Preservation Medora Brick Plant



Medora, Indiana
Indiana 425 southwest of Medora in Jackson County

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Go to stories people have shared about the brick plant

 

Terms   Preservation
To maintain in safety from injury, peril, or harm; protect.  Repair and stabilization.

Restoration
To bring back to an original condition.  In this case, to what date?  1906? 1925? 1991?

 

The Threat

  "Abandoned save for an annual haunted house brickyard community fundraiser, the Medora Brick Plant looks like a place where time has stopped.  But time doesn't stop, of course, so trees grow through the foundations and walls of the twelve round kilns and other structures, mortar leeches out, and rust attacks the iron straps around the kilns.  Finding a new use for such rare and unusual structures presents a tough challenge."

- Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana 2004

 

The Response
to the Threat



 

 


Some Thought Required

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Preservation is Doable

 

 

Where do you think things should go from here?  email

 

 

* Note the Medora Brick Plant site is currently owned
by a private owner and IS NOT open to the public in any way.

 




 

 

 

How to help tell the story by sharing copies
of the images you have of the Medora Brick Plant

 

  Attention has been drawn to historical contribution of the Medora Brick Plant as well as its current dire situation by:
  • Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana has the plant currently designated as it one of its 10 Most Endangered Landmarks in Indiana
     
  • Medora Brick Company Historic District  (071-398-58001-018)
     
  • The site has not been designated by Dept. of  Natural Resources - Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.

How about a discussion to get a larger view of the landscape involved in a preservation effort?!

? What would be the positives of preserving the Medora
     Brick Plant site?

? What would be the negatives or the challenges involved
     in preserving the Medora Brick Plant site?

? What are the unknowns and interesting thoughts
     associated with preserving the Medora Brick Plant site?

With a list responses generated to each of these questions there would be a  better view of the undertaking for all to see.  Also researching "what it would take" in the short as well as long term to preserve Medora Brick Plant.   See the "roadmap" below that the Claybank,  Saskatchewan folks have created.

Where do you think things should go from here?  email

Preservation is doable should that be pursued . . . and there is even a road map for preservation! 

Here's an example of a saved and preserved brick plant of the same vintage and lifespan located out in the middle of nowhere in western Canada...

The Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site and Museum is a successful preservation project that is self-described as 'a little brick plant (circa 1914) "in the middle of nowhere" in Claybank, Saskatchewan, Canada. (reference points...due north of Denver, on the southern hills of the central west province of Saskatchewan.  It is south of the line between the city of Moose Jaw and province capital city of Regina.)   Claybank photos by Regina Photo Club.  370 Claybank brick plant images of Claybank Brick Plant Historical Society.

The Claybank Brick Plant was donated to the (province's) Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation in 1992. In 1994, the plant was designated as a Canadian National Historic Site. The Foundation incurs restoration costs and seeks contributions from other organizations to recover a portion of those costs.

The Claybank Brick Plant Historical Society donates material and services to the Foundation to achieve the common goal of developing the Brick Plant as a tourist attraction. The Foundation has an agreement with the Society whereby funds generated by the Society, to restore the site, shall be directed to the Foundation. The majority of the Society’s funding is obtained through cost sharing agreements with federal government agencies. The Foundation entered a five year funding agreement with Parks Canada, commencing March 30, 1999, for a maximum funding of $954,500 to help cover the costs of restoring the site. Parks Canada reimburses one-half of the eligible costs up to a limit specified for each fiscal year. The Foundation claimed the maximum amount available for 2001/02..

It has been said that there wasn't the far sighted research and discussion at the onset of stabilizing the Claybank Brick Plant.  Had there been, perhaps, people and organizations wouldn't have gone forward.  But now, things are past the point of return and Claybank is there for everyone to enjoy and work hard to preserve.


The issue remains of who will operate Claybank Brick Plant site long-term.  This  is under discussion at this time.

. . . Claybank Brick Plant Historical Society

The Claybank Brick Plant in full operation, 1930
photo from Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation