Facade Issue No. 74
(note: excerpt from Feature article in the Fall 2004 Facade)

Community Luncheon

Historic Neighborhood Schools

     Across the nation billions of dollars are being spent to improve public school buildings, which are often a community’s largest investment in art and architecture. In Ohio, we will spend over $10.2 billion in the next several years on school rebuilding. How do we guarantee that Ohio’s children get the best learning environment we can give them and ensure that we invest our tax dollars wisely? In neighborhoods across Ohio, decisions are being made to renovate or replace historic school buildings. Are our state’s policies structured to achieve our educational goals for our children without damaging important community development priorities?

     Ohio ’s current school facility funding guidelines make it difficult for communities to choose renovation. The Cleveland Restoration Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and Heritage Ohio advocate for state policies that would level the playing field for older and historic neighborhood schools. The society, in partnership with the Trust, welcomes Royce Yeater to speak on Ohio’s public policy regarding historic neighborhood schools. Mr. Yeater is director of the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a nationally recognized authority on historic school renovation.

     Restoring historic neighborhood schools typically saves tax dollars, reinvests in existing infrastructure, safeguards our cultural heritage and supports sustainable communities. Mr. Yeater has a national perspective on state policies affecting historic schools and, through his extensive experience as a practicing architect, understands the challenges school districts face in making renovation versus replacement decisions.

     Join us on Tuesday, November 23, 2004, at the Marriott Cleveland at Key Center Ballroom from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Together we can create rehabilitated historic neighborhood schools that meet twenty-first century education standards.

For a full copy of the Fall 2004 Facade, you may contact the Cleveland Restoration Society at (216) 426-1000 or download it with Acrobat Reader 5.0 or better by clicking HERE.