Prospective students interested in heritage trade crafts came out to the Latonia branch of the Enzweiler Building Institute last month to learn about the school’s upcoming historic preservation courses.
“There’s always a career in it,” said Peter Grady, a business owner and historic preservation specialist who teaches the historic building systems course. “It’s a burgeoning thing in America. Let’s face it, though, in America we tear things down.”
Heritage trades refer to skilled trades relating to the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings, which often don’t conform to contemporary building methods, materials and techniques.
Many of the people who came out to learn about the coursework already own old, historic houses and were curious to learn how to successfully restore their properties.
“I love being able to work on old houses because… if it’s economically feasible, and you can save, you know, you can’t beat an old house,” said Austin Vinson, an Enzweiler graduate in the mason trades who’s currently working on achieving his journeyman status. “You really can’t. It’s just so beautiful.”
The coursework is offered through the Covington Academy of Heritage Trades. Prospective students attend an introductory period, which lasts either a full week or a weekend, depending on their schedules, where they get a brief overview of the coursework.
Then, to achieve full certification, students complete multiple semesters’ worth of courses: two eight-week courses, one four-week course and one single-week course, each in different aspects of historic rehabilitation. Introductory periods cost $250 each, and regular coursework costs $500 a week or $3,600 for a full eight-week course. Financial aid is available for those who qualify.
Most of the work will occur at the old Colonial Inn building on Madison Avenue, which was built in the 1870s and which the city purchased in 2016.
Currently, Enzweiler is leasing the building from the city for $1 a year. Kaitlin Bryan, The City of Covington’s historic preservation specialist, who led the session, said the school hoped to have the building completely restored in seven years, at which point they will deed the building to the school who will sell it and reinvest the profits back into the institute.
Much of the work, Grady said, will be low-tech, using conventional hand tools. Students will learn how to assess various aspects of the building, including the woodwork, masonry, foundations and roofing. Students will also learn about materials sourcing and historical building systems.
The skills the students develop working in the old inn can then be used to restore their own houses.
“You will learn a lot of the components of the house, how to restore it with what materials, what method, what processes, how to kind of assess what’s going on,” Grady said.
Bryan said that heritage trades are in high demand.
“We did a feasibility study in 2021, and they went around and they talked to a bunch of local contractors,” Bryan said. “… All of those employers said ‘we needed like five people yesterday,’ so it seems like it is very feasible to get a job.”
Several attendees said they were interested in taking classes after the info session.
When asked if he planned to enroll Vinson said, “Absolutely.”
“I think everybody should take a trade,” Vinson said. “I believe the biggest problem today is you have too many necessities where people need houses built… It’s worth a million bucks in my opinion.”
Get class schedules and application instructions at Covington Academy of Heritage Trades website.
UPDATE: The original version of this article stated the informational session took place at the Kenton County Public Library. This was an error, and the relevant lines have been updated. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. –LINK nky editorial, Jan. 4, 2023
