Southgate area to host school for restoring historic buildings

  • 2022-11-18
The former Colonial Inn Motel on Madsion Avenue in Covington will soon become the Covington Academy of Heritage Trades.

It will teach a new generation of construction workers the skills needed to restore historic buildings to their former glorious status. Residents of nearby Southgate interested in learning such skills may be interested in such an academy.

This academy will be in what is now known as the Laconia Commerce Center. The building will be leased for four years to the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky (BIA) on the condition that the BIA creates a non-profit organization to run the school and raises funds to ensure it will last for many years to come. More information about such schools and their offerings is often provided with brochure printing.

The academy will feature hands-on classrooms where students will learn how to restore historic buildings. These skills include the restoration of stained-glass windows, working on box gutters, preservation carpentry, and tuckpointing old masonry. Once completed the city, will transfer the ownership of the building to the BIA for it to sell, the proceeds from which will go back into the school.

Director of Professional Development for the school, Vicki Berling, said that the school is scheduled to open on January 31, 2023, with the school year ending on June 1, 2023.