| Promoting growth and awareness in education of the preservation of the built environment. |
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people work weekend classes past theses & dissertations internships/occupations resources links photos |
Work Weekend is the main event for PSSO! Each year, current students, alumni, and other members of the Cornell community gather to help restore a regional historic resource. Please contact us if you would be interested in joining us in the spring! Preservation Studies Student Organization Cornell University 102 West Sibley Hall Ithaca, NY  |
2007 Eastern State Penitentiary- Philadelphia, PA 
Students traveled to the
Eastern State Penitentiary
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) where they worked with the site's
conservation staff to stabilize one of the nation's most historic
prisons, April 13-15.
2006 St. Roch Market - New Orleans, LA  Students from Cornell University's City and Regional Planning department traveled to New Orleans over their spring break in March. The trip was planned as an expansion of the Historic Preservation program's annual Work Weekend project and is part of a larger Cornell New Orleans Planning Initiative. Approximately 30 students and faculty traveled to New Orleans during the week of March 19-25. Work took place both at the St. Roch Market and in partnership with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). St. Roch, an 1870s open-air public market - supported by 24 cast-iron columns - was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina. Originally one of 34 such structures in the city's public market system, St. Roch (pronounced "rock") supplied the neighborhood with fresh vegetables, fish, and meat. After WWII, New Orleans' market system was dissolved and St. Roch was leased to a seafood restaurant that, before Katrina, was long famous for its chocolate-colored gumbo, crawfish, and po' boys. Students prepared measured drawings of the market's interior and exterior, including elevation, section, and floor plans, and also wrote conditions assessments for the entire structure. Other objectives accomplished included a survey of architectural styles in the surrounding neighborhood and large-format photography of the site. The St. Roch Neighborhood Association is negotiating to lease the property to return the market to its historic use as a source of fresh food and a venue for local business incubation. Students and faculty also worked with ACORN in their ongoing efforts to help homeowners deal with their damaged homes by removing debris and assisting with repairs. A contingency of students also helped ACORN in contacting displaced residents and planning community meetings. Several of the department's planning classes are working throughout the semester to support the community-based planning goals of ACORN. The students also made time to experience the culture and food of New Orleans, enjoying tasty po'boys, beignets, and pots of gumbo and visited many of the area's music establishments. Everyone came away with a deeper appreciation for the city and the trials it has been through and were impressed with the hospitality, warmth and friendship offered by the residents encountered during the week. 2005 Shelburne Playhouse - Liberty, NY   The Shelburne Playhouse, one of the Catskill Mountains' remaining jewels from the golden age of small resort hotels, was repaired and stabilized by a volunteer group of Cornell University historic preservation planning (HPP) students and alumni -- along with some local helpers -- April 15-17. The hotel, which was built in 1922, was destroyed by fire in 1965 and the playhouse has sat vacant ever since -- falling prey to the elements. That is until it was purchased recently by Catskill residents Maurice Gerry and Allan Berube, who saw the glamour under the chipped paint and dulled floorboards and an opportunity to restore the theater to some of its former luster. Once the renovations are completed, they hope to reopen it as a multi-use community facility for shows, benefits, parties, movies, weddings, plays, dances, readings and workshops. About 40 volunteers took part in the work weekend project, most of them students and graduates of the HPP program, which is in the Department of City and Regional Planning in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. They scrubbed clean the interior wood walls, restained trim around doors and windows, removed old window glazing and hazardous wiring from antiquated lighting fixtures, painted the building's wood and stucco exterior and removed debris from beneath the performance stage. "They brought vitality back to the building," said Berube. (http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April05/CRP.work.wkend.lm.html) 2004 Town & Country building - Liberty, NY The Town & Country building, which at various times was a dry goods store, vaudeville house, movie theater, and clothing store, survived the Great Main Street fire of 1913 and more recent attempts to have it demolished. Now the New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended that it be listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. It will join a group of buildings on North Main Street which, in 1978, became the first Historic District to be designated in Sullivan County. "The Town & Country building is a wonderful site from which we can contribute to Liberty's revival," said Kristen Brennan Cornell faculty supervisor for the work weekend. "We're very excited about this opportunity to build relationships with businesses, the Village, and community groups, who have already done so much to restore Liberty's Main Street." Dozens of Cornell and local volunteers will work on washing, repairing and painting the façade, repairing and replacing the retractable awning, restoring the display windows and entryway, repairing and painting the windows, getting estimates for relighting the neon sign, removing shingles on the North Side to begin the restoration of the original clapboard siding, and securing the roof until it can be replaced with new shingles. (http://www.townofliberty.org/town_country_pr_41304.htm) 2000 Ellis Island II/Annual HPPA Work Weekend Following the success of 1999 stabilization of the Commissioner's house, the HPPA, students and faculty worked with the Deputy Superintendent of Ellis Island, Cynthia Garrett, to identify a new challenge for this year's work weekend. After officially closing in 1954 and entrusted to the National Park Service, most of the island fell into disrepair. In the 1980s, it gained notice again when funds were raised to restore the Main Immigration Building. Unfortunately, the south side of the island remains in a state of deterioration after 46 years of neglect. Recently, Ellis Island has again become the center of a great deal of attention and has won the support of New Jersey Governor Whitman. Significant funds have been promised for stabilization of buildings on the Island's imperiled south side. Ellis Island will be the focus of stabilization efforts and planning attention in the months and years to come. We worked to stabilize an isolation ward of 8000 square feet, adjacent to the Commissioner's House, thus securing two of the most visible buildings on this part of the Island from future intrusion of the elements . The scope of work included:
1999 Ellis Island/ Annual HPPA Work Weekend March 25-28, 1999 1999's effort, in coordination with the National Park Service (NPS), was held on Ellis Island and focused on the stabilization of the Commissioner's House, a Neoclassical structure built in 1909. Work included the removal of vegetation, the sealing of windows and doors and the protection of ornamental and functional metal details. Ellis Island, located in the New York harbor, operated as the main immigration station of the United States between 1892 and 1954. Declared excess Federal property in November 1954, it has been overseen by the NPS since 1965. Ellis Island remained unused until the 1980s. At that time the Main Immigration Building was renovated for use as a museum dedicated to the American Immigration Experience. The remainder of the 29 building located on the island suffer from severe neglect and deterioration while awaiting a rehabilitation plan. A school-sponsored trip in October 1998 provided an opportunity for the Historic Preservation Planning and City and Regional Planning students to see first-hand the condition of these structures. One building had undergone a stabilization through the efforts of the New York Landmarks Conservancy. This experience inspired the students to investigate a possible stabilization project. A total of 88 volunteers comprised of Historic Preservation Planning (HPP) and City and Regional Planning students (CRP), Historic Preservation Planning Alumni (HPPA) and alumni associated with the Cornell Club-New York Outreach Committee came together under the direction of Project Coordinator Barbara Ebert on March 25th. Four days later, with the assistance of Richard Wells, Director of Planning and Development at the Statue of Liberty National Monument and other NPS staff, the Commissioner's House stabilization was complete. The structure is now preserved for another 15 years. 1996 Petersburg, VA/HPPA Work Weekend March 15-18, 1996 From the HPPA Newsletter, Vol II, Issue 2, Spring 1996Extracts from: A Student's Perspective by Rob O'Riordan and Keeping the Link by Lex Campbell Through the efforts of the HPPA, alum Ted Alexander, and Karen Oliver, Executive Director of Historic Petersburg Foundation, the Cornell HPP alumni and students stabilized the 1855 Thomas Wallace House in Petersburg VA as part of a Career Day/Work Weekend. The house, a high-style Italianate mansion, is listed on the National Register and is a Virginia Historic Landmark. Virginia's Department of Historic resources (DHR) currently owns the property and it attempting to find a buyer through its Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation revolving fund program. The house has been vacant for eight years and needs extensive renovation. The project involved getting the exterior and interior prepared for sales presentation. Work included reglazing windows, stripping multiple layers of paint and wallpaper, repairing plaster fractures, and stripping dirt and varnish from the grand staircase. Approximately 35 alumni, students and friends pitched in. |