1303 Bushnell (at Milwaukee), Beloit WI 53511

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We’ve never been inside this home but have admired it for a long time. A very interesting, well maintained and huge home at least as viewed from the outside. It is outside historic district but within the surrounding vintage neighborhood.

• - Realtor’s Listing Here
• - This home is not within any of the current historic districts or individually listed.
• - Walkability Score: 77 out of 100, “Very Walkable”

Join us for our first ever Beloit NPA Plant Exchange!

If you’ve seen our own historic district neighbor Bob Fizzell featured in both local newspapers, The Beloit Daily News and The Stateline News you know there are many avid gardeners among us. It’s a frequent topic of conversation.

If you enjoy your flower or vegetable garden as much as we come out and join us for our inaugural NPA plant exchange.

• - When: Saturday morning May 30th. 8 a.m.
• - Where: Paul & Jenn’s (635 Harrison)
• - How It Works: Bring seeds, starts & plants to trade.

If you’ve seedlings, volunteers or something you’ve simply too much of, transplant them into excess plastic containers of any kind and bring them along. These could be from the nursery or simple yogurt, deli, cottage cheese containers, etc. with holes in their bottoms. In exchange you may find something you would like for your own garden at home.

This event is FREE to Beloit NPA neighbors.

It’s a great way to meet your neighbors and other gardeners while beautifying the neighborhood. So come on out!

Next meeting Tues 5/26 – Beloit Neighborhood Housing Services

From the onset when there were first discussions about forming a neighborhood association for Beloit’s Historic Districts various people asked, “Have you met with Neighborhood Housing Services?”. Not having yet done so it was suggested that we should. So… here we go!

This is an informal gathering where we simply hope to get to know a bit more about each other, priorities, objectives and such. I imagine there are things we may be able to assist, support or encourage. There may be activities or programs those living within Beloit’s Historic Districts may be able to take advantage of. Don’t know. Will see. It all begins though with some discussion and this is as good a time as any to begin.

So, if you’re not familiar with Neighborhood Housing Services, or even if you are, we’d encourage you to come out and meet with them and us to learn more.

When: Tuesday May 26th, 6:30 p.m. (note date change due to holiday)

Where: bushel & peck’s – 328 State Street, Beloit WI

Living in an Historic District – What’s in it for me?

There is a lot of misunderstanding about “Historic Districts” or individually designated home and what it means to live in one.

• (1) Why would anyone want to live in an Historic District?
• (2) What does it mean to live in an Historic District?
• (3) Who does what?
  • * The City
  • * The Landmarks Commission
  • * The Historical Society
  • * The State Historic Preservation Office
  • * The National Register (National Park Service)
• (4) What am I supposed to do if I live in a Beloit Historic District or individually designated home?
  • * What can and can’t I do with my own %@$# property?
  • * What if I have a question?
• (5) What’s in it for me? Again, why would anyone want to live in an Historic District?

The resulting F.U.D. (fear, uncertainly & doubt) around these items and perhaps others can lead to needless frustration, a wastes of your time and needless expense. The best way to deal with all this is improved communication.

The city, the Landmarks Commission, state & national offices all need to make reasonable efforts to try and inform and communicate with property owners. This is a shared responsibility though. Property owners likewise owe it to themselves to inquire and/or otherwise try to inform themselves. Improving communication is the key.

To this end on this NPA neighborhood association blog we can try to cover these bases. Proposed, the best place to start is with the “why”. What’s in it for me?

There are many things that could be touched on but lets start with two benefits that likely most would have an appreciation for.

• (1) It’s good for your property values.

• (2) You’re eligible for various incentives or benefits.

(1) Property Values: The city of Rockford completed a study last year in 08′ titled: The impact of Historic District Designation on Property Values. You can read more about that study here.

(2) Incentives / Benefits: We will be hosting a meeting with Joe DeRosa from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Offices for our June 22nd regular meeting. We’ll be discussing specifically what it means to live within an Historic District, what state and/or federal programs are available to you. We’ve also invited neighbors who’ve personally taken advantage of some of these programs to talk about their experiences. More on this will be posted as we near that meeting date.

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The Impact of Historic District Designation on Property Values

Among the first things that people think about when considering ramifications of living within an Historic District or individually designated home is… how is this going to impact my property values.

A frequent misconception is that…

…designation as part of a historic district lowers their property values because of the additional regulations that they must contend with.

If it is true that home owners have this perception then this is a serious and legitimate concern. If true, certainly no one would want to be a willing participant in such a hardship and who could blame them.

Rockford IL which has four historic districts completed a study in only five months ago in Dec. 08′ to study just this question. Their study here.

They took the range of home values from each of the historic districts as indicated in 1977 and found comparables in either an adjacent or nearby neighborhood. They then took a look at these homes 2007 values, looking at both assessed values as well as sale prices.

Overall, our findings show that local historic districts not only provide protection for Rockford’s historic resources, they protect and enhance their owners’ financial resources as well. This also translates into protecting the City of Rockford’s financial resources by protecting a part of its property tax base.

For the full report see Rockford’s Study on “The Impact of Historic District Designation on Property Values.”

These sorts of studies are not uncommon. It’s just handy to have one so close by and recent for reference. The fact that Historic Districts out perform surrounding neighborhoods is typically the norm. But beyond that it’s not uncommon for an emerging Historic District to out perform the broader community in terms of rate of rising property values during that period of emergence.

The reasons for this are many, some more obvious then others. The Rockford study though goes on to explore the impact of the significant federal tax credit program available to home owners through the National Register.

This added incentive, which is a significant financial one, was the driving force behind creation of the two newest districts.

In June Joe DeRosa from the Wisconsin Historic Preservation Offices will be joining us to discuss this program among other things. Mark your calendar for this gathering Sunday June 22nd.

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Beloit High School Students – AP Exams

Thanks to the Beloit Daily News for reporting on our High School students successes with the expanding AP (advanced placement) courses.

While educators believe AP students will be better prepared for college whatever score they get, they are proud the Purple Knights have tested higher then average.

In a few of our AP classes we just killed the national average,” Barder said.

In previous years, 25% of Beloit students taking the U.S. government exam received a four (1-5 scale); the (national) average was 13.1%. Nearly 30% of Beloit students taking the U.S.  history test scored a four while the national average was about 18%. The Purple Knights also outscored the average in psychology on scores three and above.

Beloit Daily News

and…

BMHS boosted its AP offerings to 11 this school year by adding music theory, statistics, chemistry, and drawing.

Beloit Daily News

Thanks Daily News for reporting.

Thanks to BMHS administration, the school board and teachers for their hard work in providing excellent and competitive educational opportunities for those students and families willing to take advantage of them.

photo credit: Old Onliner

Beloit Fine Arts Incubator – Opening Reception

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Host: Nilson Studios

Music/Arts exhibit:  Homecoming, Painted Beats.

Date: June 5th, 6:00 p.m.

Location: BFAI – 520 E. Grand Ave. Beloit WI 53511

More information: 608-313-9083

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A rare look at the artist Adam Nilson in a one man show profiling his large scale dramatic and exhilarating artwork.  The exhibit will also feature a multi media presentation using the artist’s original music compositions, “Boom Box Diaries”.

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water in basement problem

shout out to our neighbors….

we need a recommendation for a good contractor to fix water in basement problem…….please email me at atleep1880@sbcglobal.net if you know someone to call. Thanks, Brenda Paulson

Plein Air Painting Workshops

From the Friends of Riverfront website.

The plein air painting workshops are held during the annual ArtWalk weekend. The instructors will set up in the skylit studio of the Wright Museum at Beloit College or, weather permitting, the open air of the campus or riverfront; both pastoral scenes with a backdrop of historic structures.

On both days sessions are offered in your choice of oil or watercolor instruction. Each full day session will include a 2 hour demonstration in the morning on how to select a subject, plan and execute a finished piece using color to display light. The afternoon will be devoted to applying the plein air style in either oil or watercolor. Instructors will be available to provide individual help each afternoon. So bring your preferred painting medium and canvas and be prepared for prevailing weather conditions. Lunch will be provided.

Cost is $25 per session*.
Download a registration form and painting workshop supply list (pdf format).
*A limited number of entry fee scholarships are available for teens. Scholarship form (pdf)

NPA Monthly Gathering – April 27th

Last Monday night’s get together with City Manager Larry Arft was great. We’d collected a number of questions and Mr. Arft addressed each one in depth and then fielded more from those of us gathered together.

• • • - Canoe & Kayak Launch
    • - The new transit station
    • - Hwy 51 project
    • - Various city programs
    • - City budget & finances
    • - Casino update
    • - Misc. future plans

City Council Member Jim Van De Bogart and Plan Commission member Daniel Boutelle were also in attendance. All-in-all it was a very informative evening and a great opportunity to get to know our city manager a bit better and he, us.

Additionally we had three new faces join us that evening representing two more households within the historic district. This a direct result of Dr. Bob’s initiating personal invitations. Also DanielleC introduced another family within the historic district to NPA and I introduced yet another from Milwaukee Ave.  So altogether another four households added to membership and neighbor’s directory.

In our regular business meeting portion earlier in the evening we elected our five officers for the NPA not-for-profit. They are:

• • • - Rick McGrath – Chair
    • - John Watrous -Vice Chair
    • - Bill Dorr - Secretary/Treasurer
    • - Joy Beckman – At Large
    • - Rick Dexter – At Large

We’ve met once already since Monday and are continuing organizational set up.

• - May: We’ll be meeting with the Beloit Neighborhood Housing Services.
• - June: We’ll be meeting with a State Historic Preservation Offices rep. about tax programs and other benefits/services.

Stay tuned. We’ve more in the works as well.