Covington Academy of Heritage Trades

HBA: BIA of Northern KY

Category: Education

Location: Erlanger, Ky.

Size: Local Association: 201-600 members

Year: 2023

The Covington Academy of Heritage Trades is a new historic renovation trades school. The project is a partnership with the City of Covington, Kentucky and its purpose is three-fold. First, it is to build a new cadre of historic trade professionals to work in the area. Second, the Academy teaches home owners and aficionados of historic homes how to care for historic homes. Last, the project assists the community where historic homes in the urban core need attention, restoration and improvement, ultimately raising the quality of life in the urban core and establishing a foothold for the BIA in all aspects of housing in its territory.

The city invested $1 million in grant funding to engage an expert on historic renovation, who produced a curriculum and visited the area to conduct an existing condition report on a proposed real-life learning lab. The city also engaged PlaceEconomics to produce a regional report on the status of historic preservation trades in the area and key findings.

After doing the initial legwork, the city formally drafted two ordinances. The first was to hand off the Academy to the BIA, stipulating the association set up a 501(c)3 for the school. The second was to lease the historic home where the learning lab would be located to the BIA for $1 per year. The remainder of that ordinance was to set the ground rules for how the association would renovate the structure, establish a time frame for renovation completion and initiate a sale of the home to the BIA for $1, allowing the association to sell the building and reinvest the proceeds back into the Academy for its long-term success.