Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

If you think Downtown Bradford looks good now, keep watching. It’ll be looking even nicer. Bradford City Council on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to more than a dozen improvement projects planned by private property owners. Mayor Tom Riel and OECD Director Sara Andrews said this shows that people do really care about the city’s revitalization efforts. Riel said in the nine years he’s been on council he has never seen anywhere near that many certificates of appropriateness approved in one meeting. “I think that speaks volumes to … the funds (OECD) has been able to secure for downtown, and just the overall sense of revitalization in the downtown.” “It’s been a fantastic summer,” Andrews said. She noted that this represents thousands of dollars’ worth of private investment in the historic district. St. Bernard’s Church, Man’s World, Whimsical Studios, Moments to Remember, Chosen Acres, Kabob’s, as well as buildings owned by Todd Hennard, John Kohler, James Colligan, Dwayne Zimmerman and...

Bradford’s Downtown Historic District tells a story worth preserving. While the oil industry is the basis of Bradford’s history, the story told by the buildings downtown goes further than that, according to Erin Hammerstedt of Preservation Pennsylvania. “We can see different phases of development from the early settlement patterns in the lumber phase to the boom phase and, really, what most of your buildings reflect are the post oil boom stabilization,” she said during a presentation Monday evening in Bradford. “People had the money in their pockets, they were feeling good, they were going to stay awhile. …. their other buildings burned down,” she said, referring to the history of fires in Downtown Bradford. “They were ready to make their mark and build something that had their name on it.” Hammerstedt said she wasn’t sure if people were aware of how much work has been done in the Historic District in the last few years. “In the last five years at least 10 buildings have been ...

A public meeting to discuss the recently conducted survey to update the inventory of historic properties in the National Register list of the city’s historic district buildings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in Council Chambers of City Hall. Business and building owners within downtown Bradford’s historic district are encouraged to attend. Staff from Preservation Pennsylvania, who surveyed the inventory of buildings within the historic district, will present a slide show that demonstrates how the story of Bradford is reflected in the built environment. The meeting will be an opportunity to learn about the Bradford community and share any concerns that you may have related to buildings or properties within the historic district or regarding historic properties within the City of Bradford. Additionally, on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Erin Hammerstedt from Preservation Pennsylvania will be available by appointment (at no cost) to meet with individual business and build...