South Park Preservation Works Records (MS-658)

South Park Preservation Works (SPPW) was a corporation which purchased, rehabilitated, and sold or rented historic properties. They operated specifically in the South Park Historic District in Dayton, Ohio. South Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and expanded in 1988. According to Galen Wilson, who originally located the collection, “The organization [SPPW] was formed in the 1980s as a commercial venture to rehab properties and rent or sell them. It was a booming enterprise for a good decade, but then it atrophied.” The collection was found in a closet of Hope Lutheran Church in South Park.

According to the South Park Preservation Works fact sheet provided in the collection, the corporation began in response to a meeting of the South Park Improvement Council, on March 8, 1983. Members wanted to create a separate entity from the council allowing for a neighborhood development corporation (NDC). The following council meeting the Articles of Incorporation were agreed to and the NDC was named “South Park Preservation Works.” SPPW was developed to rehabilitate historic homes for low-income, moderate-income, the elderly, handicap, and otherwise disadvantaged homeowners/renters.

In June 1983, as a new corporation geared towards revitalizing the neighborhood, they filed as a non-profit organization and received 501(c)3 tax exemption. The corporation went through several sources of funding starting with City-wide Development Corporation, followed by participation in The National Trust for Historic Properties’ Inner-City Venture Fund. The first three members consisted of Dough Artkamp, Pam Miller Leist and Sherwood Manuel. South Park Preservation Works owned 14 historic properties within the South Park historic district.