Home News Butler Challenges the Community to Show “This Place Matters” in a Chance to Win $25,000 Towards Preserving the Bantam Building
Butler Challenges the Community to Show “This Place Matters” in a Chance to Win $25,000 Towards Preserving the Bantam Building
Friday, 03 June 2011 11:45

Help raise awareness and save an important component of America's industrial past one click at a time!

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Butler Downtown has entered the Bantam Building, the company building where America's first jeeps were produced, in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "This Place Matters Community Challenge" for the second year in a row. The building is one of the 100 sites chosen to participate in this online challenge out of 265 sites across the country. "Last year, Butler came in 23rd out of 119 communities participating in the challenge," said Becky Smith, Butler Downtown's Main Street Manager. "This year, we want to win so we will need more support than ever before!"

The "This Place Matters Community Challenge" runs from June 1st 8:00am EST through June 30th 5:00pm EST. Communities all over the country have identified historic sites worthy of support and the top three communities with the most individual supporters will win not only national recognition, but also cash prizes for their sites. Voting is easy! Beginning June 1st visit The National Trust for Historic Preservation's website and cast your vote!

You can only vote once per email address registered, so please spread the word to EVERYONE you know using Facebook, email, etc.

The Bantam building was built circa 1899-1900 by the Davis Lead Company, was later owned by the National Lead and Oil Company and then the Standard Steel Car Company, who sold the building to the American Bantam Car Company circa 1929. The building's historical significance came in 1940 when freelance design engineer Karl Probst and the American Bantam Car Company designed the winning U.S. Army prototype for a new Second World War military vehicle. The American Bantam Car Factory was the birthplace of the first jeep, and was commissioned to produce nearly 3,000 jeeps to help with the war efforts.

Several community groups including the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, Butler Downtown, and the City of Butler would like to see this building preserved as a reminder of the great importance the jeep played in helping end the Second World War and becoming a brand that is still popular today. This August, the Bureau, along with several other community organizations, will be remembering and celebrating this invention with the first Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival on August 12-14, 2011. This event will bring nearly 1,000 jeep enthusiasts and the community together to teach them about this wonderful history.

The Bantam Building has already received regional attention thanks to many organizations. The Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh named the Bantam Building to its "Top 10 List of Best Preservation Opportunities in the Pittsburgh Area" on May 25, 2010. The list, compiled from nominations received from various individuals and organizations, is designed to encourage investment in historic sites throughout the nine-county southwestern Pennsylvania region. The list has been used to draw positive attention to properties, raise investment funds, secure grants, and generate political goodwill for the historic sites.
 
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