The Lawrence Park Historical Society, with funding provided by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) and Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, have contracted with the historic preservation consulting firm Naylor Wellman, LLC for the creation of a National Register Historic District for Lawrence Park. The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of properties recognized by the federal government as worthy of preservation for local, state, or national significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture.
This Historic District will further the sense of place and give identity to the neighborhood while providing the opportunity for historic tax credit projects for income producing buildings located within the District. Historic preservation of these buildings helps to stabilize and increase property values, strengthen the local economy, and enhance the community’s attractions to prospective residents, businesses and tourists. This project does not include creation of a local historic district.
Naylor Wellman will be photographing and documenting the exterior of houses, buildings and institutions located within the proposed Historic District; between Water Street and Smithson Avenue to the east and west, and E. Lake Road and Bell Street to the north and south. The District is representative of a corporate residential community project providing housing for employees of General Electric Company Erie Works. It represents two periods of development; the Townsite Plan and the Garden City plan designed by National Planner, John Nolen. The proposed boundary encompasses historic architectural resources spanning from 1911 to 1968 under the National Register 50-year guideline.
Naylor Wellman, LLC is a women-owned business located in Northeast Ohio. The firm was established in 2013 and specializes in historic building preservation and adaptive-use, architectural history & historic preservation planning with experience spanning 40+ years with projects in OH, CT, IL, IN, MI, NY, PA, and WI. Principals, Wendy and Diana, are registered Preservation Consultants qualified under the Federal Historic Preservation Professional requirements, U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archeology and Historic Preservation (48 FR 44716).