[photo gallery]

During the Summer and Fall seasons of 2002 through 2005, the West Side Neighborhood Association invited teams of graduate students from the Cornell University Historic Preservation Planning program to investigate the history of the people, architecture, and physical development of parts of the Bennett Tract area of the West Side. The purpose was to expand the Association's ongoing research into the neighborhood's historic past.

Project team members for the first season's research effort were Tamra Brosseau, Pei-Ming Chou, Erin Coryell, Victor Gordon, Shauna Haas, Carey Jones, Isaac Kremer, Sara Shreve, and Sonja Sokol Furesz. 

In 2003, we continued with Alec Bennett, Jayme Breschard, Matthew Gundy, Jennifer Buddenborg, D.S. Pensley, Jessica Holmes and Elizabeth Blazevich.

In 2004, we continued with Annika Lundkvist, Joshua Abrams, Emily Sheckels, Jonathan Gunderlach, Stefanie Noble, Nicholas Hayward, Elizabeth Johnson, Samantha Bosshart, Carolyn Barton, and Michael Setzer.

And in 2005, yet another team, Diedra Whittenburg, Manqing Tao, Emily Goldman, and Carrie Keenan continued the research.

Through the first three seasons of research, Mary Joan Kevlin of the Cornell University Historic Preservation Planning Workshop and Sandra Haining of the West Side Neighborhood Association coordinated the survey. In 2005, Jeffery Chusid, Associate Professor, Historic Preservation, Cornell University, assisted Sandra with the coordination.  Laurie Kimball, Binghamton Department of Planning, Housing and Urban Development, Gerald Smith, Broome County Historian, Gail Domin, Director, Susquehanna Cultural Area, and Evelyn Varney, former Executive Director, Preservation Association of the Southern Tier also assisted the effort through the years. The research is the first step towards our goal of gaining recognition for the Abel Bennett Location by having it named to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

A public presentation highlighting research results was held by each team in December of their respective year at the Horace Mann School on Binghamton's West Side. Over 130 people attended each event.

In the fall of 2005 the Association was awarded a Preserve New York grant, a program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts. The program supports outstanding local preservation projects throughout the state. Since 1993, Preserve New York has awarded more than $1 million in direct support to 176 projects. Sixteen grants in 12 counties totaling $76,600 were awarded by the program in 2005. We were extremely fortunate to receive one of them in the amount of $6,500. The funds will support a preservation consultant and other costs associated with the completion of a nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places for the Abel Bennett Location.

The Association intends to make all research gathered by the Cornell students and the preservation consultant available to the community when the nomination to the State and National Registers and the entire project are completed.

 

	2002 project team Back row: Mary Joan Kevlin, Nancy Goblet, Sonia Sokol Furesz, Victor Gordon; front row: Isaac Kremer, Carey Jones, Shauna Haas, Pei-Ming Chou, Tamra Brosseau, Erin Coryell; kneeling front: Sara Shreve. [larger image]
	2003 project team Back row: Alec Bennett, Jayme Breschard, Mary Joan Kevlin, Matthew Gundy, and Jennifer Buddenborg. Front row: D.S. Pensley, Jessica Holmes and Elizabeth Blazevich. [larger image]
	2004 project team Annika Lundkvist, Joshua Abrams, Emily Sheckels, Jonathan Gunderlach, Stefanie Noble, Nicholas Hayward, Elizabeth Johnson, Samantha Bosshart, Mary Joan Kevlin, Carolyn Barton, and Michael Setzer. [larger image]
	2005 project team Diedra Whittenburg, Manqing Tao, Jeff Chusid, Emily Goldman, and Carrie Keenan. [larger image]
	2002 Student researcher Victor Gordon introduces the history of Abel Bennett. [larger image]
	2002 The Horace Mann cafeteria is packed with an attentive audience. [larger image]
	2002 Student researcher Isaac Kremer discusses historical reference materials with neighbors. [larger image]
	2003 A standing room only crowd begins to fill the Horace Mann cafeteria in anticipation of the presentation.  [larger image]
	2003 One of the displays at the presentation was a map of the subdivided Abel Bennett location.  [larger image]
	2004 Slide from the presentation showing timeline of when homes were built during early development of the Abel Bennett location.  [larger image]
	2005 Student researchers Manqing Tao, Emily Goldman, Diedra Whittenburg and Carrie Keenan present their findings. [larger image]
	2005 John Arthur receives grant check from Tania Werbizky, Director, Technical and Grant Programs, Preservation League of New York State. [larger image]