, biographies or resumes must be received by March 30, 2007. The Fact Sheet and National Park Service News Release is available on HPD's website at http://hpd.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=358 with detailed information on the application process. ************************************************************************ Preservation events calendar Check the Events Calendar at www.gashpo.org for complete listings by date. Tell us what your organization or community has planned by sending your listings for our online Events Calendar via e-mail to: helen_talleymcrae@dnr.state.ga.us. Please note that items on the "Preservation Events Calendar" are events and meetings of interest to preservationists. It is not to be used for the detailed scheduling of meetings with HPD staff without contacting those individuals New additions April 2 "Ocmulgee River Mystery: A Submerged Vessel in Hawkinsville" Ocmulgee Archaeological Society meeting - Macon - contact stephen.hammack@robins.af.mil. April 17 - Preservation Easement Workshop: Addressing Organizational Practices and New Legislative Rules - Chicago, IL http://www.nationaltrust.org/legal/documents/easement.workshop.brochure.chica go.final.pdf May 1516 - Urban Georgia Network Meeting - "Sense of Place Extends Beyond Your Gates: Mixed-Use Development" - Atlanta - contact Cindy Eidson, ceidson@dca.state.ga.us, 404-679-3101. October 27-November 17 - 48th Seminar for Historical Administration application deadline is June 1 - Indianapolis, IN - www.aaslh.org/histadmin.htm Previously listed national and state conferences and meetings March 25-28 National Main Streets Conference Seattle http://conference.mainstreet.org March 28-31 - Vernacular Architecture Forum Conference "Savannah and the Lowcountry" - Savannah - http://www.scad.edu/academic/majors/arlh/vaf/ or contact Daves Rossell, erossell@scad.edu April 11-14 Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation annual meeting Athens www.ahlp.org/docs/meetings.html April 18-20 Heart and Soul of Georgia Bus Tour - Ga. Cities Foundation/GMA http://www.georgiacitiesfoundation.org/event_detail/default.asp?eventid=41930 April 22-28 - Georgia Cities Week - Cities: Service, Style & Soul - Georgia Municipal Assn. - http://www.gmanet.com/georgia_cities_week/ April 27-28 - Spring HPC Training - Georgia Alliance of Preservation Commissions - St Marys - www.uga.edu/gapc - 706-583-8047 or jmlewis@uga.edu MAY IS HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND ARCHAEOLOGY MONTH! May 2-4 - "Building Creative Communities" Conference - Colquitt www.buildingcreativecommunities.com May 11 - Georgia National Register Review Board Meeting - Historic Preservation Division, DNR - Atlanta http://hpd.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaynavigation.asp?TopCategory=41 May 18-20 - Georgia Trust Annual Meeting - Brunswick & the Golden Isles www.georgiatrust.org/historic_sites/annual_meeting.htm May 20-27 - VI World Archaeological Congress - Kingston, Jamaica http://www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/ June 18-21 - Your Passport to Crossing Boundaries in Heritage Development: International Heritage Development Conference - Alliance of National Heritage Areas - Detroit, MI - http://www.nationalheritageareas.org/2007_conference.htm June 23-30 - Preservation Leadership Training - National Trust for Historic Preservation - application deadline is March 30 - Owatonna, Minnesota http://www.nationaltrust.org/plt September 5-8 - 2007 AASLH annual meeting - Relevance: The Bottom Line Atlanta - http://www.aaslh.org/anmeeting.htm September 28 - Georgia National Register Review Board Meeting - Historic Preservation Division, DNR - Atlanta http://hpd.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaynavigation.asp?TopCategory=41 October 2-6 - Preservation Matters!: 2007 National Preservation Conference Saint Paul, Minnesota - www.nthpconference.org October 25-28 - 12th National Conference on Planning History - Society for American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH) - Portland, Maine http://www.urban.uiuc.edu/sacrph/ November 5-8 - National Trail of Tears Association National Conference - Rome - www.nationaltota.org or totajerra@aol.com or tc12@bellsouth.net January 17-19, 2008 - Third International Architectural Paint Research Conference - New York - www.aprconference.us ************************************************************************ Subscription Information Preservation Georgia Online is produced by the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. We hope that you find it useful and informative. Please send your comments, suggestions, and information via e-mail to: helen_talley-mcrae@dnr.state.ga.us. The previous month's issues are posted to our Web site at www.gashpo.org under "What's New" and distributed via e-mail each week. To be added to our e-mail subscription list, please send an e-mail message to helen_talley-mcrae@dnr.state.ga.us with "Preservation Georgia Online Subscribe" in the subject line and your name, organization affiliation, title, and telephone number in the body. If you do not wish to receive Preservation Georgia Online, please send an e-mail message to helen_talley-mcrae@dnr.state.ga.us with "Preservation Georgia Online - Unsubscribe" in the subject line.