What is The Crooked House?
The Crooked House at Homecoming Park is a project that began in 2004 when architect and creative director Benjamin Fehl purchased the 163-year-old old carriage house in Milesburg, PA. Milesburg is a borough in Centre County located 30 minutes north of State College, PA. When Fehl first purchased the house in 2004, he had planned on restoring the home that had once belonged to Abigail Miles; the niece of the founder of Milesburg. However, the house revealed that it was beginning to lose its internal support and lean; the lack of internal support meant that the house could not be restored.
Rather than demolishing the house and the history that it held for Milesburg, Fehl created the idea of preserving the facade of the building in concrete. The idea has now developed into donating the property to create Homecoming Park and salvaging a stone fireplace that was uncovered in the walls of the house. The Crooked House is preserving history while,”examining the essence of home,” according to Fehl.
16 Years Later: Rounding the Finish Line
The Centre Daily Times released an article in June of 2020 on The Crooked House. This is one of the latest articles that was written about the project. The article introduces new readers to The Crooked House and the story behind it, while also giving the information on grants and funding for the project. The article mentions Fehl’s anticipation for the project to be completed by the end of this year despite the setbacks of pandemic.
Public Relation Problems
When I look at The Crooked House I can’t help but be excited. It’s a project with heart behind it that is preserving the love and emotion that we feel for our homes and those we share those homes with; it would be a challenge to not enjoy the project. However, when I look at The Crooked House from a public relations perspective, I worry about our audience not having a clear time-line of the project. I believe it is important that we make it clear to our audience what has happened, what needs to happen, and how we are making that happen.
Completing The Crooked House project is going to take money, and in order to raise that money we must show our audience and potential donors that it will make a difference and they will see the final result. For example, when bricks on a sidewalk are sold as a fundraiser, the sidewalk has to be built. When people order Girl Scout cookies, the cookies have to arrive. It is important that the final product of this project is being showcased and how we are going to achieve that finality must be shared with our potential audiences.