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HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION PRESERVATION SPECIALIST REPORT May 20, 2013 Happy May! Finally, the weather has allowed some outside work to be done! We have seen an array of landscaping, painting, and repair projects throughout the districts as well as some in the county as well. As always this time of year brings warm sun followed by periods of rain thus leading to long grass in a short amount of time. Although we try to enforce the standards diligently, this time of year lawns are nothing short of a hot mess and we realize that once the rainy season subsides, it will be much easier for owners to attend to their lawns in a more "timely" manner. I am often stopped in neighborhoods by neighbors complaining about others' lawns; this is why I even mention it. Now to more exciting news! The first Local Historic Districts Bus Tour was a HUGE success! The bus was sold out and even the August 23`d bus is already sold out and a waiting list has started. I really enjoyed the tour as we had so many great questions and even stories from some of our passengers. I can hardly wait for the next one and personally think we should consider a third date since interest has been so overwhelming. The Then and Now Architectural Tour of Downtown South Bend was two days prior during First Friday and was attended by 8 during the lunchtime tour then 26 during the evening tour. Two words: Cultural Tourism. The second of the Restore Michiana workshops; "House Detectives" was attended by 16 people. Paul Hayden took folks throughout the Kizer House and inside apartments to detail the renovation process. That is a great turnout for this event! The next workshop will be June 8d' dealing with Plaster Walls consisting of both lecture and hands-on with Steve Ferrell from Ferrell Finishing who will be our expert on the subject. Paul and I will do the lecture part. For those of you who were not aware, I appeared on "Ask an Expert" on WNIT earlier this month. The subject was "local history" and my co -panelist was Randy Ray from the Northern Indiana Center for History. One caller had asked Randy what was his most unique artifact in the museum's collection and he responded, "The Studebaker Electric Fountain". Many of you may recall that this fountain was removed from Howard Park in 1966 and was considered lost to scrappers as it was nearly 30' tall and was entirely cast iron. Apparently the top half of this fountain was recently discovered in the back yard of a resident in Elkhart County luckily he felt he should give it to Center for History before he sold his house. The fountain is dismantled and painted atrociously, but safely stored in Building 84 of the former Studebaker Assembly Plant. Since the site of the original Studebaker blacksmith and carriage works is now a dirt field and is currently taking bids, Randy and I thought that it would be fitting to place the fountain there at the corner of Michigan and Jefferson streets. The city is being less than receptive to the idea of delaying the project which is already behind schedule. Instead a concrete chess board will be constructed on that spot with one of the squares giving recognition to the site's historical significance. Unfortunately for the city, the property's owner was given