Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion museum director Bob Cameron shows the Shakespeare secret garden outside of the Boal Barn Playhouse on Feb. 18, 2020.
Abby Drey
adrey@centredaily.com
“Of all the programs, exhibits, presentations, tours, communications and other activities the CCHS conducts, nothing ... surpasses the excitement and importance of the John Ziegler Historic Preservation Awards,” CCHS President Roger Williams said. “This program exemplifies the very core of our mission, historical preservation. It provides visibility and conveys gratitude to those men and women and groups who work so hard and so creatively to preserve, restore and showcase Centre County’s past.”
Here’s a look at the historic preservation and advocacy projects that earned recognition.
CCHS President’s Award
Judith Heberling was awarded the President’s Award for her service to the CCHS through her weekly curatorial work with the Society’s object and archival collections and as a Centre Furnace Mansion Gardener. She’s dedicated over 3,000 hours of service to the CCHS over nearly two decades.
“Judy’s work has significantly increased the value of the Historical Society’s collections to scholars and other researchers, because the information is now more easily accessed and fully documented. And she’s done it with professionalism, grace, good humor and warmth that makes her a beloved presence at the Centre Furnace Mansion,” said Katie O’Toole, awards program committee co-chair, who announced each award.
Heberling said she was surprised by the award.
“I’ve worked in a variety of institutions during my professional career, but I’ve never worked with another group of such dedicated, talented and really just plain nice people who all happened to be in the same place,” Heberling said.
Jacqueline J. Melander Award
Jacqueline Melander was a former CCHS president and the award is given to the person who best exemplifies her devotion to historic preservation. This year, Sue Hannegan was awarded it for her “long-term advocacy of and commitment to historic preservation in Centre County and community revitalization through promoting the continued use of older buildings,” according to the program.
O’Toole said Hannegan’s “touch” can be seen almost everywhere in Bellefonte, from the Victorian mansions to the revitalized waterfront.
“She has been a prolific contributor to property nominations for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Perhaps the most notable nomination is the Pennsylvania Match Factory,” O’Toole said. Some details she recorded within the Match Factory include descriptions of how matches were made and the employment histories of women there during war time. In other projects, she helped to take inventory of war memorials in the county, conserved the Andrew Gregg Curtin memorial in front of the Bellefonte Courthouse and added Leonard Rhone’s house to the national register in 1985.
Hannegan touched on the challenges of historic preservation that can sometimes be disappointing, but said they have found solutions to preserve the past and to create new beginnings for old buildings.
“...We’re creating new beginnings for these buildings. But overall, the joy for me is the joy of finding these new beginnings for places and the joy of working with people of preservation to develop those new beginnings. And so this award embodies much more than just an award for me. It’s the award for a lot of hard work by many people along my way, who came together to create opportunities and at times opportunities when it almost seemed impossible to achieve,” she said.
History and Heritage
Benjamin Fehl was awarded the History and Heritage Award for The Crooked House at Homecoming Park in Milesburg. The award announcement noted his “efforts to promote local history in Milesburg and strengthen the community through advocacy and through preserving the site of the Abigail Miles house. The house evolved into a community art project called The Crooked House at Homecoming Park.”
Fehl bought the Abigail Miles — the niece of Mileburg’s founding father — house at an auction with intentions of restoring it. But the more he worked on it, the more be realized it couldn’t be saved due to a sagging roof and sinking foundation. But at least one part could be preserved: the original stone fireplace from 1857.
He reappointed the hearth and fireplace, restored the foundation and recreated the facade in concrete, O’Toole said. He dismantled the front of the Crooked House and brought it to his workshop, where he made rubber molds of the facade and preserved the wooden structure detail. From there, he made a fiberglass mold for the concrete. He reinstalled a concrete replica of the original facade that faces out on Market Street in Milesburg.
Fehl said he didn’t expect the award at all, and was excited and honored.
“It’s just really great to get the support of the museum and the community as we have,” he said.
Benjamin Fehl was awarded the History and Heritage Award for The Crooked House at Homecoming Park in Milesburg. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
Education and Advocacy
Robert Cameron was awarded the Education and Advocacy award for his “tireless efforts to raise awareness and garner community support” for the Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum, the program announcement said. He uncovered and displayed artifacts from their extensive collection to make the site a community resource through improvements to the Boal Barn Theatre and development of the landscape, it said.
The Boal Mansion has been a museum since 1952, but O’Toole said Cameron’s arrival as executive director in 2015 “was the beginning of a transformative time.” During one of his first days there, he came across a trunk marked “secret,” which he, of course, opened first, she said. Since then, he’s been “prying into dark corners, damp basements and secret boxes at the Boal Mansion,” she said, researching and displaying what he discovered.
He’s just as committed to opening the outbuildings and grounds of the estate to the public, O’Toole said. The Boal Barn will be open to all community theater groups and he’s creating themed gardens and built an outdoor stage. There are also miles of walking paths throughout the estate to create a “scaled down version” of Longwood Gardens.
Cameron spoke about the importance of volunteers and their contributions.
“As you look at these things, none of these things would be possible, in our case, without the just incredible contributions of volunteers. And in fact today, I was late getting here because I was at our theater, and we had five Penn State students from the Habitat for Humanity, helping me as we create another museum inside the historic Boal Barn Theatre that will show the evolution of that building,” he said.
Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion museum director Bob Cameron shows the Shakespeare secret garden outside of the Boal Barn Playhouse on Feb. 18, 2020. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
Support and Volunteerism
The St. John’s Stewardship Team was awarded the Support and Volunteerism award for the restoration of the St. John’s United Church of Christ in Boalsburg. The church is home to one of Centre County’s oldest congregations, which has roots back to the 19th century. As the congregation was getting ready to celebrate its 200th anniversary, the church showed its old age.
There was water damage that threatened the stained glass windows, problems with the masonry and leaks in the roof, O’Toole said. Additionally, the pastor had recently moved right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Instead of giving up, everyone contributed to the restoration based on their skill set. O’Toole said the many restoration acts included installing a new roof that was designed similarly as the previous one, replacing and repairing masonry, cleaning the stained glass, fixing window sills and managing ongoing maintenance of the church’s pipe organ. It’s the oldest one in Centre County, O’Toole said, and has been in almost continuous use since it was installed in 1868.
Tom Wilson, chair of the Stewardship Committee, said he was astounded by the award.
“When we talked about this in church today, I think there was a lot of sense of accomplishment and pride. We really are a church of volunteers and people who, you know, when faced with challenges and with goals, we expect to be able to accomplish it through teamwork and volunteerism, and it really has been an amazing thing to be part of,” Wilson said.
Preservation and Restoration
Gary Brandeis of The Scholar Hotel Group and Robert and Richard Campbell, and Nancy Campbell Slagle were awarded the Preservation and Restoration award for restoring and rehabilitating the Glennland Building, built in 1933 in State College.
Brandeis helped to take on the project with the Campbells when maintenance became too expensive, and O’Toole said they knew the importance of preserving the facade. But inside, they found that almost nothing could be preserved other than the ceiling heights, some hand railings and the fish mosaic tiles that once decorated the pool, she said. Asbestos, concrete flooring with more than 100 holes to be patched and accumulations of pigeon droppings in the eaves are now part of the Glennland past, she said. With renovations, it has a reinforced structure, new heating, cooling electrical and sprinkler systems and there are 72 units.
“This building’s going to be in State College and the community for a long time. We’re the temporary stewards and it’s our job to take care of it. And we think that the renovations that we’ve made to the building will really carry it for another 100 years or so. We made it energy efficient, we modernized it, we made it safe,” Brandeis said.
The Glennland Building, on the corner of Beaver Avenue and Pugh Street in downtown State College, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2019. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
