Preservation awards presented
The city has honored property owners with the third annual Historic Preservation Awards.
This year's winners are Grace and Steve Wright, owners of the Second Time Around shop, 139 S. Main St., and Jeff and Diane Smith, owners of the home at 428 N. McKean St.
Councilman Bill May presented the awards at the April 23 council meeting.
“We don't give these awards out as a sense of nostalgia,” May said. “We give them out to promote economic development in the city.”
May said the Wrights were awarded for restoring the historic look of their clothing business.May said the store was built before the turn of the 20th century.“It started out as a variety store with men's hats, men's furnishings and it even had a toy section,” May said.It went through different owners until Leo Turgeon and Charles McCarren Sr. bought it in the 1920s and created the Turgeon and McCarren Store, which sold clothing.“I think most lifelong Butler residents will remember it as McCarren's,” May said.That store was a fixture on Main Street until the 1990s, May said.The store's appearance changed in the 1950s to meet the style of the times.“In the 1950s the movement was modernism,” May said. “In the spirit of that, the owners stripped much of the architectural detail.”May said the Wrights worked to restore the building as close to its original state as they could, citing the previously removed decoration to the facade and replacement of its windows.“They just did a great job on the front of the building,” May said. “It has a sense of the 19th century, while before the structure was very plain.”They also repaired the stucco siding that was placed on the original brick decades ago.Grace Wright said she and her husband have owned the business for nine years.“It's my first venture,” she said. “It was for sale, and I wanted to buy a business. I had been a stay-at-home mom all my life.”Wright said the store offers clothing for the family.Wright said she was excited to renovate the storefront.“We wanted it to fit in with Butler,” she said. “It was worth it. I think a lot more people notice the store now.”Wright said she was happy the city recognized the family's efforts.“I was excited and very proud,” she said. “We put a lot of work into it.”Wright hopes to put an awning on the front of the building and add a costume room.
The city gave the residential preservation award to the Smiths for their North McKean Street home.“They did incredible work inside that home,” May said. “They took a house that was on the verge of becoming Section 8 housing and restored it to its former glory.”May said the home was built in 1876 by attorney A.J. Williams. It was owned by the Williams family for years, and had a few other owners before the Smiths bought it six years ago.May said the property was converted into a duplex and painted pink before the Smiths moved in.“The color was just not appropriate to the house,” May said.The Smiths agreed.“It was sort of like Pepto-Bismol colored,” Jeff Smith said.The Smiths repainted the home and repaired the damaged exterior wood.They also made several renovations inside, including replacing its floors and the heating system.But throughout the renovations, the Smiths tried to keep the historic look.“We tried to make it look like it did when it was built,” Jeff Smith said, adding there is a picture of Williams on the wall of the home's library.Smith said they also found the original front doors in the garage and had them reinstalled.May said the renovations make the home stand out.“It reflects what the house was built to be,” he said.Jeff Smith credited his wife with undertaking many of the improvement projects.“This is her home,” he said. “I just live there.”Diane Smith said she was thrilled the city honored the home.“I worked very hard on this and I appreciated that it was recognized by the city,” she said.May said an intention of the preservation award is to show others what can be done with some of the older homes in the city.“Someone looking to move into the city can see the possibility of what the city can offer,” he said. “Hopefully it can entice more people to move into the city and restore these houses.”
