Spring is often the season for renewal and thought of as an awakening or fresh start. It’s also a time when people begin sprucing up their gardens, installing a new screen door or finally tackling that outdoor project now that the cold weather is disappearing.

Historic Catasauqua Preservation Association is ready to do just that. Spring is here — and so is HCPA’s determination to upgrade its property and grounds.

HCPA President Betsy Hillenbrand and board member Bill Nothstein said the association recently received a $4,000 grant through the Lehigh Valley Tourism Development Program. The group plans to use these funds to plaster the inside of the summer kitchen and paint the outside.

Another grant the board applied for was $4,000 through the Lehigh Valley Greenways Mini Grant Program. These funds will be used to make improvements to the parking lot, which include concrete blocks and paving. Hillenbrand said the board could find out this summer if HCPA is a recipient of this grant. Nothstein highlighted that this particular grant is matching, meaning HCPA is obligated to raise $4,000 in monetary or in-kind donations to receive the funding from Greenways.

In 2026, HCPA plans to pursue a Harry C. Trexler Trust Grant between $25,000 and $30,000. HCPA want to use the funds, if awarded, for a handicap-accessible bathroom on the first floor.

Other plans on the current and near-future projects list include installing a handicap-accessible entrance to the Biery House, upgrading the electrical system of the final section of the mule barn, creating a seasonal outside eating area and adding additional storage space in the house. Some of these projects have already been started, which means they will be completed in the next few months.

“It’s a 200-year-old building, and it needs repairs. It needs TLC,” Hillenbrand said. “We’re finally able to do that.”

Hillenbrand and Nothstein cautioned, however, that this list of needed fixes and upgrades is only a sample of the whole picture. Additional improvements are needed in the next couple of years and beyond to be able to continue to secure the healthy and safe physical structure of the Biery House.

Other funding to help with some of these project expenses includes the money raised from the recent pierogi sale and $1,000 received from the Catasauqua Community Partnership.

“HCPA has been in existence for over 25 years, but we have never been able to find anything that we could make a substantial amount of money to do anything to improve our property,” Hillenbrand said. “Our insurance bill to support those properties and to insure all of our board members and all the activities that we do is in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $6,000 a year, so that’s basically all we could earn in a year, and it all went to pay insurance.

“This is the first time [...] we have put together this group of people who all are like-minded and working toward the same goal. We started this Biery House Holiday Shoppe, which has been really successful, so it’s great. This is the first time ever we’ve been able to do this much work in one year. It’s extraordinary,” Hillenbrand added.

HCPA currently has nine board members, and Nothstein conveyed he couldn’t be more proud of this group.

“Not only are they some of the hardest workers I’ve ever worked with and dedicated workers, but I’ll tell you, because I know for a fact, that many times when we’re doing a project, they’re purchasing things for what we’re doing out of their own pocket and not looking for reimbursement. It’s going above and beyond showing up,” Nothstein said. “They see the value of what we’re doing, and I think that value is spreading to the community now through the holiday shop and hopefully will continue.”

The board may also be looking into adding associate members, Nothstein said. This position is for people would are not interested in the typical board member roles — attending meetings, writing grant proposals, setting up information tables, event planning, etc.

If you like to get your hands messy in the dirt, you can become an associate member and volunteer your time with grass cutting, planting or other landscaping. If you like to paint, there may be a job for you. If you are into local history, there may be work you could fulfill.

If interested in becoming a board or associate member, email Hillenbrand at historiccatasauqua@gmail.com.

Another development the board is excited for is a history program partnership with Catasauqua Area School District. Nothstein is in talks with Sheckler Elementary School to have students come to the Biery House and learn local history. Plans are in the works, and Nothstein hopes to have this program ready to go for the 2025-26 academic year.

As another development, Hillenbrand shared HCPA hopes to purchase the building at 2 Race St. — the building next to the Biery House — sometime in the future. It would be a permanent museum, she said.

“It’s such a historical property,” Hillenbrand stressed. “It still has the window there where the canal boats would just pull up to this house and get out and buy their supplies and get back in.”

Nothstein added there are two other outbuildings connected with that property.

“We’re discussing, should it happen, how we would manage all that,” Hillenbrand. “It’s a long-range project that we really need to think hard about if that would work for our organization. It would be a shame to have that sold to somebody who would turn it into a multiunit and lose all of that historic quality about it. It’s something we’re thinking about.”

Hillenbrand and Nothstein also shared their excitement that Catasauqua has a Sister City in Wales. David Thomas, referred to as the father of the Industrial Revolution in America, went to school in Pontardawe, a town in Wales. The board is looking to have a pen pal program, 21st century style, where CASD students connect with students in Pontardawe on Zoom, hopefully available for the next school year.

Of special note, 2026 is the 200th anniversary of the Biery House, and HCPA is hoping to hold a celebration, possibility at or around the same time as the J4 Celebration in July. Specific plans have not yet been started, but the board knows something should take place to celebrate this monumental occasion.

If HCPA receives an individual, organization or business donation, the name will be listed on a commemorative plaque, to be placed on the grounds of the house. Donation categories include copper, $20-$99; bronze, $100-$249; silver, $250-$499; gold, $500-$749; platinum, $750-$1,000; and diamond, more than $1,000. You can mail your check, payable to HCPA, to Nothstein at 1214 Fourth St., Catasauqua, 18032.

Mark your calendar: This year’s Biery House Holiday Shoppe will be held Saturdays and Sundays, Nov. 15-Dec. 7.

“We want to educate the community, preserve history and provide a facility that our community can visit and bring guests to and make them aware of the historical significance of our community. It’s vast, and many people don’t have an inkling of what’s here,” Nothstein said.

“We think it’s important to keep those buildings standing,” Hillenbrand added.