CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s State Historic Preservation Office, in conjunction with several Certified Local Governments, is co-sponsoring intensive training in Elkins, Romney and Lewisburg to help Historic Landmarks Commission members learn strategies to help preserve historic resources throughout the state.
The National Alliance of Preservation Commissions will present Commission Assistance and Mentoring Program (CAMP) workshops about the Certified Local Government (CLG) program Thursday, April 26, in Elkins, Friday, April 27, in Romney and Friday, May 4, in Lewisburg. The workshops are open to all historic landmark commission members across the state who are interested in learning tools to help guide local preservation efforts.
The CLG program is a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments that focuses on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. CLG communities are responsible for enforcing state and local legislation for the designation and protection of historic properties. They also establish qualified historic preservation review commissions, maintain a survey and inventory system for historic properties within their jurisdictions and provide for adequate public participation in local historic preservation programs, including the process of nominating properties to the National Register of Historic Places.
The designation also helps communities qualify for grants that fund a variety of preservation activities, including architectural and archaeological surveys, National Register nominations, educational brochures, walking tours, guidelines for design review and feasibility studies of historic structures.
The upcoming workshops will cover the legal framework of public preservation, identifying and protecting historic resources, commission roles and responsibilities, and public support and outreach.
Guest speakers Ken Kocher and Ramona Murphy Bartos will attend all three workshops. Kocher, a former CLG coordinator for the state of Mississippi, is the principal of Piedmont Preservation, a historic preservation consulting firm in Madison, Ga., that focuses on local historic preservation efforts, including surveys, district designations, design guidelines, and design review assistance. Bartos is a former lawyer now serving as deputy state historic preservation officer and administrator for the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office.
The third speaker in Elkins and Romney will be Robin Zeigler, a former senior historic preservation planner for the Planning Division of the Salt Lake City Corp., and former preservation planner for the city of Bowling Green in Kentucky now serving on the staff of the Nashville-Davidson County Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission.
Scott Whipple will join Kocher and Bartos in Lewisburg. As the Historic Preservation Section supervisor for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Planning Department, Whipple oversees research and designation, historic area work permit review, county preservation tax credits and historic preservation grant administration, and education and outreach activities.
For more information about the CLG program or the workshops, contact Jennifer Brennan, CLG coordinator for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, at Jennifer.L.Brennan@wv.gov or 304-558-0220, ext. 156.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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