DNR to recognize historic preservation standouts

Indiana DNR Release:

Outstanding individuals and organizations dedicated to preserving cultural resources throughout Indiana will be presented with 2010 Indiana Historic Preservation Awards by the Department of Natural Resources at the statewide historic preservation conference in New Harmony, April 7-9.

The presentations will be made by the DNR Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology at the conference, which is called “Preserving Historic Places.” Descriptions of the awards and their winners follow.

The 2010 Hoosier Preservationist Award, the highest honor given by the Indiana State Historic Preservation Office, goes to Stanley Madison. Started in 1999, this award recognizes local Hoosier advocates of historic preservation.

The legacy of Lyles Station, a small community west of Princeton, began when freed slaves from Tennessee migrated north and purchased land in rural Indiana. At its peak (1880-1913), Lyles Station had 800 residents and consisted of 55 homes, a post office, a railroad station, an elementary school, two churches, two general stores, and a lumber mill. The 1913 flood of the Patoka and Wabash rivers left much of the area underwater, beginning the area’s decline.

Today, few homes remain. Half of the residents are descendants of the original black settlers. Along with the scattered houses, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a grain elevator, and the schoolhouse are the only physical reminders of the settlement.
Madison chairs the Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corporation, which was established in June 1997. He has helped raise funds for the restoration of the Lyles Consolidated School. When students and visitors tour the facility they can better understand the history of the community.

The Award for Outstanding Restoration Effort goes to The Howard School Restoration Group, Inc. Built in 1881 and located in rural Fayette in Boone County, the brick one-room school, abandoned since 1916, was acquired by this group in 2004. Volunteers helped secure grants, hired an architect, and began work on the building. Many professionals donated their time, but the organization’s members did much of the rehabilitation work themselves.

The group capped its effort by successfully nominating the building to the National Register of Historic Places. Group president William Coan led the research, and the school was officially listed in September 2009.

The Award for Outstanding Grant-Funded Rehabilitation will be shared by two rehabilitation projects that were completed in 2009, and funded by Historic Preservation Fund grants. The recipients are Franklin Heritage Inc., for its rehabilitation and restoration of the Artcraft Theatre in Franklin, and to the Fort Vallonia Days Association for its rehabilitation of the Joe Jackson Hotel in Vallonia.

Ten years ago, Franklin’s vintage 1922 theatre was up for sale as first-run movies moved out of the downtown. In September 2001, Franklin Heritage Inc. started to help support the theatre, and purchased the building in 2004.

In 2008, FHI received a $50,000 rehabilitation grant for repair. The grant generated interest from the City of Franklin Redevelopment Commission, which awarded an additional $150,000, and attracted labor and material donations totaling $98,000 from Kawneer and Architectural Glass and Metal.

The Fort Vallonia Days Association bought the Joe Jackson Hotel in 1999. The two-story brick hotel was built in 1914. Although deteriorated, the hotel had not changed much in 85 years. Initially, the Association considered demolition, but member Sally Waldkoetter formed a committee to explore restoration options.

The hotel was listed in the National Register in June 2005, a year in which part of the roof collapsed. In 2006, the committee received a competitive Historic Preservation Fund grant award for $20,920 for masonry rehabilitation on the upper portions of the building and installation of a new roof structure. In 2008, Fort Vallonia Days received a second HPF grant for $50,000 for more extensive rehabilitation.

The Historic Rehabilitation Achievement Award recognizes the work of the American Life Insurance Company for restoration of the Gibson Company Building in downtown Indianapolis. The annual award recognizes one of more than 30 Certified Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit projects DHPA administers each year.

Constructed in 1917, the building was originally designed for the manufacture, sales and service of Wilys-Overland automobiles, which, at the time, was the second-largest car manufacturer in the United States next to Ford.

The building evokes the automobile businesses that dominated the city’s Capitol Avenue corridor during the first quarter of the 20th Century and is among the many terra-cotta faced buildings of the district and era.

The new Award for Outstanding Certified Historic Homeowner Rehabilitation
recognizes Brian and Emily Mack for their rehabilitation of the Carlos & Anne Recker House, in Irvington on Indianapolis’ east side.

Constructed in 1908, the house was built according to plans from the 1905 series of homes published in s The Craftsman magazine, through which construction plans were marketed by mail. This is the only Craftsman-style house in Indianapolis documented to actually have been designed by Gustav Stickley’s architectural staff, and one of only two in the state.

The exterior had been altered by application of aluminum siding. The Macks, who are the current owners, restored the original shingle-above-clapboard siding, and reconstructed carpentry details that had been altered by the aluminum installers.