Kevin Caparosa appreciates old houses in Butler.

He has devoted a lot of the 27 years he and his family have lived in their home on North McKean Street restoring it to resemble the way it might have looked when the original owner, local banker John V. Ritts, had it built in 1895.

It is the exteriors of the Victorian and colonial revival homes in a 12-block area in the northeast corner of the city that a group of neighbors are interested in preserving. The area could become an architectural conservation overlay district.

The designation wouldn't affect zoning, but it would create a review board that would have to approve any exterior renovations contemplated by owners of homes in the district, to preserve their architectural features.

Caparosa and neighbor Chuck Davey, a retired attorney, met with about 30 other neighbors last summer and they supported the idea.

"Most of them have renovated their homes," Davey said.

"A coalition of the willing," is how Caparosa described the grass roots effort.

He said more neighborhood meetings will be held this summer to gather ideas on the types of renovations residents consider appropriate before a formal proposal is presented to Butler City Council.

A full story appeared in the Butler Eagle.