Ambridge, PA- The Borough was awarded a $5,000 grant from Preservation Pennsylvania that will conduct a Feasibility Study that aims to save the endangered Old Economy Bachelor’s Quarters building located at 284 13thStreet in the Borough’s Historic District. The Feasibility Study, currently being conducted by Pittsburgh-based, Cochran Associates, will determine the scope of the project’s renovations, create an end-user plan, determine public benefits that could be realized, create a funding strategy to facilitate the rehabilitation and renovation work and lastly create renderings of the proposed final projec
According to the Pennsylvania at Risk 2015 report, “This ordinary-looking building is highly significant because of what it represents in our history and its unique construction method. Sometimes referred to as the bachelor’s quarters, this five-bay gable-end building once housed the single men of the Harmony Society. The Harmonists emerging philosophy of celibacy, which is represented by this building, played a critical role in leading to the religious sect’s eventual extinction. The building was constructed circa 1825 using the Harmonists early form of mass production. They crafted standard building components including timber framing members, beaded and flat-planed siding, and window and door units in volume and delivered them to the building site for easy assembly. This double house is twice the size of a typical wood frame Harmonist house. In 1987, it was one of only four two-story frame double houses in Ambridge; today, only three examples of this type survive. The bachelor’s quarters building is a contributing element of the Old Economy National Historic Landmark (NHL) district, and as such has national significance.”
“Currently, the Bachelor’s Quarters is in a state of extreme disrepair, and its physical condition makes the building less attractive to most buyers; it is a source of blight and is in danger of being razed. To be awarded this grant to conduct the Feasibility Study, we can plot a new future for this special building – saving it for future generations,” stated Ambridge Council President Michael A. Mikulich.
Preservation Pennsylvania is the Commonwealth's only private statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people protect and preserve the historic places that matter to them. Preservation Pennsylvania was established by the Commonwealth's General Assembly in 1982 as the Preservation Fund of Pennsylvania, a statewide revolving fund to assist in the acquisition and rehabilitation of historic properties. Since then, Preservation Pennsylvania has grown into its role as a private, nonprofit membership organization with a statewide mission to protect and preserve Pennsylvania's irreplaceable historic places.
# # #
Joseph Kauer
Borough Manager
BOROUGH OF AMBRIDGE
600 Eleventh Street
Ambridge, PA 15003
P: 724-266-4070
F: 724-266-9191
www.AmbridgeBoro.org
RSS Feed