Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek will be featured Sept. 13 as one of the stops in the Ohio Open Doors tour this month in the event series sponsored by the Ohio History Connection.
Beginning Friday, Sept. 9, and continuing through Sunday, Sept. 18, historic buildings and fascinating places throughout Ohio will open their doors for free. A list of the statewide locations, dates, and times is available at www.ohiohistory.org/opendoors.
Locally at Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek, 10051 Township Road 47, West Liberty, the Ohio Open Doors event is scheduled for 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13.
During the “A Toast To Time – 2022” event, visitors can examine the architecture and artistry of the 1871 home and the enchanting setting as they discover plans to preserve the property, restore architectural details and expand a vision for public programming.
Hands-on activities, demonstrations, and discussions will be ongoing and behind-the-scenes cellar tours will be offered at 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
All educational programming at the site is managed by a nonprofit organization, the Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities (MFH). Piatt Castle Co. Inc. continues to own the property, with a vision for preservation and restoration so the site remains open to the public in the future.
Representatives of the staff, board, and Piatt family will be present on Sept. 13, along with Larry Vance, a consultant in soft mortar repair, sharing plans to preserve the property, restore architectural details and expand a vision for public programming.
In addition to this upcoming engaging statewide event, Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek is the recipient of two capacity building grants from Ohio Humanities and the Ohio History Connection.
From November 2021 through mid-August 2022, support to the MFH was provided by Ohio Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the federal ARP Act of 2021 in the form of an OH-SHARP planning grant responding to, and recovering from the coronavirus.
Outcomes include: reconnecting with many schools and youth organizations in a three-county region, piloting programs integrating environmental science lessons with humanities disciplines, expansion of outdoor events, increased attention on offering visitor benefits through memberships, and the creation of a 3-D tour by Reality Concepts. The latter will soon be available to view at www.piattcastle.org, where the remaining 2022 events are listed.
Audience building initiatives begun under the OH-SHARP grant are taking another step forward through a capacity building grant announced in March at the Ohio State House.
Strengthening member and visitor engagement is funded in part by the Ohio History fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connections. Donations to the Ohio History Fund make this program possible, www.ohiohistory.org/historyfund.
“All involved at Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek are grateful for the financial support and confidence given by Ohio Humanities, the Ohio History Connection and the Ohio Open Door partner organizations: Ohio Arts Council, TourismOhio, the Ohio Travel Association, and Heritage Ohio,” MFH representatives said in a press release.
“As you visit Mac-A-Cheek Castle to learn about the past and plans for the future, realize that the present is the perfect time to become more involved at this local National Trust landmark as a visitor or member, volunteer or staff, school or group educator, consultant or program provider, project donor or program sponsor. “
For more information about any of those options, contact Margaret Piatt at (937) 465-2821.