The Erie Center for Design and Preservation (ECDP), a nonprofit organization focused on the preservation and adaptive reuse of greater Erie’s built environment, has launched an exciting new project called, “Name This Place That Matters” on its Facebook page which is aimed at elevating local awareness and appreciation for the unique and rich character of buildings and structures throughout the city.
Launched on September 11, and continuing every Tuesday for the next year, one close-up detailed photograph of one of the many important buildings that contribute to the life, beauty and history of this city will be posted on the ECDP Facebook page. Visitors to the page are invited to identify and name the building or site. On Thursday of the same week, a longer-range view of the building, along with its identity and a brief history, will be posted.
Two local photographers, Ron McCarty and Tanya Mattson, have taken photographs of more than 50 “Places That Matter,” which will be used over the first year of the project. ECDP plans to engage the public through its Facebook page, Web site and public programs with the hope of building the list and then using it to help shape policies that can lead to greater preservation and adaptive reuse of the city’s built environment. The “Places That Matter” project will also occasionally post images of buildings or structures that have been demolished, with the intent of heightening appreciation for those lost gems of the city’s past which potentially could have been saved with more effective local policies and greater foresight.
The ECDP “Name This Place That Matters Campaign” can be found at the organization’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ErieCenterforDesignandPreservation
About Erie Center for Design and Preservation
Established in 2007, the non-profit Erie Center for Design and Preservation is in the midst of a very busy year. Having received a grant from the Erie Non Profit Partnership, the group is currently producing a new strategic plan for its long term growth and development. ECDP also began the process of updating the citywide inventory of hundreds of historic properties that were last surveyed more than three decades ago. To help celebrate National Historic Preservation Month, ECDP conducted a highly successful tour of the West 21st Street Historic District. ECDP partnered with the Erie Citizens Planning Academy held last fall and spring. And it is about to release a highly anticipated illustrated report centered on the potential reuse of the Villa Maria Chapel at West Ninth and Plum. The report is drawn from a design charrette held last fall that engaged professional architects and community members in a daylong design process aimed at envisioning potential practical new uses for the historic chapel.