And another fine old house sold.

Well yeah, it needs a lot of work but it’s an interesting old house that still retains a lot of it’s original dignity and character. It’s never been gutted. It’s never been duplex-ed. You can tell it was a fine home when built. It has real potential and it seems the new owner is up to the task.

We’ve met the new neighbor and welcomed them to the neighborhood. Ironic as they’ve been in town longer then we. If you’ve driven by you’ll see they’ve already done a lot to improve the curb appeal of this home. It’s a benefit for themeselves of course but it’s also a welcomed improvement for the entire block also.

Yet one more previously neglected old house gets a new owner, renewed appreciation and renewed investment. It benefits all of us. Further testiment to the positive direction the neighborhood is taking.

Another Downtown Beloit Facade Facelift

Work has begun on yet another downtown Beloit facade. Have you seen it?

It’s exciting to see the ongoing renovation of downtown Beloit. The Zilley building circa 1912 is just the latest in a series.

The Downtown Beloit Association (DBA) offers design assistance, as well as facade and sign grant programs to encourage successful, historically sensitive design. (italics ours)

From the DBA “News on the Street” – fall 2008

Does anybody know anything about the history of the Zilley building or who the Zilley’s were? Curious.

For more information on these grant programs, please contact Kathleen Braatz – kathleen (at) downtownbeloit (dot) com

Neighbors Who Care – Meeting since 2002

Just wanted to help raise some awareness about a city-wide association of pro-active Beloit residents called “Neighbors Who Care”. They have been meeting since 2002 and focus on learning how to deal with neighborhood situations and providing support and encouragement for Beloit residents. Their meetings are open to the public.

They meet on the 4th Tuesdays of the month at 6:30 p.m. over at the Neighborhood Housing Services Building (520 West Grand).

Joseph and Kathy Vickerman head up the group. Just last month was the first time Ana-n-I were able to catch up with them. They’re a very knowledgeable,  plugged in and active group of folks. It was very informative and time very well spent. I would encourage you to mark your calendar and stop by next month Sept. 22nd. We’ve added their meetings to the BNPA calendar here.

National Neighbors Night Out – A big hit!

The National Neighbor’s Night Out at Horace White Park was a big hit! Looked like we had ~40 folks show up over the couse of the afternoon with neighbors from Church, Chapin, Park, Bushnell, Emerson, Sherwood and Pleasant Streets showing up. Especially nice was that there were several new neighbors we’d not had a chance to meet before.

City reps stopped by as well including city manager Larry Arft, city councilman Charles Haynes and Sheila De Forest, several PD officers along with a fire truck and firemen (big hit for the kids). Lots of great conversations and connections made.

The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves in spite of nothing plugged in or with buttons. A big tree. A big rope, bean bags, watermelon and each other. Seemed to do the trick.

The rest of the pics on the BNPA Flickr page.

We’ll have to do this again next year. Hope you’ll be able to join us.

BMHS Jazz Band – Appreciation Reception

Folks know we’re big fans of the BMHS Jazz Band.

The Beloit Memorial High School Jazz Band cordially invites you to a reception showing our appreciation for the generous donations we received in support of our recent participation in the Essentially Ellington Festival and Competition at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Appreciation Reception

Beloit Public Library Meeting Room

Monday, August 17, 2009

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Cake and Punch will be served.

Preview our New York DVD, featuring photos and video of our experience in New York City.

Mark your calendar. Hope to see you there.

Added to the NPA events calendar.

Old house products & services – Yes, you likely can find it.

“Nobody makes that anymore.”

“Nobody does that anymore.”

While it may not be at the local mass market “big box” store, very often it IS available and with numerable options. It’s frequently more a matter of knowing where to look or who to ask.

I’ve a couple personal favorites:

• - The Old House Journal Restoration Product Directory — once upon a time only available via their print catalog. You can now reference this online. If you’ve an old house you need to know about this resoure.

• - Clem Labine’s Traditional Building — He was the original creator of the OHJ. Personal note… I actually have copies of his early “magazine” from when it was still in a black and white, stapled and hole-punched form.
  

Recently there were two different inquiries on where to find capitals for some porch columns. These are generally available locally but with limited options mostly fitting a few standardized dimensions. Tapping either source above would likely overwhelm with the available options… including many with prices comparable. To that you factor repair relative to replacement in terms of price, quality of replacement and what’s being sent to the land fill.

For example, we recently purchased a mortised lock set for a screen door from Van Dyke’s. The type of item not found in a “big box”. When done our 80 year old screen doors will be good for many more decades. Wonder what the life expectancy is and various costs are on a “green” replacement screen door.

The above links and more on the evolving Beloit NPA Links page.

Belt-drive workshop — Still in production

Saw this and had to share. This is too cool, at least for me.

Before the advent of electric powered manufacturing it was all done by steam or water powered, belt driven machines. I’ve seen pics of belt-driven manufacturing here in Beloit.

Anyway, there’s a woodworking company that restores and puts back into production belt-driven woodworking machines for their window and related products manufacturing.

Not a Luddite. I enjoy and work in new technologies. I am though astounded by the level of sophistication of early manufacturing. Early industrial design had an elegance to it. Note the decorative striping on the machines. Also note, both father and son in the video had all their digits. Wonder how common or not that may have been “back in the day”.

Belt driven workshop

The Beloit NPA New Neighbor Welcome Pac

Among the primary purposes of the Beloit NPA is to facilitate communication and information exchange. Additionally we’d like to welcome new neighbors to the neighborhood. With these in mind among the earliest ideas proposed when we first started getting together was to provide a form of “Welcome Wagon” for new neighbors.

We now have a Beloit NPA New Neighbor Welcome Pac.

In it we provide a range of useful information particularly for those living within the historic districts.

• - A welcome note from the BNPA.
• - A welcome note from the Landmarks Commission.
• - A copy of the city reminder about COA’s along with an application.
• - Historic Preservation – A guide for property owners. A great publication produced specifically for Beloit historic district residents.
• - College Park Historic Colors – A collection of colors, designed and created by Murmac Paint Co. in conjunction with Beloit College Park Historic District.
• - A page introducing the WI State Historic Home Owners Tax Credit program.
  
• - A copy of Old House Journal Magazine – The single best resource of it’s kind and a gift from us.

All this in addition to information from…

• - Visit Beloit
• - Friends of Riverfront
• - Downtown Merchants
• - City of Beloit

While there’s  quite a bit here the expectation is not that anyone would try to read all this. More, it’s hoped that they’ll have it available for reference if and when needed. Additionally, presenting this affords a good excuse for a neighbor to knock on the door and introduce ourselves.

We’ve delivered several already as some new folks have moved in recently. If there’s a new home owner on your block let us know and we’ll get an NPA New Neighbor Welcome Pac to you.

info (at) BeloitNPA (dot) com

Unduplexing — one win at a time

Ana and I had a chance to meet with the “Neighbors Who Care” folks last week over at the NHS offices on Grand. Among the items talked about were homes that originally had been built as single family homes that had been divided up into multi-family units. As many folks may know the city is trying to coax property owners into returning some of these homes back to single-family use.

When I asked how well this was going from the perspective of those in attendance the impression I was left with was that progress has been slow with few homes actually being returned to single family occupancy. Compliance is difficult, particularly with a reluctant owner or occupants as you’d imagine. It was interesting then that just a few days following this we had the opportunity to meet a young family who’s doing just this!

We’d heard from a friend that a young family had moved into 239 St. Lawrence and was in the process of “Unduplexing” the home that had been carved up into four units. Wow! I’ve long admired this distinctive limestone home. You can tell that when built it must have been a very grand home for the area. Not only is it included in the Bluff Street historic district but it’s on the short list identified as a “Pivotal”. Indeed, it is a very cool house. Well, Zack & Terry were brave enough to take on this project house. They moved in from another Beloit neighborhood and are familiar with old-house living.

It’ll be work ahead no doubt but the home looks to have great potential for rehab and improved property value. I think it’ll be a win for them.  I already know their having moved in is a win for the neighborhood.

The early movers (pioneers) buying into distinctive neighborhoods assume the greater risk but also reap the greater reward. As more pioneers discover and move in the neighborhood gets better and values improve. It’s bumpy, it doesnt always happen for sure but there are a number of historic neighborhoods and grand homes I wish I’d invested in if I knew then…

There are some amazing homes around town that sadly have been duplexed. We could use some more Zack-n-Terrys. If you see them be sure to say hi and welcome them.