Frank Maier Scholarship
The Preservation Essays
Barron Enterprises, Inc. is glad to announce a new $5,000 scholarship opportunity
for 2013, open to Juniors and Seniors in Warren County and Bowling Green High
Schools (or home-schooled). This essay competition will focus on selected
historic buildings in Bowling Green, and their potential for adaptive reuse.
Students will choose a building from among five listed below, and propose in what
way it might best serve community needs into the future.
The Frank Maier Scholarship is in memory of one of Bowling Green’s early
German immigrant entrepreneurs, who founded what is today Morris Jewelry at
408 E. Main Street. Mr. Maier also served as a city councilman, and was a pillar
of the community.
Bowling Green has a rich history in historic preservation. Our beautiful Fountain
Square Park is a prime example of citizen and city efforts to preserve and maintain
a national treasure. Other notable examples of preservation successes in Bowling
Green include Riverview at Hobson Grove, the L&N Railroad Depot, and the
Quigley Younglove building on State Street. In all of these cases, preservation
minded citizens of Bowling Green have ensured through their efforts, the future
use and enjoyment of these historic places.
Student proposals, on the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings in
downtown Bowling Green, should recommend how their selected building may
best contribute to a vibrant and diverse mix of businesses that appeal to all ages.
The president of Western Kentucky University recently challenged us to create a
“cool factor” in our downtown businesses that would attract WKU students.
Added significance is gained when such future use of existing structures involves
the linking of historical events and places to our modern life. What we do not want
is for our downtown area to become a relic of the past. Any proposed renovation of
subject buildings must be done in a manner that preserves the historical nature of
the structure while modernizing it in a fashion that accentuates the overall
building’s appearance and function. Application of critical thinking for solutions
to these challenges is a major goal of the 2013 essay competition.
In making proposals for a specific building, keep in mind the hierarchy of
preservation priorities. If possible, preserving what remains of the structure is
most desirable. Windows that may be repaired, for example, are preferable to
replacement windows. When original structural components are not usable,
identify what gives the building its character, by identifying its most important
features. The renovation should then incorporate such features to the extent
possible. As a last resort, the redesign of a façade, for example, should be
compatible with the original building design, and take inspiration from the historic
district in which it exists.
A secondary goal for this essay competition is the preservation and appreciation of
cursive writing. Cursive writing is a discipline and an art form. The ability to
write in cursive, and read documents written in “long hand” is waning in our
society. Many of our youth lack the ability to read and appreciate our nation’s
founding documents that were written in cursive in their original form. The
requirement to handwrite submissions for this essay competition is one small way
to help reverse this trend. Therefore, in order to compete, proposals must be
submitted in the student’s own hand, and written in cursive.
Students must choose one of the following five buildings as the subject for their
proposal on the adaptive re-use of a Bowling Green historical site:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Galloway Motors Building at 601 State Street
International Order of Odd Fellows Building at 427 Park Row
Pushin Building at 400 E. Main Street
Capitol Arts Theater at 416 E. Main Street
Taylor Chapel Building at 314 E 7th Street
A rubric is attached that will be used to score the proposal on content, grammar,
spelling, legibility, and conciseness. Note that content has a heavier weighting.
Proposals must be submitted to Morris Jewelry by May 31, 2013. The winner will
be announced prior to the end of the school year. We hope this project stirs
interest in our historic downtown area and produces proposals that are sufficient to
present as potential redevelopment projects.
The award is a $5000 scholarship to a university of the student’s choice.
Preservation Essay Proposal Rubric
Name ___________________________
Quality of Research – Well supported points of view with proper citations
8. 100% factual and accurate
6. 75% factual and accurate
2. 50% factual and accurate
1. Not factual and accurate
Quality of Analysis – A student’s own perspective, reflected in supporting
arguments. The use of critical thinking to support analysis
16. Extremely Complementary to downtown businesses
13. Very complementary to downtown businesses
10. Somewhat complementary to downtown businesses
5. Not complementary
Style and Creativity – A confident and coherent expression of ideas
14. 100% logical and coherent
10. 75% logical and coherent
6. 50% logical and coherent
1. Less than 50% logical and coherent
Spelling
4. All words spelled correctly
3. One to two spelling mistakes
2. Three to four spelling mistakes
1. Five or more spelling mistakes
Grammar
4. No grammatical mistakes
3. One to two grammar mistakes
2. Three to four grammar mistakes
1. Five or more grammar mistakes
Word Count (Concise)
4. 1000 to 1200 words
3. 900 to 999 words
2. 800 to 899 words
1. Less than 800 words or more than 1200 words
Total Points: