preservation commission

Today I learned that I have not been reappointed by the mayor to the Historic Preservation Commission of Mansfield which I have Chaired for a good number of years.  Several other long-time members were similarly dismissed also. 
I would just like to make it clear, for those who may confuse the two groups, that I am still the President of the Richland County Historical Society which operates Oak Hill Cottage. 
Oak Hill is a labor of love.  The HPCM chairmanship was much more of a burden of responsibility.  I was not ready to let it go, but I already feel the relief of not having to move that agenda forward this year.  Hopefully someone new will carry on appropriately.

more demolitions?

Cuyahoga County has been in the news recently because of their demolitions: 1000 last year and looking to demolish 20,000 if they can get the funding, according to news reports. 
Hard hit communities all over the country are facing similar challenges, although the lawless stripping and looting of foreclosed properties seems to be much more out of control in Cleveland than in most other cities.  Given that houses are systematically rendered worthless there as soon as they go vacant, it's easy to understand the need to demolish them at that point.  But I'm questioning how or why the demolition after the fact is touted as fighting blight, instead of what it really is...cleaning up after a failure all down the line. 
Here in Mansfield, where the looters and strippers are a little more subdued, and where perhaps the neighborhood vigilance has not eroded so badly, we should have a chance to apply some real solutions short of the wrecking ball.  We should resist the urge to look to Cleveland as a model for fighting blight.  Blight has already won the battle there.  We still have a fighting chance here.

What I'm suggesting is that more attention and funding be put into securing vacant properties.  That we learn how to live with and manage them.  And that we invest in positive approaches to preventing deterioration.  The money we are going to spend tearing houses down might be better spent and might create a few jobs if we apply it to code enforcement, winterization, secure boardups, lawn mowing, and maintenance.  Even where the community has to step in and put some money into a property to save it, it makes more sense than waiting for demolition.  The cost goes on the tax bill either way.  The demolition compounds the cost and loss by destroying a certain amount of real estate value and creating a non-contributing empty lot to the landscape. 
I'm forseeing a mounting frustration with vacant properties that is building, and because we've been lazy in applying preventive maintenance, a growing consensus that demolition is the answer.  I'm not even speaking as a "perservationist" in opposing that, rather from the conviction that it has no significant effect on battling blight.  It's the last act of the defeated...clearing the dead and dying from the battlefield and little else.

proposed historic district in the east village

A proposed historic district in the East Village would honor its Bohemian and older past, but strong opposition has developed from the churches in the neighborhood who see the move as creating hardship, expense, and bureaucracy...a familiar theme: New York Times article

Vacant property registration

Mansfield is one of many cities around the country looking at vacant property registration as a possible tool to improve the maintenance and upkeep of properties during the foreclosure process.  But this article out of Chicago is an indication Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are going to be opposing implementation of these ordinances on their foreclosures.  Chicago Tribune Article

monarch butterfly

A monarch butterfly chrysalis 'hatches'.  According to my friend Phil who gave it to me, this is the last generation of the summer and this butterfly will return to winter in Mexico.  Previous generations of the year live only about a month as they move northward, but the last group flies south. Time lapse is one frame per second.  This video is one minute long  = 1 hour.

1980

Some forgotten pictures I took sometime in the late 1970s, to 1980.  Oak Hill has since been restored of course.  Fifth and Walnut still stands vacant and unrestored.  The Cracker Factory is gone.  The Brewery is gone.  And little did I know when I took the picture that I would be carting that urn from the basement to the Carriage House some day for display!

update on uncle john's

Tom Acevski is now one week into the renovations for Uncle John's Restaurant on the Square.  Owner Nick Tanchevski is happy with the progress. 
The windows on the second and third floors have been repaired, the transom window glass replaced, and brickwork completed in the entryway.  A major transformation is taking place inside also. 

world coverage

News coverage of the damage to Mansfield's Shawshank tree has been global.  Here's a tally of news outlets picking it up so far.
The Guardian.  UK
Mirror.  UK
San Francisco Chronicle
Newsday
Daily Mail. UK
iNews880
Yidio
Shockya
Ecorazzi ("Green Gosip")
Gather
Zee News.  Mumbai India
Cinema Blend
UPI
411mania
TMZ
San Antonio Express
Spokesman Reviews
KSDK
Huffington Post
Detroit Free Press
Forbes
Telegraph.  UK
AP
NewsMax
New Tribune. Tacoma

uncle john's

Nick Tanchevski poses this morning beside the cast iron column exposed as he begins the renovation of his storefront at 18 S. Main Street in Mansfield.
The City of Mansfield Historic Preservation Commission held a special meeting on the site Monday afternoon to approve the first phases of his project.  Architect Tim Alexander, working for Nick, presented plans and alternatives depending on what would be found beneath the cover-up metal and wood installed over 50 years ago in a previous remodeling. 
What was uncovered was astounding.  "The most elaborate cast iron column I've ever seen in Mansfield" said Dan Seckel, Commission member and longtime preservation architect. 
So what else is there to be uncovered?  Beneath the yellow awning and behind blue enameled panels are transom windows that are slated for restoration.  How high the column goes, and the condition of the brick and stone above it are yet to be seen.  These areas will be exposed shortly as Nick peels back the more recent layers.

upright elephant ear

My ear:

springtime lawn renewal

The results so far of replacing the lawn at Oak Hill:
     Nothing short of totally burning off the old grass, crabgrass, and weeds and covering with two inches of topsoil will work to suppress the reemergence of crabgrass and weeds to some degree as the new lawn comes in.  Simply scorching crabgrass seedlings works to kill them, but this is not effective on older, established crabgrass, which seems to be reemerging regardless of how deeply it's buried if it wasn't totally burned.  I have yet to understand how crabgrass is called an annual, when it seems to survive through our winters here.  
    At the front of the cottage using the burn and bury method, the new lawn has come in weed-free except near the porch and daffodil beds where it couldn't be totally burned off.   The hillside to the east was only partially burned and scorched selectively, and less topsoil was added.  The result has not been nearly as good. 

crabgrass update

The front yard at the Cottage is coming along nicely and the east hillside is just starting to green up.

crabgrass

At Oak Hill Cottage we needed to start over with the lawn at the front and east side of the house after removing some shrubbery and other work that required replacement of large areas of the lawn anyway.
The idea of using roundup to kill the grass and weeds, then reseeding, sounded reasonable.  The results were not the best, to say the least.  What transpired was that the spring weather was perfect for all of the dormant crabgrass seed in the soil to sprout much faster than the grass seed that we sowed. 

Crabgrass seedlings.

After a couple of weeks looking at a nicely greening up lawn that was 90% crabgrass, I decided to take on the challenge of getting this done right.  I got a large propane torch and 6 yards of topsoil...burned the crabgrass and buried it under an inch or two of topsoil, depending on the area.  I burned off the front yard pretty completely including the thatch...less on the side yard where letting the clover survive here and there will be a plus. 

Side yard showing crabgrass burned off and starting to cover with topsoil.

What crabgrass looks like after it's been scorched.  On most of the front yard I burned everything including the thatch, and covered with about 2 inches of topsoil.  This is on the side yard where I was less aggressive with the torch.

The front yard is just starting to green up as I was working on the east side yard.

On windy days the straw dries out and blow away on this slope, so I tied it down with twine and sod stakes.

more flora

Mahogany irises

Japanese irises

Tree Peony

 The tree peony in my yard is fabulous this year!