The Bald Eagles of Beloit Wisconsin

The Rock River bisects downtown Beloit WI. One block south from the primary east-west road, Grand Ave. brings you to where at least seven Bald Eagles have taken up residence to live and feed from the Rock River. I’m not a videographer. I’m simply an owner of a flip video so pardon the video quality. If you’re patient you’ll see three instances of the Eagles feeding from the River and at least once where I was able to capture seven of the eagles in a single frame. I hope this is indicative of the ecosystem of the Rock River here.

The video does not do justice. Had to be there. They’re amazing. It’s certainly worth a brief walk down the path along the river to watch them.

Enjoy.
Rick

01/17/2011 Update: Turns out I was wrong… there aren’t seven Bald Eagles roosting but TWELVE!

Here’s what they really look like, from the one who actually knows how to take a picture, Mr. OldOnliner.
You can see his other work here.

Beloit College Students turn out to help neighbor & neighborhood

A property owner in the College Park historic district has been in real need of some help. There had been two gatherings already of neighbors and friends to help clean out the house but there remained the 3rd floor attic space along with a number of miscellaneous thing needing cleaning and cleaning out. When we were told that there was a group of Beloit College students interested in helping out in the neighborhood we were thrilled.

Who knew the number of kids that would end up turning out. Wow!

It was gratifying to see wave upon wave of students coming through the front door ready and willing to help us out and pitch in. In the spirit of many hands make for light work they were able to pound out very quickly what would have taken the prior and smaller gatherings of neighbors much longer.

The college is a good neighbor to have. And having students as these… well, double bonus. We took some pics and posted them on our Beloit NPA facebook page here. I’m sorry I didn’t get names. If you’re a student and you recognize someone we’d appreciate your tagging them.

Thanks to all of you who turned out. We couldn’t have done it without your help.

Repair or Replace Old Windows?

Don’t know if it’s getting old that I post about replacement windows but it has become epidemic.

Serving on the “Landmarks Commission” in my commmunity we’ve seen a doubling of COA’s (certificate of appropriateness) this last year over the year prior for taking out repairable windows for “replacement” windows.

By the time a homeowner has made the decision to replace their windows, submitted their COA and come to the commission their minds are already set and they’ve resigned themselves that they’re going to be spending all that money to replace their windows. After all, the window manufacturers, retailers and installers have all made very compelling arguments for why they should do so. And to boot there are “home energy” subsidy/incentives.

It’s “Green” and saves energy so I’ll save money in the long run on heating expense right? It’ll increase my homes value, right? I’ll bite the bullet and spend the money. It must be the right thing to do. Right?

Well without the benefit of knowing that there are lower-cost alternatives and what the down side is for taking out their repairable, “green-er” and potentially equally efficient windows (combined with sound storm windows) they’re making the best decision they can. And therein lies the challenge. There is very little counterbalance to the prevailing marketing message that replacement windows are the best choice. Consumers simply don’t know what the down-side is, what there options are or how to decide.

• There is a new website, savethewindow.org recently launched by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that attempts to set the record straight on what the hidden costs are of “replacement windows”. They do a great job of telling the story. They’ve also produced a nice little video.

• This is the single most compelling outline for how to decide… Should I, or should I not replace my windows. “Repair or Replace Old Windows – A visual look at the Impacts” (It’s a PDF download)

I would though like to add a couple points and observations of my own though. Note, I’ve completely ripped off the pics from the NT’s document “Repair or Replace Old Windows” above to illustrate my own points. So photo credits to them.

• It’s going to impact my homes resale value.

If you have a distinctive, well maintained older home you’re not going to out-new the new construction on the edges of town. I propose that you’re better off playing to the strength of your home and that is the period charm and character of your old house… and that includes your windows. Chances are a new buyer, if they’re interested in “Old Houses” likely have an appreciation for the character original windows add. Clunky, replacement windows can actually diminish the character of your distinctive old house and, I propose, impact your homes marketability.

• I’m increasing the resale value of my home right?

Often times not. You’ll find that you can’t afford to replace distinctive, high quality windows with anything like what was there originally. It’s just too @%#$ expensive to try and replicate with new windows.

As a result what happens is they swap in down-graded approximations. Add one more nail to the coffin of what had once been a distinctive old house with charm to one that has been denuded and reduced to remudeled ordinaryness.

Old house enthusiasts who can already discern and appreciation the aesthetic of original period windows are likely not interested in rip-n-replace in the first place. It’s more likely that those who don’t see or value the aesthetic of original windows that are quickest to pull them out. These folks are likely better persuaded by the pragmatic economics of replacements.

Actually this is the easier point to make. There is a growing number of independent, 3rd party evaluations on the actual energy savings and cost savings of repaired original windows with a storm over replacement windows. Many of these studies are coming from the utility companies themselves who are debunking the replacement window cost savings smoke-n-mirrors. I’ve blogged on this elsewhere but these citations have expanded since this post.

Beloit – National Trust Main Street Award, 2011 semi-finalist

No, Beloit has not won anything… yet. However…

This is very cool that Beloit is considered among the short list of those communities downtowns deserving of a Main Street Award. Time will tell if we get the nod. You can be sure I’ll be watching.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been sponsoring the “Main Street” program for about thirty years now. It’s a program to support communities historic down towns because, as they say on their website…

Cities and towns across the nation have come to see that a prosperous, sustainable community is only as healthy as its core.

Beloit Daily News article here.

Sustainable, thriving and historic, center-city downtowns don’t happen by accident. Downtowns that are not making it are all over the place and easy to find. It takes a unified, and I’d say enlightened effort not only by the merchants themselves of course, but also city management and it’s residents.  The Main Street Program does a lot but it doesn’t do it for you. If not for the hard work of those involved and the support of the community at large… it doesn’t happen.

And if I may… I believe viable historic downtowns and their surrounding historic neighborhoods work in sync and are mutually supportive. As I’ve said before and elsewhere, proximity is one of the best parts of old house, historic district living. And living just down the street from a thriving downtown is… well, cool.

As it happens only last night Downtown Beloit hosted one of its many yearly downtown events, Holidazzle. It was very well attended. There was music everywhere. Lots of friends, good energy, LOTS of folks WALKING around going from place-to-place. It’s something you can do in a downtown. I can’t imagine something like this even being possible in a suburban strip-malled shopping environment. I don’t believe people (consumers) make the kind of personal connection with generic, franchised retailers out along the interstate. Perhaps that just me.

I do believe Beloit has something special and uncommon here. And they’re wise enough to recognize it and capitalize on it.

I first became aware of Main Street ~ twenty years ago when living in IL. A couple of communities in particular I thought were particularly attractive because of their downtowns. Libertyville, where I lived for a time and Naperville I discovered were both Main Street communities. So I’d seen what it can do.

Capitalizing on the unique character and potential of historic downtowns is not just a Savannah GA thing. Or closer to home, Galena IL thing. Or closer to home Lake Geneva WI thing. It works for no-nonsense, pragmatic, non-sentimental, bottom line minded mid-west communities like Beloit.

Earlier this week I found out that it’s official, Paddle & Trail will the next new merchant coming to down town Beloit. (they’ll be located alongside the new canoe launch on the river… also downtown) Last night was Holidazzle in downtown Beloit and was big fun. The kicker of finding that Beloit is on the short list of Main Street Award winners this morning seemed a fitting, well deserved and timely tribute.

(The new canoe launch opened up last spring. That white building is the back of where Paddle & Trail will be moving in. Cool huh?)

Selling an old house: How-to for property owners.

A recent continuing education seminar put on by the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota and Portland OR addressed how best to market old houses.  It was reported on recently on the Finance & Commerce website.

“Owning and selling a historic property can be a gratifying – and lucrative – experience for property owners. But the process of determining a property’s historic status and then properly marketing it to reflect that status can make the difference between a big sale and an ordinary one.”

A key factor is that of simple economics of supply and demand. There is an ever-expanding supply of new home construction for that larger share of the market that appreciates new construction.

For that smaller but growing market for quality old houses with character in stable and improving neighborhoods in convenient proximity to community amenities, that supply is diminishing in many areas but growing to meet demand in others as property owners renovate and restore their homes.

What are best practices for selling old houses in historic districts?

• Doing your homework on the house. “All of that allows you to create a story around the property.”

Personally, I love stories. And old houses and neighborhoods have stories that simply don’t exist in suburban and new construction. Knowing the story of the house and effectively telling it adds real value to your home.

• “Some key selling points for a historic property, she said, are associated tax incentives…”

If your home is already within a historic district up to 25% of approved work can be recouped. This is significant. If though your home is outside the historic district your home may be individually registered or eligible. Marketing that your home as within a historic district communicates there are higher standards. There are some safeguards that help protect the home and neighborhood from  some things that can diminish property values.

There are a number of additional points the presenters tough on. Interesting to note they emphasize how originally intact is the home.

“…be sure to highlight the property’s original elements, Davis said. Is the home’s character still intact? Are the moldings and fixtures original? Has the building been restored, as opposed to remodeled?”

Too often we see a short-sighted rip-n-replace mindset when home maintenance comes into play. This is particularly prevalent among flippers and some residents who don’t fully realize they’re actually degrading their own property. If a potential buyer is interested in an old or historic property in the first place it’s most likely they also have an appreciation for the original fabric of the house. Even if shabby and in need of repair, as long as it still exists restoration is still an option. Once removed though its often cost prohibitive to replace again with the grade of materials that have been removed…. if it’s even available at any price.

Given the current housing situation if you live in an old house the linked article on how to sell old houses is likely good information to have. Wanting to maximize your return on your home though is not unique to a slow housing market and will remain true later when things improve.

Wisconsin Historical Society – Photo Archives

The Wisconsin Historic Society has been hard at work digitizing it’s vast photo collection and getting them online. They’ve been working on this over the last year but don’t know how much further they have to go. Every few months I’ll go in to see if they’ve added anything more from the Beloit area. You can view the emerging archive for Beloit here.

Anyway, there are many that I find interesting but was intrigued by the Harriet Wheeler House.  The house dated from 1884 is identified as being located “…at the corner of Chapin Street and Milwaukee Road.) Interesting, but WHICH corner? Anyone out there know?

Given the background topography I’d judge it was either the N.W. corner or N.E.

Thanks to the magic of Google Maps Street View this is what that intersection looks like today. You can sweep the image around to get a look at the other corners. What do you think? Anyone know where it actually was located? You can comment below.

View Larger Map

“Special Meeting” called to review College Parking plans

Please take a look. Let us know what you think.

There will be a “Special Meeting” of the Landmarks Commission tomorrow evening to revisit the Beloit College proposal for expanded parking, among other things.

Landmarks Commission Special Meeting:

• June 22nd.
• 5:00 p.m.
• City Hall Forum

Following the commission meeting last Tuesday Beloit College has made some revisions to their proposed COA. It is in the public record and you can download it here.

What has drawn public comment on this COA is mostly around proposed parking changes on Emerson.

Given some timing constraints this date and time was the soonest that was available to revisit this COA. Public consideration and input is always helpful and welcomed regardless of your position on this or any items before the Landmarks Commission.

If you are available to attend, you are welcomed. If you are not able to attend, you are invited to send a -brief- note to City Planner Drew Pennington.
penningtond@ci.beloit.wi.us

If you are sending a note please include your name and address for the record. Can’t say for sure but I’d assume anonymous comments may be void.

The college is also proposing changes to public property on Chapin Street and College Street. You can see this on the map attached to the COA. This is NOT however part of the COA or under the review of the Landmarks Commission.

Parking in the public right-of-way will likely be reviewed by the Traffic Review Committee on Monday, June 28th and the City Council on Tuesday, July 6th.

Traffic Review Committee Meeting:

• Monday June 28th.
• 1:30 p.m.
• City Hall Forum

City Council Meeting:

• Tuesday July 6th.
• 7:00 p.m.
• City Hall Forum

 Print This Post

Beloit College – Parking

Just letting folks know and looking for some input.

Beloit College is in need of additional parking and has submitted a COA (certificate of appropriateness) proposal to be considered by The Landmarks Commission on:
Tuesday, June 15
7:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
The Beloit College COA is in the public record and available on the city website here.

The college, like any property owner within one of Beloit’s historic districts enjoys the benefits and protections it affords. Like any property owner they are also required to submit a COA (certificate of appropriateness) for proposed changes that fall within the purview of the Landmarks Commission.

The Landmarks Commission volunteers serve to advocate for and serve the interests of property owners residing within the districts specifically and by extension the broader community.

The reason for this communication is to inform those living within the College Park historic district and others concerned with neighborhood preservation. It would seem that some, perhaps many, are not aware of the proposed Beloit College COA. The Landmarks Commission volunteers always welcome neighborhood/community input.

All the Landmarks Commission detail is likewise available here including the other two COA’s that will be presented at the next meeting.

If you’d like to share a comment you may do so below.

Hope this helps,
Rick

Great Unveilings – Kalamazoo, Elgin, Rock Island

While some homeowners are still covering up their distinctive old houses a growing number of others are doing just the opposite. Entire neighborhoods are gathering together to assist historic home owners strip off unoriginal siding including aluminum, “style stone”, cement fiber, asphalt and even more recent vinyl siding. In the process they’re  revealing character and beauty long-lost, hidden beneath that unoriginal siding.

ILLINOIS

Elgin – I have friends down there and just found out their community is turning out on May 1st to do SEVEN (7) homes, all in one day!

Pics from these 2010 Elgin Great Unveilings here.

(May is National Historic Preservation Month) Past Elgin Unveilings.

Rock Island – They just got written up in “The Commissioner” for their legacy of hosting 1-3 Great Unveilings each year for nearly 20 years. Conversations with the folks there indicate that they’ve begun running out of homes to do.

The Broadway Historic District encompasses 580 homes in the Mississippi River town of Rock Island. Many of these historic homes were covered over with artificial siding in the 1930s and 40s, with the promise of low maintenance. In Broadway in particular, many of these homes were also turned into duplex and apartments over the years, and the neighborhood lost much of its character in the process. In the 1980s, a small group of dedicated homeowners decided to take action and bring Broadway back to life, by advocating home ownership and historic preservation.

Michigan

Kalamazoo – While checking something else out entirely I stumbled upon Kalamazoo doing “Great Unveilings“. This one sponsored by their “Old House Network“.

Curious and always interested to speak with like-minded folks in other communities I reached out to the coordinators about their program and their experiences with Great Unveilings.

I had a very pleasant conversation with Sharon Ferraro who serves as the Historic Preservation Coordinator / Downtown Design Review Coordinator. Evidently her avocation is neighborhood preservation and involvement with the Kalamazoo “Old House Network”. You should check out their website and facebook page. They’ve been very active for many years now, sponsor some great programs and have a very nice website. All this stands to reason as I found out that Kalamazoo, with over 2,075 individually listed properties spanning six historic districts has the largest volume of historic properties per capita in the state of Michigan.

Anyway, I was curious about their Great Unveilings. Turns out they’re getting ready for their third one. They are big fans of the program and it’s been working out very well for them. Their last one, last year evidently was written up in the Old House Journal for July 2009.

The way they work it is in collaboration with their local Habitat for Humanity who “loans” them their volunteer supervisor who runs the days work and also provides ladders and scaffolding. And while they schedule six hours to complete the job it’s only taken them about four hours with prior projects. Sharon says you’d be amazed at how quickly it goes.

The home owner covers the cost of the dumpster and lunch (unless donated as has happened for them). The Old House Network provides crowbars, eye protection and face masks. Importantly, OHN also carries their own insurance that covers their yearly unveilings along with other workshops, expo and such.

So, while some are still wanting to cover over the distinctive character of their old house there are others who are doing just the opposite and uncovering scalloped, decorative siding, banding and other character long-lost, hidden beneath unoriginal siding.

Beloit – Here in town the homeowners at 641 Church are in the midst of doing this on their own.

I’d love to help them however we as an association need two things.

1. We need to complete our not-for-profit application.
2. Once that’s in place we’ll need to carry our own insurance. $300-400/yr.

Your membership donation will help us get there.  We still need ~$200 to submit our NFP application. You’ll see the “Donate” button in the right-navigation.

Historic before / after pics

Here’s one…
Ana-n-I were checking out some of the pics in the Beloit College archives. Fred Burwell was kind enough to help us out. One of the pics I thought was particularly interesting because it would -seem- to include a pic of Chuck Rydberg’s Murmac Paint store on Park Ave Beloit.  Chuck was kind enough to meet with our group last month to talk about painting old and historic houses. It was a great presentation. He certainly knows his subject.

What had once been a private residence evidently was later converted by 1914 into one of Beloit’s early hospitals. Obviously that property was subsequently taken down to make way for a gas station which in turn is now no longer in operation.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

(click image to enlarge)
I’d noticed the fancy roof on the Murmac Paint Store in the past and though it curious. The roof texture on the carriage house in the historic pic is too washed out to make it out. The carriage house does look tall enough for the two stories of the Murmac Paint Store.
What’cha think?
Comment below

« Previous Page — Next Page »