As May begins so does National Preservation Month. Corning's downtown is known for its rich history of glassmaking; beautiful brick, tree-lined sidewalks; and historic architecture preservation and restoration efforts.
Coleen Fabrizi, Corning’s Gaffer District Executive Director, stated, “The work of the MSRA under the oversight of Kristen Stewart, Director of Preservation & Design, continues to be an essential component of our tireless commitment to revitalization as a part of our overall economic development vision for Corning’s Gaffer District.”
In 1974, Market Street Restoration Agency (MSRA) was established to guide the revitalization of downtown Corning following the flood of 1972. After the flood, many communities began widespread demolition of their downtowns, seeing the devastation of the flood as a route toward “urban renewal.” For Corning, however, what started as a restoration initiative from the flood soon blossomed into a collaboration of agencies working on advancing the economic development, quality of life and historic preservation of Corning’s downtown. In the early 1980s, Corning Enterprises joined the effort at the forefront of this transformation providing vision, leadership and resources to the community.
During National Preservation Month, MSRA recognizes building and business owners for excellent signage and restoration projects for facade and interior renovations. The recipients of the Pan Awards receive a framed certificate in addition to a beautiful piece of glass created by local glass artists at Vitrix Hot Glass Studio, 77 W. Market Street. This year's recipients will be announced in mid-May.
Corning's Gaffer District invites the community to celebrate National Preservation Month with the “Explore the Windows of Market Street Contest.” The rules are simple. Pick up your entry form at The Information Center of Corning, 1 West Market St, Corning. Then explore Corning's Gaffer District to locate the pictured windows and list the correct address of each window on the entry form. Turn inor mail your entry form to The Information Center of Corning. Participants have until May 31, 2018 to complete the hunt! One entry per person. Eligible entrants need not be present to win. Winners will be drawn at random from all fully completed and correct forms. 1st Prize: $100 Gift Card, 2nd Prize: Framed Copy of "The Windows of Market Street," 3rd Prize: $25 Gift Certificate to Vitrix Hot Glass Studio
For more information about the historic preservation and restoration efforts in downtown Corning, visit www.gafferdistrict.com/historiccorning. Please contact Kristen Stewart, Director of Preservation and Design for Corning’s Gaffer District with questions at kristen@gafferdistrict.com or (607) 937-6292.
