A few years ago, Covington discovered it had a problem — too many old houses with too few people who knew how to properly restore them. Seventy percent of housing units in Covington are 50 years or older. Nearly half of them were built before 1940.
A recent study confirmed the region was in desperate need of skilled people in the heritage trades.
So, Covington partnered with the Enzweiler Building Institute to start a restoration trade school. It announced the idea in 2021, as reported by WVXU.
The Heritage Trades Academy, teaching historic restoration, is now accepting enrollment for classes beginning Sept. 18.
Get caught up: Covington is starting a Restoration Trades School to create jobs and fix up old buildings
An information session is Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m. at the Hellmann Creative Center, 321 MLK Jr. Blvd/12th Street, Covington.
The classes are primarily focused on workforce training, but classes are open to homeowners and weekend warriors. Enzweiler Director Vicki Berling says the demand for skills like historic masonry, interior carpentry, box gutters, historic painting, stained glass and window repair is enormous.
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"We have employers who are running alongside us because they want to meet these people and see if they really want to work in the field," she says.
Scholarships are available
Covington is paying for its residents to attend the school, according to Historic Preservation Officer Kaitlin Bryan. "We're offering 100% scholarships for the tuition and then we're working to set up some more type of funding for other local residents." Berling says Enzweiler is offering assistance to Kenton County residents.
Enzweiler has already held some introductory classes and participants were 80% female, many in their 40s and 50s, says Berling.
The classes starting Sept. 18 will be from about 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
