Trust for Architectural Easements Leads Children’s Tour of the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District

Oct. 8, 2009 - PRLog -- For the second year in a row, the Trust for Architectural Easements, one of the nation’s largest non-profit preservation organizations, is sponsoring and hosting architectural tours during the annual Open House New York Weekend, Oct. 10 and 11.

The event opens the doors of more than 300 buildings from all five boroughs of New York City to the public, free-of-charge, and also offers many other architectural tours and activities.

This year the Trust for Architectural Easements will be leading a children’s tour of the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District. SoHo’s cast-iron buildings were constructed during the third quarter of the 19th century, and are a magnificent backdrop for learning architectural elements and terminology. A walking tour highlighting some of these buildings will conclude with a hands-on activity in which children will design their own building facades from the architectural elements learned during the tour.

This tour is for children ages 6-12. Each participating child must be accompanied by an adult. While the tour is a children’s tour, adults are welcome to participate in the tour and activity. Two tours will be given on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 10 a.m., and noon. Each tour will be 90 minutes in length, including the activity. To RSVP for these tours, email rsvp@architecturaltrust.org.

Through education initiatives like the Open House New York Weekend, the Trust for Architectural Easements fosters greater appreciation for the historic structures that contribute to the beauty of our cities and towns. Last year, the Trust organized a tour of SoHo for children and sponsored a tour of Wall Street, led by architectural historian Tony Robins. In 2007, the Trust for Architectural Easements provided a grant, and worked cooperatively with, openhousenewyork to develop an educational curriculum on architecture for school children.

The Trust for Architectural Easements is one of the largest preservation easement holding organizations in the nation. The Trust raises awareness about the need for historic preservation by providing grants to preservation organizations and community groups.

# # #

The Trust for Architectural Easements is one of the nation’s largest non-profit organizations dedicated to voluntary preservation through easement donations. The Trust protects more than 800 historic buildings across the United States.