The Sweet Sounds Rehabs and Restorations - 1746 Ekin Ave

This summer, the sound of hammers and saws can be heard all over the city. Over the next couple weeks I plan to visit and feature rehabs in progress around the area.

The home at 1746 Ekin Avenue – in the Uptown Neighborhood Association – was my first stop. The work is moving right along.

New owner Greg Doty has had crews at the house working hard. The improvement is striking. Mr. Doty acquired the home from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (HLFI). It was HLFI who worked with the previous troubled homeowner to save the home from demolition.

The home had been in steady decline over the last two decades. Neighbors were fed up. The home had hit the city demolition list but thankfully the Building Commission had the patience and foresight to allow the time needed for HLFI to facilitate the transfer of the home to a preservation minded buyer. This tale appears to be on the way to a happy ending for all.

Installment 8: Progress report on Ted’s house – 1/39th of the way done! Cause for celebration

We got ourselves a final coat of paint on another part of the house. I’ll have an extra brew this evening to celebrate. The following slide show tells the tale better than my babbling.

One step forward typically means a step backwards somewhere else. We found more rotted wood here than was anticipated. It’s going to be a long hot summer…

Installment 7 - Work Continues after a week long Siesta

I took a week off. I spent a little time at the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was a great trip. However, there was a little bit of house work done before and after the trip.

We’ve got some trim work back on the porch which I’m really happy about.
Box gutters have been gutted and returned.


It’s progress.

Installment 6 – You just can’t rush this stuff

I ran out of gas Monday. Three days of manual labor in a row? I'm pooped. But I did manage to finish stripping the south and west side of the porch and get a coat of primer on it. Next will be: replacing the trim work ripped off when the vinyl went on, soffit replacement where needed and then a top coat of paint.

Of note, I did not hit my head on anything and "soffit" does not appear to be a word that spell checker recognizes.

David Barksdale receives National Preservation Award

David Barksdale is the face of preservation and history in New Albany. It’s his passion. To know Dave is to know he shares many characteristics with the Energizer bunny – he just keeps going and going.

If there’s anything going on in New Albany concerning preservation or history, Dave most likely organized it, promoted it, ran it and then starts planning to do it again.

Prior to yesterday’s Mansion Row Walking Tour (the last local event of Preservation Month) the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution recognized this fact by awarding him their Historic Preservation Medal. The Painkeshaw Chapter of the DAR are caretakers of Scribner House, which was the perfect location for the award presentation.

The national award is presented to individuals or groups whose study and/or promotion of some aspect of American history-on the regional or national level-has significantly advanced the understanding of America’s past.

Good job Dave!

Installment 5 – (Progress report on Ted’s House) “If one more G—Damn thing hits me on the head….” & Lofty Ideas Downtown Walking Tour

I have a solid memory of the first time I heard my father curse. Dad piddled around a lot in the garage and yard (he still does). I was 8 or 9 at the time and was in his shadow most of the time.

Setting the scene - He was in the garage. I was asking goofy questions about what he was doing, why he was doing it, what was for lunch, why is the sky blue, etc.

I know he was looking for something but I don’t recall what. He was pulling stuff off a shelf and a hammer fell on his head. I imagine it must have been rather painful, but the piddling went on unabated. A few minutes later, I’ll be darned if a box of junk didn’t fall off another shelf and land square on top of his head.

The pain must have been pretty bad, because I remember him opening the overhead garage door and heading outside in an obvious effort to “walk it off” and not blurt the inevitable expletive that was to come. At that moment, the garage door came off its hinges and, you guessed it, hit him on the head.

It was then that he said, “If one more G—Damned thing hits me on the head....”.
It was one of those opened ended statements that we’ve all made at one time or another. I didn’t stick around to see what would happen if one more thing did hit him the head.

Even at that young age, I had an appreciation of good slapstick humor which I probably obtained from reruns of the Three Stooges. I laughed long and hard then and I’m laughing long and hard now.

What’s this got to do with work on my house? I hit my head three times when walking under the scaffolding set up on the front of my house. It hurt badly each time. However, I didn’t use an expletive but did chuckle to myself because of that memory.
Time was short this weekend (I sure say that a lot lately). But I did get some paint stripped. My painter did some work too. Progress is progress I suppose. And besides, I’ve got a three day weekend coming up! Yippee!

The Downtown Walking Tour was a huge success

The head count was 52 attendees for the “Lofty Ideas” Downtown walking tour this past Saturday – a National Preservation Month event. The weather was great. The tours were great. See a full spread of photographs here: Preservation Month Photographs - Lofty Ideas

The Cardinal Ritter Birthplace - blight removal

The before and after photographs are impressive. The first shot is from about 4 years ago. The second from last week.

It's hard to believe it's the same home - the Cardinal Ritter Birthplace - at 13th and Oak Street. Progress has been admittedly slow. But you can help speed it up by opening up the check book a little. Read all about the project at the Cardinal Ritter Birthplace Foundation website. Click on the "contact us" tab for donation information.

The Mission - taken from the Foundation website: "The Cardinal Ritter Birthplace Foundation aims to renovate the highly endangered birthplace and childhood home of Cardinal Joseph Elmer Ritter in New Albany, Indiana."

"...to develop the Ritter house into a dynamic community center that can provide a range of social services to residents both within the immediate neighborhood and the greater community."

"Funds are being sought to stabilize and restore the exterior of this landmark property to ensure its survival. Additional funds are also sought to ensure the building's future."

Installment 4 (reports on progress on my house restoration): Part 1 - Take it off, take it all off & Part 2 – Won’t you be my neighbor?

Part 1: Take it off, take it all off...

Time was short this weekend, but I did manage to hit the cornice work around the front porch. The old paint, which is alligatored and failing, is all coming off. I’m stripping, one provocative inch after another.

Part 2: Won’t you be my neighbor?

The home next door to me (844 Cedar Bough Place) is hitting the market soon. It has been vacant for over a year. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good house on a good street. If you’re up for a challenge, please call an agent and schedule a showing.

Beware that there’s a Ted lien against the property. I’ve been cutting the grass there for three years. The new owner will need to pay up with dinner at a local eatery of my choice and all the beer I can drink. I’ll consider the debt paid after that.

Here's a shot of the main stair through the front door. The original fireplaces are intact. There's a lot of original fabric left in the house.

The view from my front porch.

The "Bough" is calling for someone.....

Installment 3: Porno for Preservationists – and it’s Preservation Month

Home security is important. I’ll not deny that. The screen door that was on my house when I bought it was a “security” door. The security door, along with the monochrome vinyl, gave the house a distinct cell block feel. I was not fond of that at all.

Was the door necessary? Keep in mind that there are six foot windows around the entire house that a potential burglar could literally break and walk through. Perhaps the door was a bit of overkill?

Regardless, the door is gone, no doubt being melted down as I write this to supplement humvee armor in Iraq.
The replacement screen door is up. It’s a wooden door purchased from http://www.vintagedoors.com/. It’s my favorite house project to date. I love looking at it as I pull in the driveway. I love looking out of it from the inside. I love the way the stained glass glows through it at night. I love this door so much, I may ask it to marry me.

The gable on front of the house received its first top coat of paint this weekend. The return is nearly complete. It’s quite a contrast.

Don’t forget about Preservation Month activities. Check the right sidebar for more information. The first event is this Thursday, May 10th.

Installment 2: “Honey, there’s a guy on the phone that’s going to sell us the easy life!”

Wife: The easy life?

Husband: That’s right, the easy life forever! We’ll never have to paint our house again!

Wife: Can we defer that maintenance that we know we really should be doing too?

Husband: You betcha!

Wife: How?

Husband: He says we can cover our architecturally charming little home with monochromatic plastic!
Wife: Gosh darn it honey, that’s a great solution to avoiding our problems that we know we should address but don’t really want to. I’ll go get the checkbook.

Husband: Sweetie, can you walk into our new laminator that just happens to be the same size as you? I think I left our checkbook in there.

Wife: No problem pumpkin. I’m gonna love you forever……………

I’ve been hanging out on my porch roof this weekend – scraping, fixing, sanding and priming. So please indulge me a little as I poke fun at the folks who put vinyl on my house. I believe I've earned that right.

I’ve got a coat of primer on the front gable. If time allows, I’ll get it all painted up this week. Then we’ll move on to the next section.

Here’s the full sequence of the gable being returned to its proper state.

Here’s a link to Installment 1 - the Installment that started it all.

Installment 1: Scrape it, fix it, sand it, prime it, paint it

I plan to do regular postings this summer updating the status of the exterior restoration work on my house. To bring everyone up to speed very quickly –
*I bought my house on Cedar Bough Place about four years ago
*Two years ago I removed vinyl siding – aka “the point of no return”
*I had bad luck with a contractor and the house was untouched for the first year
*I eventually said “screw it” and started doing the work myself (with a ton of help)

I truly had no idea what I was doing. I’d painted interior rooms but never had attempted anything that approached the entire exterior of a home.

I bought books, went to workshops, asked friends for advice and eventually got started. It has been maddening, frustrating, painful, and time consuming. I’ve broken windows, put holes in my roof, fallen off a ladder, and can probably set off airport metal detectors with the amount of lead paint I’ve inhaled and is in my system.

But I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything. It’s been wonderful. I’m learning new stuff all the time.

This past weekend I started to prep the gable at the front of my house.

I’d known there were some trouble spots up there. But until you start taking the paint off, you never really know what you’re going to find.

How about a gapping hole?

After some sanding, application of wood hardener and wood epoxy, I ended up with this:

I got a coat of primer on it and will finish it up this weekend, time and weather permitting.

Stay tuned for more updates and the after pictures of the gable work.

Help Wanted – HistoricNewAlbany.Com Needs You

Be part of the team that is changing the image of New Albany one house at time! Be part of the HistoricNewAlbany.Com team!

There are multiple openings for a “House History Investigator”. Apply today!

Job Title: House History Investigator
Job Location: New Albany, Indiana

Responsibilities: The individual(s) will assist the Floyd County Historian, David Barksdale, in researching home histories for properties listed on HistoricNewAlbany.Com. Individual(s) will receive property addresses and then utilize tools available at the New Albany Floyd County Library Indiana Room to construct a history of the property for publishing on the website. Histories to include, but not limited to, original owners/builders, dates of construction, and identifying significant historical facts about residents of the home.

Qualifications: Training will be provided. Familiarity with the library a plus, but not necessary. Experience with computers also a plus – especially Microsoft Word.

Pay, Benefits, & Work Schedule
Salary – none
Benefits – personal smugness from a job well done
Work Schedule – anytime the library is open

Interested parties should contact David Barksdale at dddcbark@aol.com

Seriously, some help really is needed. The site popularity is growing and the number of listings is going up. The house histories and naming of the homes are things that help potential buyers connect with their future house. David does 99.9% of the histories and he can get behind due to his busy schedule and many other commitments. That means houses get delayed in hitting the website.

If you have the time to help, please contact him.

And don’t forget that on Tuesday May 15th – you can learn all the skills you need to research homes by attending the “Research Your Historic Home Workshop” - 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM at the New Albany – Floyd County Public Library, 180 West Spring Street, New Albany.

Reservations required: Call Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana – 812.284.4534.
Limit: 20 participants

NeighborWorks Training - Community Revitalization

In March, I had the opportunity to attend a NeighborWorks Training session at New Directions Housing Corporation. I joined a contingent of New Albanians along with about twenty five individuals from Louisville Metro neighborhoods. The training was part of series called “Community and Neighborhood Revitalization” and this was part one, “Strategies and Implementation Techniques for Creating Neighborhoods of Choice Through Revitalization”.

The highlight of the two day course was a walk through my neighborhood – S. Ellen Jones and parts of East Spring Street. The walk was part of the “Reading a Neighborhood” section of the training. Complete strangers walked where we live and then gave feedback. It was a little weird.

Over at S. Ellen Jones.org, I've summarized notes from the training. If you are interested in revitalization in New Albany please give it a look.

A definition of Community and Neighborhood Revitalization: Community and neighborhood revitalization is the strategic process of transforming neighborhoods and communities that lack vitality into places of choice through collaborations of residents, organizations and other stakeholders. These communities and neighborhoods strive to be resilient places where it makes sense for people to invest time, energy and money, where they are optimistic about their future, where they feel they have control over their surroundings and the capacity to respond to community dynamics, and where they are connected to each other and the larger region. The process addresses five key elements:

1. The neighborhood’s or community’s image
2. Market forces that act on the neighborhood or community
3. The physical conditions
4. The social conditions
5. Stakeholders’ ability to manage neighborhood or community issues and affairs

(Source: Strategies and Implementation Techniques for Creating Neighborhoods of Choice Through Revitalization, pg 29, NeighborWorks Training Institute)

Positve Trends and a new SEJNA website

March 2007 was another record month at HistoricNewAlbany.com. The numbers are impressive. Some of these visits are turning into home sales. Decisions are being made to invest in this community. HNA.com is helping facilitate that investment. Thank you Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Halo Applications, Develop New Albany and the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission for keeping the momentum going.

The site also received enhancements in March which include categories based on sale price and a new section for rentals.

S. Ellen Jones Neighborhood Association launches website:

Jim Sprigler (Halo Applications) strikes again, designing a community website for the folks in the S. Ellen Jones Neighborhood. The site purpose is to encourage resident participation and communication.

Check the featured news on the homepage for a great article on how neighborhoods in Battle Creek, Michigan worked towards revitalization. When you read it, I believe you’ll note some distinct similarities to New Albany. There are definitely some concepts in that article that local neighborhood groups should discuss and implement.

Iron work in New Albany - Take a walk

It’s spring and the weather is great for walks. Something new is blooming every day and the birds are chirping as well trying to build nests in every single freaking nook and cranny of my house! I curse the birds and the d#mn squirrels too. Oh well, I guess they come with the territory. But there are times when I wish I still had the Daisy BB gun I had as a kid.

I’m digressing though. Get out and take a walk. It’s a good time to appreciate the good things in our housing diversity in New Albany. I like to focus on different things when I stroll – ornate woodwork, architectural details, iron ornamentation, etc.

Below is a small sample of the impressive iron in our fair city. I’m sure you’ll spot more as you ramble around. Happy Spring!

Adaptive Reuse on a BIG scale - Reynolds Lofts

A tour hosted by Schaefer General Contracting Services last month started at the U.S. Marine Hospital and the incredible rebirth and restoration in process there (Read more here).

Part 2 of the tour was a visit to the Reynolds Lofts – an adaptive reuse project near the University of Louisville campus. It’s a huge project and a great example of adaptive reuse for a large industrial building. According to the website, Coolspaces.com, the structure was originally built to produce Model T’s. It later served as a factory for Reynolds Metal Company.

Seventy seven loft units will fill the building. Views are stunning – Churchill Downs, Papa Johns Stadium, the UofL Campus and the Louisville skyline. Summed up in one word, the place is cool.

How does all this relate to New Albany? We have our share of large vacant buildings in the area. The M. Fine building comes to mind. So does Silvercrest. I believe it’s only a matter of time before a large scale, signature project gets underway in New Albany.

While most of us don’t have millions in the bank to invest in a project, we are certainly playing our part by investing in our homes, participating in neighborhood associations, supporting downtown businesses and just being active in community. These seemingly small things will make the decision by a developer to invest in New Albany much easier. Let’s keep up the momentum.

Interest Up in Historic New Albany

Here’s some interesting data about what I consider a key indicator for our little City. The graph shows monthly Visits to the website HistoricNewAlbany.com. This is what is commonly known as a trend – and a positive one at that.
Obviously, interest is growing in real estate available in our historic neighborhoods. Whether you like it or not, word appears to be spreading about New Albany and this is objective data that supports that conclusion.

What other positive trends are happening in New Albany?