Friends of Riverfront – Time for Bloom

.

Bloom Schedule:

Friday, April 24:

• 1-6pm – Sneak Preview & Silent Auction Begins

Saturday, April 25th:

• 10:00am – Free Seminar – Master Gardener, Glenn Erickson, “Planters that Pop!”
  
• 11:00am – Free Seminar – “Compost Happens”
  
• 5:00-6:00pm – Meet the Artists Reception and Silent Auction.
  
• 6:00pm – Live Auction
  
• 8:00pm – Stay, visit, dance…

You know Friends of RiverFront. The same folks that bring us…

• - Plein Air – Edge of the rock painting events (workshops, exhibits and more)
• - Music at Harry’s Place – Friday evenings, outdoors in the pavilion throughout the summer
• - Dancing at Harry’s Place – Monday evenings, outdoors in the pavilian through the summer
• - Saturdays in the Park – Varied community events and entertainment to bring folks together
• - Movies in the Park – Big screen movies outdoors along the riverfront

…along with countless hours of volunteer time and effort planting and maintaining the park’s gardens for all of us to enjoy.

Bloom is their fund-raiser auction to support Beloit riverfront beautification projects.

Nature lovers, Artists, Artisans, and crafters are invited to participate by designing or building garden inspired art.

• - Original Nature Inspired Art: Paintings, Quilts, Jewelry
• - Original Garden Art: Bench, Trellis, Chimes, Pots
• - Original Designed/Built Birdhouses and Feeders
• - Decorated Flower boxes, Birdhouses, Swings

Bloom is a fund-raiser to support Beloit RiverFront beautification projects. Entries are considered a donation to Friends of RiverFront and will be auctioned at a special event April 25, 2009.

Starting April 1, entries will be received Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at The Pump House – Friends of Riverfront – 1003 Pleasant Street, Beloit, WI 53511

Tuesday, April 21 will be the last day that entries will be accepted.   ~Friends Of Riverfront

Bloom is a great event, a lot of fun and helps make all the things we enjoy down at the riverfront possible.

Well, there’s that and they’re also a wonderful bunch of folks. So create and donate something for the auction and/or come on out for the auction as well.

Hope to see you there.

This and other Friends of Riverfront events in the NPA Calendar.

More about Friends of RiverFront

617 Harrison Street, Beloit WI

• - Realtor’s Listing Here.
• - Within the College Park Historic District. Eligible for Historic Home Owner’s Tax Cridit.
• - Walkability Score: 83 out of 100, “very walkable”.

1614 Emerson St. Beloit WI

Want a grand home significant enough to already be on the National Register? Here you go, the Florence Yates house. We’ve not been inside but the realtor has a great virtual tour of this amazing historic Beloit home.

 

• - Realtor’s listing here. Virtual tour here.
• - Not within any of the historic districts but is individually listed on the national register and is therefore eligible for the Historic Home Owner’s Tax Cridit.
• - Walkability Score: 49 out of 100, “Car-Dependent”.

901 Wisconsin Ave. Beloit WI

• - Realtor’s listing here.
• - This home is not within any of the current historic districts.
• - Walkability Score: 65 out of 100, “Somewhat Walkable”.

Is demolition the solution? How about “Alien Infill”?

I only recently came upon the term “Alien Infill”. I’ve now added it to my old house vocabulary along with remuddling, architorture and garagescape. And like many things illustrations are helpful to clarify the concept.

Alien Infill #1: The first on on the left showing a suburban style ranch home with typical garage door prominence dropped into a neighborhood of significantly older and larger homes of a different scale, set back and I’d argue quality of materials and workmanship.

Alien Infill #2: The second on the right showing some effort to match the predominant two story style and set back however the scale is so radically smaller it too is jarring, looks misplaced and I’d say makes more permanent a downgrading of property values.

.

Old house demolition – a short sighted solution.

It would seem that the demolition of old homes is often the solution to issues of owner abandoned or neglected homes. This is what appears to be happening. The home owner fails to maintain what had once been a fine home. Maintenance is deferred or so it would seem, in the interest of maximizing rental ROI. Code violations and their fines seem to be ignored preferring to have these default to property tax liens. Eventually the home is no longer habitable or rentable leading to virtual abandonment by the absentee home owner. The solution proposed then is demolition.

For a community that prides itself in being “Green” demolition of an existing house to then build another house in it’s place is among the least green things a community can do.

The problem is that many times the cost to rehab exceeds the appraised value in certain areas. So, why not just tear them down? Well, a more creative and environmentally sound way to deal with this issue is to mothball these houses. For less than the cost of demolition an abandoned house can be stabilized and held for future rehab. Patching the roof and painting the façade can work well toward this goal. ~Bob Yapp   bobyapp.com

This is a tough market for buying properties of any kind and choosing to demolish our existing housing stock at this time when the market is down when the same home could be rehabbed once the market turns around makes a permanent downgrade on the neighborhood because of a temporary market condition.

• If the solution is to demolish the problem property then what?
• Has there been thought as to what will happen following demolition?

Typically what happens is that some form of infill is plopped in. And while there are exceptions most of the best examples of appropriate infill were done many years ago. Virtually all the recent examples of infill are reminiscent of the alien infill illustrated above. The question is… What would maintain and advance property values more? Catching these homes before they’re allowed to degrade to where they are demolition risks? Or ending up with “alien infill”?

Appropriate infill housing is possible but difficult to cost justify which is why we end up with the smaller scale, cheaper construction infill commonly experienced.

Distressed properties and their owners need to be addressed by the city as our advocate before properties get to these conditions. We as neighbors need to take responsibility for being sure the city is aware of concerns around properties at risk of demolition by neglect.

More on the subject of “Abandoned Lots – What’s a community to do?” by Bob Yapp.

Old Houses – Green Homes

.

Green Home Tips:

.

The greenest house is the house already built. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make your old house even more eco-friendly. Click through to see 10 tips to green your home while maintaining its historic integrity.

(from Preservation Magazine January/February 2008 issue)

.

From this issue of Preservation Magazine:

A Cautionary Tale

Amid our green-building boom, why neglecting the old in favor of the new just might cost us dearly.

By wayne Curtis | From Preservation | January/February 2008

.

Old houses, children, lead paint and abatement

Thanks to the Beloit Daily news for reporting that Rock County has received a grant for lead abatement for 81 older homes of low-income households with children under six. There may be households within Beloit’s historic districts and surrounding vintage neighborhood that fit this criteria. It sounds like a great opportunity to take advantage of if you can. If you think you may qualify or you know of someone who may I’d encourage you to check it out.

The Beloit Daily News Article.
The Rock County Health Dept. (Look under “Lead Testing” for information and application)

For those who may not fit this criteria for grant aid but still have questions…

Appropriate Methods for Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing

The health of children is rightfully paramount. Instances of lead poisoning are documentable (see BDN article) and we rightfully should inform ourselves to take what ever actions or precautions are warrented. With governmental regulation it also has the potential of becoming an alarmist issue with a fair amount of F.U.D. (fear, uncertainty and doubt) thrown in. It is difficult to find folks brave enough to offer a counter point to offer another perspective. One gentleman who’s opinion I resepect Bob Yapp states the following.

EPA & HUD lead paint regulations are out of control! The facts however fly in the face of this anti-preservation intrusion into our lives. Lead poisoning in children has been depicted by HUD and the EPA as an epidemic. The facts do not support this notion. Children today have less lead poisoning than ever before in history and it has little to do with lead paint regulations. Taking lead out of gasoline and better factory emissions are responsible for much of this.

In essence we should be teaching the uneducated, educated, poor and well-off families to clean their houses. Common sense education is all that’s needed with lead paint. Lead paint is only a hazard if it’s unstable. Removing lead paint from window jambs and sashes is a safe, quick and easy process if the homeowner or contractor knows how to do it. We must start immediately training small contractors & homeowners how to do this. Right now the contractors that are getting lead certified are gouging home-owner’s pocketbooks because they can.

This is an excerpt from a blog entry rebutting the fallacy around the perceived imperative to replace original windows. It is relevant to the lead issue as windows, their moving parts and peeling paint are often cited relative to lead issues and used as justification for replacement.

Why Shouldn’t I replace my windows? – by Bob Yapp

From the Illinois State Historic Preservation Offices:

Lead Paint Safety

Virtually all old wood windows have lead paint. It is not necessary or required to have a lead abatement contractor do this work unless your project has federal funding from the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The following downloadable publication (Lead Paint Safety: A Field Guide for Painting, Maintenance and Home Renovation) covers most of the practical methods of doing renovation work and working lead-safe:

Would lead paint concerns be a subject folks would like to see addressed in one of our monthly meetings?

Rock Prairie Big Band & Beloit College Jazz Band Perform

Just saw this in the Beloit Daily News:

The Rock Prairie Big Band and the Beloit College Jazz Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 8 in Eaton Chapel, on the Beloit College campus.

The event is free and open to the public; donations will be accepted at the door.

The two bands will perform several selections separately before teaming on a few additional songs. The Rock Prairie Big Band, directed by Jeff Suarez, will perform “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” by Benny Goodman; “Ko-Ko” by Duke Ellington, and other popular jazz tunes. Under the direction of John Meyers, the Beloit College Jazz Band’s offering will include “Swingin’ Shepherd Blues,” by Natalie Cole and “Outback Boogie,” by Les Taylor.

Another highlight of the performance will be a special appearance by the College Street Singers as directed by Susan Rice.

So, live swing dance music? Very cool! And where else but in the neighborhood.

If it’s a nice evening I think we’ll walk.

Added to the calendar.

« Previous Page