What is the economic payoff of historic rehabilitation? Quite substantial, according to a recent study by the Center for Urban Policy Research of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, NJ According to the report, Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation, historic rehabilitation generated an estimated $580 million annually in direct economic activity for the state of New Jersey. Dir in 1994 on rehabilitation ($123 million), tourism ($432 million) and by historic sites and organizations ($25 million). When direct and indirect economic benefits are combined, preservation createdbu The report also found that preservation projects have a greater economic impact than other project types. For every million spent on non-residential rehabilitation, 38.3 jobs, $1.3 million in payrol taxes were generated on a national level. In contrast, new construction projects produced 36 jobs, $1.2 million in payroll and business earnings and $189,000 in taxes. The report is available for $15 from the Center for Urban Policy Research at (908) 932-3101. 14/Building Design & Construction November 1997
For more than three years Toni Nash has been the biggest bookworm in
town. When she wasn't dipping into a yard sale for a paperback, she
was dodging into a used-book store for hardcovers in her quest to
start a historical library at the Belmont Mansion in Fairmount Park.
But one night last month, after catching a concert with friends,
Nash found another car parked where she had left her station wagon on
Hortter Street in Mount Airy. The Wayne resident realized the
literary treasure that had been in the back of her 1985 Chevy
Caprice also was gone. "I'm not a screamer, but I screamed internally
that day," she said. "I didn't want to believe the car was gone, but
it wasn't until the police officer asked me if I wanted to file a
report that I thought, 'The books!' " Nash had collected about 150
books in three large plastic tubs that were in the back of her car.
The books focused on early- American history and were to be donated
to the Richard Peters Center for Study of American History at the
mansion. Peters was a Pennsylvania assemblyman who served on the War
Board during the Revolutionary War. He was also an intimate friend of
George Washington and a confidante of Benjamin Franklin. "I planned
to take the books in earlier that day, but I figured, 'It's all
right, I'll take them tomorrow,' " she said. "And what hurts is that
they probably thought they were getting something else, and when they
saw that it was books in the Tupperware, they probably dumped them."
The police are investigating, but have no suspects. Collecting books
for the library had brought great joy to Nash. As vice president of
the American Women's Heritage Society, she sees the founding of the
library as her duty to preserve history for Philadelphians. "We are
keepers of a very important part of history," she said. "It's also
important to us because Richard Peters was very influential during
the Revolutionary War." Since the theft of her car and prized book
collection, Nash has renewed her work. She already has found 18 more
books, which she stores in her home for safekeeping. The library
project has become so important to her that she doesn't know whether
she misses her car or the books more. "Normally it would be the
wagon, but when I think about the kind of person who stole my car, I
couldn't sit in the seat anymore," she said. "I'd rather have the
books."
1997 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- United States Department of
Interior, , as of December 8, 1997, approved the
Ohio Historical Society's nomination of Kahiki as a National Historic
Places. After 37 years of operation, due to Kahiki's richness in
Polynesian culture, architectural design, the influence of national
and local restaurant history, has been so honored.
Kahiki Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: KSCI), in addition to operating the
Kahiki Restaurant, also manufactures gourmet Oriental frozen food
products for food service and retail market nationally under the
trade name of Kahiki and General Tsao. Merchandise is distributed by
Sysco, JP Foods, Gordon, Kroger, Dominick's, Costco, etc. and is also
being test marketed by 7-Eleven nationally.
Kahiki is a publicly traded Nasdaq company, symbol KSCI. SOURCE
Kahiki Foods, Inc.
Copyright 1997, PR Newswire
NICOSIA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Church of Cyprus on Tuesday hailed
the recovery of priceless relics looted from its churches and
smuggled out of the divided island, but said the legal battle to
regain its lost treasures had only just begun. ``We are trying to
locate other treasures abroad and return them here, to the country
of their origin,'' said Archbishop Chrysostomos, head of the Greek
Orthodox Church on the eastern Mediterranean island. Scoring a major
coup against the art underworld, authorities in Munich recovered
hundreds of artefacts in October and November, plundered from
churches in Turkish-held northern Cyprus. Acting on a tip-off from
the Cypriot authorities and the church, German police raided two
apartments leased by a Turk, uncovering a booty of priceless relics.
The Turkish suspect is in custody for questioning by the German
authorities. Cyprus has sought his extradition to stand trial here.
``We have indications of some treasures being in Britain and we are
trying to locate them and claim them back,'' the archbishop told a
news conference. Thirty-two frescoes and a priceless mosaic were
returned to Cyprus on Monday night. Found stuffed haphazardly in
battered suitcases, the paintings were literally torn from the walls
they adorned for centuries, with the mudbrick and plaster still
attached to the back. ``The smugglers would take photographs of the
frescoes and sell it from the photograph. Then they would go back to
the church and chip it off the wall,'' said Tassoulla
Georgiou-Hadjitofi, the Honorary Consul of Cyprus in The Hague who
was actively involved in recovering the items. Some of the frescoes,
all from the 15th century church of Antiphonitis in Turkish-held
northern Cyprus, had been smashed to pieces and glued back together.
Another find, a mosaic of Saint Jude dated from 525 AD, peeled from
the walls of the Kanakaria church at Lythrangomi in northern Cyprus,
has been valued at up to $8.6 million. The items were taken to the
island's archbishopric in the capital Nicosia, where they will be
kept under police guard. ``The damage is irreparable. Many pieces
were destroyed,'' said Byzantine art expert Athanassios Papageorgiou.
All thirty-two icons are part of two large compositions which
adorned the dome of the Antiphonitis church, one depicting the Stem
of Jesse -- the family tree of Jesse, father of King David -- and the
second the Last Judgement. ``Once the other icons are returned they
will undergo some reparations, but you can see the damage for
yourself,'' he told Reuters. Turkish forces seized northern Cyprus
after a brief Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia engineered by the
military then ruling Greece. The Church of Cyprus says that since
then up to 20,000 icons and other priceless religious relics have
made their way to the art underworld. ``These are not just icons. It
is our religious and national identity,'' one priest said.
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited.
----------
From: Ken Hallcom <104751.1462@compuserve.com>
Chris, in response to the inquiry concerning court restitution
labor, I tried using such individuals in the early stages of our
development. I attempted to restrict the type of offenders,
authorizing people who had committed traffic violations and
non-violent infractions,only. Unfortunately, the effort was more
trouble than it was worth. Most of these community service
individuals consider their sentences comparable to that of a forced
labor camp. They require constant supervision and frequently exhibit
attitude problems. My major concerns, however, turned to the
insurance implications when one of the workers, placed under my
guardianship, got hurt on the job. That was not fun at all! I think
you will find the internship program the safest and most effective.
These people are learning a profession, are more than anxious to
perform the mundane duties nobody else wants, and are receiving
minimum monetary rewards for their efforts. As an extra bonus, you
receive a degree of loyality, completely absent from the ranks of
prison labor. Thanks
Part of the $3 million in jewelry stolen last
month in London from two executives of the Bijan store on Rodeo
Drive in Beverly Hills has been recovered and eight arrests have been
made, according to a Scotland Yard official. "What we were told by
Scotland Yard in a fax is that the majority has been recovered," said
Bijan spokesperson Brett Neubig. The police have not identified for
the jewelers which of the pieces have been recovered, Neubig said.
Two Bijan executives had been lured to London with the jewelry by a
thief posing as a member of Far Eastern royal family. In an elaborate
scheme, the robber provided the two executives with a private plane
and hotel accommodations in London. He set a meeting with them on
Nov. 30 in the fashionable Knightsbridge section and arrived in a
motorcade of luxury cars. The thief fled in one of the cars with the
jewelry, saying he was taking it away for further inspection.
Scotland Yard spokesman Cornelius Alexander said three of the eight
men arrested have been charged, but would not say whether any of
them was the con man. Khawar Zaman, 24, a student from Slough, a town
south of London, was arrested and charged Dec. 15 with conspiracy to
steal jewelry valued at 1.8 million pounds (about $3.15 million).
Also arrested and similarly charged was Omar Ayub, 22, a student
from Manchester. Ajmal Ayub, an 18-year-old student from Manchester,
was charged with handling stolen goods. The other five men arrested
have been released on what is called police bail and are due to
return to a police station for further questioning in February. "We
are happy that we got it back," said Bijan store manager Giancarlo
Palermo. Neubig said the two executives continue to work for the
store and were not reprimanded in any way. "The biggest consideration
Bijan had was that they were safe," Neubig said. "You can imagine how
upset they were to be in this position and come back empty-handed."
Neubig said the Bijan store--which also sells menswear and
fragrance--always takes precautions when expensive jewelry leaves the
store. Bijan's clients include members of royal families, he said.
In this case, the robber was able to convince Bijan staffers
that he was legitimate: "With the phone calls made, the names that
were given, everything was justified and on the level. Otherwise [the
executives] never would have taken the trip," Neubig said. Search the
archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories. You will not
be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.
The Sam Rayburn House Museum (an historic site operated by
the Texas Historical Commission) in Bonham, TX caught fire
December 4 at about 12:00 pm. The cause of the fire was the
electrical system. The house suffered smoke damage throughout
and some structural damage in the southeast corner. The Bonham
Fire Department arrived quickly and worked on controlling the fire for
about two hours. Thanks to their rapid response and careful
attention, no artifacts were lost or damaged.
The museum will be closed until the damage can be completely
assessed and repairs can be made. The Sam Rayburn house
Museum is the home of Sam Rayburn, Congressman for 48 years
and Speaker of the House for 17 years. Contents in the house are Mr.
Sam's original belongings and memorabilia.
The Texas Historical Commission is the state agency for historic
preservation. Questions can be directed to Kit Neumann,
coordinator of museum services 512/463-5756 or Renee Peterson,
director of marketing, 512/463-7096.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- As it engineered the World War II genocide that
took six million Jewish lives, Nazi Germany organized widespread
looting of Jewish property -- in particular, Jewish-owned art in
France. Adolph Hitler had a personal interest in art, and he dreamed
of displaying the collection in his own museum in Vienna, where he
had once studied art. "By taking what these people had, they were
taking over the soul of what these people were," says French
journalist Hector Feliciano, who has chronicled the Nazis' theft in
his book "The Lost Museum." "They were not only annihilating them
physically, there were also annihilating them culturally." "In the
middle of the war, in the middle of the occupation (of France), they
are using hundreds of people to loot art," says Feliciano. "They are
using fuel for these trucks and trains to get this art into Berlin."
Some of what didn't get to Germany was hidden in underground mines.
Thousands of pieces of stolen art and other valuables were found
after Germany's defeat.
But estimates are that about one-fifth of some 100,000 reported lost
works are still missing. And this year, the Nazi looting of art has
haunted the art world like never before. Families robbed by the
Nazis have been reclaiming prized paintings that have been found
hanging in museums around the world. Auction houses have also stopped
sales of works because their post-war sellers may have been thieves.
After the war, Allied troops returned thousands of works of art back
to the nations from which they were looted. But many of those
nations did not make any effort to get those works back to their
rightful owners. "A lot of works that had been taken from Jewish
families, it now turns out, are in our museums and in our private
collections," says Constance Lowenthal, executive director of the
Commission for Art Recovery.
A Monet work included in "The Lost Museum"
For example, Matisse's "Oriental Woman Seated On A Floor" hangs in
the Seattle Museum of Art. But it turns out to have been in the
collection of Paul Rosenberg, a top Paris art dealer in the pre-war
years whose collection was carried off by the Nazis. Now, his heirs
are pursuing legal action to get the Matisse back. The Seattle museum
is being cooperative: "The museum does not want to be in the
position, and would not be in the position, of maintaining the
possession of something that was proven to be a stolen work of art,"
said Gail Joyce, the museum's deputy director. But not everyone is
as cooperative as the Seattle Museum of Art. For instance,
Rosenberg's family tried, and failed, to regain another painting from
a German dealer who is trying to sell it. 1998 will likely bring
more discoveries in the so-called "Lost Museum," as the quest for
justice by historians reunites families like the Rosenbergs with
their rightful treasurers.
Correspondent Gary Tuchman contributed to this report.
To: CHRIS BURKE
Subject: Labor Practices
Date: Wednesday, December 17, 1997 9:47 AM
Ken Hallcom
Director of Facilities
Richard Nixon Presidential Library
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
8 Arrested, Some Jewels Recovered in London Theft
By CARLA HALL, Times Staff Writer
Copyright Los Angeles Times
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:42:42 -0500
From: "J. Andrew Wilson"
Subject: [Fire Safe Heritage]: Sam Rayburn House Museum Fire
Reply-to: firesafe-heritage@panther.middlebury.edu
From: LMadenfort
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 23:50:20 EST
To: securma@museum-security.org
Subject: Matisse (forgeries, fakes, artists/people involved in
the crimes)
i would like information on matisse drawings; forgeries, fakes,
artists/people involved in the crimes. A friend of mine recently
bought a drawing at a garage sale and had it appraised by Christies,
Sotheby's, etc. Final conclusion; it was a fake, a forgery that has
been submitted in the past. Any info on Matisse would be very
helpful. Thank you.
Heirs pursue 'lost museum' stolen by Nazis
December 25, 1997