The Restore Omaha conference is the largest annual event for Restoration Exchange, the combination of Landmarks, Inc. and Omaha Urban Neighborhoods, committed to restoring and preserving older properties. The conference lets you interact with the best vendors in the Omaha area and learn many new restoration tricks from experts. It’s an exciting event that Pella of Omaha & Lincoln was proud to sponsor.
A Big Year
The 2015 Restore Omaha Conference ran the last weekend in February.
The 10th annual exhibition opened with a reception on Feb. 27 from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Pella, a new event facility inside the former Pella Lutheran Church at 41st and Harney Streets. Your local Pella team was excited to find original Pella windows as part of this historic structure.
The festivities continued at Metropolitan Community College’s South Omaha Campus Industrial Training Center, off 27th & Q Streets, on Saturday, February 28. The day began at 8 a.m. and concluded at 5 p.m. Attendees had the chance to participate in fifteen breakout sessions that had something for everyone. The topics of the sessions included:
• Case studies of successful home and building restoration
• How to finish older basements
• How to use real estate tools to save historic properties
• Information on the new state historic tax credits and city code enforcement policy
The keynote speaker for this year’s conference was also an exciting addition to this event. 2014 National Trust for Historic Preservation Award winner Bernice Radle spoke on how the preservation movement is changing in rust belt cities and nationwide, exploring ideas and projects that have promoted historic preservation initiatives, and identifying lessons learned.
Sponsored by Pella
Pella knows a thing or two about restoration considering they offer restoration products that help maintain the integrity of a home and its windows and doors.
“Often people are attempting to restore homes back to their original condition or updating and modernizing, but those projects can be tricky because windows can be hard to replace,” said Stephen Noel of Pella Windows and Doors of Omaha & Lincoln. “Luckily we have some unique products that cater towards somebody that does need to replace a window in house built in the 1900s.”
Restoring with care
“Some of the older, unique homes might have a pattern that was prevalent in the 1900s, but now it might not be. We have that capability to provide products that don’t disturb, but enhance the overall aesthetic quality of a home,” Noel said.
Pella Windows and Doors of Omaha & Lincoln pride themselves on the fact that original Rolscreen Company windows can still be found in the Omaha area. For instance, Noel, who refers to himself as the “Pella Fella,” has seen Rolscreen windows in the Dundee area that were placed all the way back in 1925. Rolscreen Company was the original brand name before Pella Corporation replaced it in 1992.
Visit Restore Omaha Conference’s website to learn more about Pella Windows and Doors of Omaha & Lincoln and all the other vendors.