Posing with the Kentucky Heritage Council’s award in Frankfort are, from left, Brian Miller, President of the Covington Academy of Heritage Trades/Executive Vice President of the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky; Diane McConnell, Director of Workforce Development with the Enzweiler Building Institute; Kaitlin Bryan, the City of Covington’s Regulatory Services Manager & Historic Preservation Specialist; Mayor Joe Meyer, and City Commissioner Steve Hayden.
Ky. Heritage Council salutes Covington-based program
COVINGTON, Ky. – For the second time in less than two weeks, the Covington Academy of Heritage Trades has been recognized by experts in the field of historic preservation.
On Thursday, the Kentucky Heritage Council presented the Academy with a Service to Preservation 2024 award as part of the annual Ida Lee Willis Memorial Awards. The awards recognize individuals, organizations, nonprofits, public officials, financial institutions, news media, volunteers, and others whose contributions have had a positive impact on preserving historic and prehistoric resources.
The award – presented in Frankfort on May 22 at the old state capitol building – came less than two weeks after the Academy was honored by the Cincinnati Preservation Association.
“We are so honored to see this program flourish and receive recognition locally and at the state level,” said Kaitlin Bryan, the City of Covington’s Regulatory Services Manager & Historic Preservation Specialist. “It’s giving us the validation that we are on the right track toward building a sustainable program.”
The Academy is designed to teach people how to work on historic buildings.
The City partnered with the Enzweiler Building Institute to create a two-dimensional experience that combines classroom work at the Institute’s construction trades school in Latonia with hands-on learning in a “living laboratory” – the dilapidated City-owned structure at 1515 Madison Ave., which dates to the 1880s and boasts an infamous history as the Colonial Inn motel.
Bryan said the Academy is currently in the middle of its third semester, with a curriculum focused on exterior carpentry. Previous semesters focused on interior plaster and building sciences/assessment.
The Covington Academy of Heritage Trades (CAHT) is a workshop-based program that teaches the skills and knowledge needed to restore older homes and buildings to their former glory. Students learn to preserve the original features and historic significance while simultaneously modernizing and updating the functionality of the properties.
Students work side-by-side with skilled craftspeople who have dedicated their careers to mastering their trade. Through hands-on application in real properties, students gain practical experience that can translate into meaningful careers in the field of historic restoration.
Among its many goals:
- Create a talent pipeline of skilled trades people in an industry desperate for them.
- Revive and spread the “lost” techniques of working on pieces of historic buildings.
- Facilitate the preservation and restoration of one of Covington’s greatest assets – hundreds if not thousands of architecturally significant (albeit deteriorating) old structures.
- Inspire small business start-ups.
- And increase the household income of Covington’s families.
As outlined in a 2022 news release, "Restoration trades school coming soon," the City hired the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky (which runs the Enzweiler Building Institute) to oversee and manage the program.
- The annual statewide historic preservation awards are named for Ida Lee Willis, a former Kentucky first lady who was appointed first executive director of the Kentucky Heritage Commission (now the Kentucky Heritage Council) in 1966. Under her direction, the agency began in earnest to survey the state, nominate sites to the National Register of Historic Places, award grants and promote preservation statewide.
- The Covington Academy of Heritage Trades is the 10th Covington-based winner of an award in the last 20 years. Other winners include the renovation of the Hellman Creative Center, Center for Great Neighborhoods (2017), the renovation of Thomas Edison School Apartments (2012), and the preservation and renovation of Odd Fellows Hall (2005).
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