Building a Historic District

In our season finale of Plaster + Patina, host Al sits down with longtime neighborhood steward Jim Gucwa, whose family has called the Astor area home for six decades. Together they explore the heart of what makes a place worth saving, from river memories and landmark stories like the community’s reflections on the Edmund Fitzgerald, to the everyday details that make Astor unique.Jim shares how he and others worked with neighbors, the city, and the Brown County Library to gather the layers of neighborhood memory and turn them into a living record. They dig into how the Astor Historic District came to be, why preserving shared histories matters for future generations, and what it takes to protect architecture, stories, and community identity.Tune in as we reflect on the power of place and what it means to build a historic district in the Season 1 finale of Plaster + Patina.