From the city of Winterville:
The Winterville Historic Preservation Commission is elated to congratulate the City of Winterville for its successful pursuit of a $398,500 Community Development Block Grant offered through the State of Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs. These monies have been awarded to the City in order to fund a historically appropriate restoration and rehabilitation of Winterville’s circa 1850 blacksmith shop building.
This project has been a long time coming, and the HPC is grateful to have been invited to help guide it. From receiving an initial Historic Preservation Fund grant in Fall 2022 (which funded the selection of a preservation specialist to study the building), to contributing to the resulting Architectural Report, to supporting the city’s application for this recent grant, the Winterville HPC has eagerly awaited receiving today’s news.
While certain character-defining aspects of the blacksmith shop’s exterior are beyond repair and must be replicated, we now know that its framing is strong and can easily support adaptation and reuse. This restoration project will also reveal and protect certain irreplaceable aspects of the structure’s historical integrity, such as the exterior hitching rings on its eastern face and the original brick forge located in the building’s rear.
The Historic Preservation Commission would like to thank the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the City of Winterville, the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission, the Marigold Collective, historic structures architect Brandy Morrison, and everyone else who has been or will be involved with this project. Our community has always taken pride in building our present and future upon the foundations of our past, and we are thrilled that the blacksmith shop is about to find new life as well.
Sincerely,
The Winterville Historic Preservation Commission
Jonathan Scott, Chair
Jonathan Frye, Vice-Chair
Stacey Hilliard, Secretary
Virginia Ball
Nancy Tucker
Keri Valentine Winterville Historic Preservation Commission is elated to congratulate the City of Winterville for its successful pursuit of a $398,500 Community Development Block Grant offered through the State of Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs. These monies have been awarded to the City in order to fund a historically appropriate restoration and rehabilitation of Winterville’s circa 1850 blacksmith shop building.
This project has been a long time coming, and the HPC is grateful to have been invited to help guide it. From receiving an initial Historic Preservation Fund grant in Fall 2022 (which funded the selection of a preservation specialist to study the building), to contributing to the resulting Architectural Report, to supporting the city’s application for this recent grant, the Winterville HPC has eagerly awaited receiving today’s news.
While certain character-defining aspects of the blacksmith shop’s exterior are beyond repair and must be replicated, we now know that its framing is strong and can easily support adaptation and reuse. This restoration project will also reveal and protect certain irreplaceable aspects of the structure’s historical integrity, such as the exterior hitching rings on its eastern face and the original brick forge located in the building’s rear.
The Historic Preservation Commission would like to thank the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the City of Winterville, the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission, the Marigold Collective, historic structures architect Brandy Morrison, and everyone else who has been or will be involved with this project. Our community has always taken pride in building our present and future upon the foundations of our past, and we are thrilled that the blacksmith shop is about to find new life as well.
Sincerely,
The Winterville Historic Preservation Commission
Jonathan Scott, Chair
Jonathan Frye, Vice-Chair
Stacey Hilliard, Secretary
Virginia Ball
Nancy Tucker
Keri Valentine
I think this is Federal funding. Given our huge deficit, is this a useful expenditure? I'm sure there were huge amounts spent in other states. Yes, this will be a "nice thing to have." But when our country is close to bankruptcy, I'd put debt reduction at the top of things I'd like to have.