Many older urban centers have their share of "white elephants" - older vacant commercial buildings, many of which are architecturally and historically significant but seem too costly to rehabilitate and adapt for contemporary use. Some municipalities have employed limited Community Development Block Grant funding to demolish such buildings, but they face mountains of red tape and often end up with nothing more than vacant lots right in the central business district.

There is an alternative to demolition, the use of the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) (a component of Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code) to turn those white elephants into cash cows. HACC -- Central Pennsylvania's Community College -- and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission are sponsoring a two-day IEBC seminar to help building code officials, city planners, architects, civil engineers and contractors to interpret the IEBC so as to discover new opportunities for the reuse of historic buildings.

"When Pennsylvania adopted its new Uniform Construction Code, it included the International Existing Building Codes (IEBC)," said Michel R. Lefevre, Chief, Preservation Planning of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's Bureau for Historic Preservation. "This new code opens up many more alternatives for the reuse and economic viability of older buildings if you understand it."

The two-day seminar uses case studies to illustrate issues under the new code to help participants understand the best ways to preserve the historic character of a building while still creating contemporary usable space. The program explains key concepts such as achieving "proportionality" by dividing work properly between repairs and alterations and by appropriately specifying levels of alterations.

The seminars feature two AIA certified architects -- William Vitale and Robert S. Pfaffmann -- along with Frank M. Newhams who serves as the City Director of Codes for the City of Coatesville. All three have extensive experience in the Uniform Construction Code and adaptive re-use of historic buildings and are experts in the new IEBC code.

Building Code officials will be able to obtain necessary educational training contact hours towards their International Code Council re-certification, while architects will be able to acquire AIA continuing education credits.

The first of the seminars will be held October 7 & 8 in the Upper Chichester Township Municipal Building in Delaware County. The seminar will be repeated November 4 & 5 at HACC's Wildwood Conference Center on the campus in Harrisburg.

Registration for each session is $170, which includes lunch, all registration materials and free parking.

For registration information, contact Martha Lamprey at HACC, 717-780-1964; for program information contact Michel R. Lefevre at PHMC, 717-787-0771.