Sunday, January 11, 2009
Let Taylor demolish the frame shop
Christian Trejbal
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As I pondered the fate of the Taylor's Frames & Things house in Blacksburg, the calendar next to my desk caught my eye. It is this year's Blacksburg calendar, and the theme is historic buildings. If the old white house on Main Street were historic, surely it would be in the calendar.
I'm not usually one to cheat on calendars. I only check to see if my birth month got a cool picture. Otherwise, I prefer the small surprise on the third or fourth day of every month when I remember to turn the page. Nevertheless, in the name of research, I started flipping through the calendar in my office.
Sure enough. The frame shop adorns July with a church and a church turned taco joint.
That picture might be all that remains of the frame shop when citizens turn to it this summer. The house's owner has asked the town for permission to demolish it. Beverly Taylor has been trying to sell the property for years and says she could if she could clear the site for new construction.
She needs the town's approval because the home is more than a century old and a contributing structure to the town's historic district. That means the town listed it as historically important when it created the historic district.
The Historic Design Review Board had first say on demolition, and it unanimously voted no. Members worried about setting a precedent for tearing down the remaining historic structures in the town's center.
Taylor appealed the review board's decision to town council, which will hold a hearing on the matter Tuesday. If council rejects the demolition request, Taylor could appeal to the circuit court or she could wait one more year. If she can't sell it in that time at a fair market price, then town code says she gets her demolition permit, historic building or not.
It's a tough case.
The Victorian home, previously known as the Bennett-Pugh House, stands on about one-quarter acre. The Taylors began renting it for their shop more than 20 years ago, and in 2001, they bought it after the previous owner died.
In 2004, they put it back on the market. Despite some interest, it remained unsold.
Part of the reason was likely their high asking price. By 2006, they still wanted $695,000. Those were the heady days of the housing bubble. They had paid only $300,000 a few years earlier.
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Then, in 2007, Taylor's husband died. Facing mounting bills for a structure she was not even using, she dropped the price again. These days, the house is listed at $450,000, still a bit above the county appraisal value of $419,300. She says she has had offers, but only for the land. The building needs to go.
All of which is interesting, but not necessarily something council need worry about. The public question is whether to preserve a historic structure, not Taylor's financial situation.
If there were a good chance the house would sell, council would be justified making Taylor keep it on the market for another year. Tearing down a historic structure is an irreversible step, and it is not the public's fault the Taylors, like so many people, took out an interest-only loan to buy more house than perhaps they should have.
These are not normal times, though. The economy remains in the dumps and property is not selling. Taylor should not have to shoulder the burden of payments for another year when there is little hope a buyer would materialize.
The house is in bad shape. Engineers have looked it over and concluded it needs major renovations. Making it suitable for a new business would cost more than the house is worth and more than building anew.
The town is in no position to come to the rescue. It already owns its share of dilapidated historic structures -- Doc Roberts Tire Company, Odd Fellows Hall and the Black House -- and does not even have enough money to renovate all of those.
Some good might come from demolition, too. The frame shop is located in the middle of the downtown commercial district. The land is ripe for redevelopment. A rundown house is not its highest, best use.
Indeed, while the town has some leverage, it might negotiate a zoning change on the land. The site would be excellent for an infill, mixed-use development. Right now it's zoned for high-impact commercial use, which could be a gas station or chain drug store.
During demolition, every effort should be taken to salvage materials to incorporate into whatever replaces it or into some other structure elsewhere. Hardware, columns, decorative trim, timbers and so on all might at least provide some continuity to the past.
The thing about history is that sometimes you have to let it go and make way for the future. Some hundred-year-old structures are not worth saving.
Christian Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
