Preservation Society Acting Director, Robert Gurley, quoted in Post and Courier regarding importance of protecting threatened historic structures on Spring and Washington Streets

Monday, December 14, 2009 - Struggling to Preserve the Fringe
Post and Courier
ARCHITECTURE
By Robert Behre

A historic district is like a school of fish: It's more dangerous being on the outside.

Even in Charleston, which has a well-deserved national reputation for preservation, several historic homes are at risk of being lost, largely because of their locations.

It's one thing to fix up an old house on Church or Anson streets in the heart of a stable neighborhood.

It's quite another to tackle the vacant wood-frame homes on western Spring Street, where the historic district fades into a string of fast food restaurants. Or to fix up empty and dilapidated buildings along Washington Street, where the view is dominated by the chain-link and barbed wire fence along the Columbus Street Terminal.

Eddie Bello, director of the city's Urban Design and Preservation Division, said the city tries to ensure that the owners of vacant buildings keep the roofs repaired and the windows boarded up.

But such moves are no substitute for a preservation-minded owner willing to sink money into an old building in a neighborhood that has little historic feel.

"Unfortunately, there's only so much you can do and it's tough to adaptively reuse some of them because of their location," Bello said. "On one hand, Charleston is very strong and has the luxury of having hundreds and hundreds of historic buildings in great shape, but we also have some of the same problems that other cities have, on a lesser scale."

Bello notes the two vacant wooden homes on the northern side of Spring Street have been vacant and awaiting a savior since he took his job with the city 10 years ago. (On a side note, Bello has announced he will leave his position at year's end to head the Charleston office of McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture.)

Robert Gurley, acting director of the Preservation Society of Charleston, agrees that these fringe buildings are very much at risk.

The houses on Washington Street have been vacant for years, and the Board of Architectural Review has been asked to allow them to be torn down, something the society opposes.

"We think it's critical to retain those houses. They're the only remaining historic fabric of that area," Gurley said. "Any new development -- those houses should inform the height scale and mass and should be integrated into any new development."

As for the two houses on Spring Street, Gurley notes those also were up for demolition several years ago, but the city denied it. Still, without some imminent help, nature may grant what the city will not.

"I'm a little surprised they're still there," Gurley said. "I'm happy they're still there."

Bello said the city is trying to be more active enforcing its demolition-by-neglect laws, writing to owners and urging them to make small repairs before little problems turn big.

"We got six or seven easily in the last few months that we've saved from getting into really, really bad shape," he said.

Charleston is lucky because much of its historic district borders on the Ashley and Cooper rivers, a highly desirable location. The sadder stories are found where much marsh has been filled in.

On one hand, it's easy to understand why few are eager to spend the large sums needed to restore old homes in areas more suitable to commercial or even industrial use.

On the other hand, they present an opportunity for a true preservation hero, one with imagination, to pull off something with significance well beyond their own property line.

After all, losing some houses at the fringe of the historic district creates a new fringe.

And then those houses will be the ones at risk.


To see the full story: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/dec/14/struggling-to-preserve-the-fringe/

For information contact: Robert Gurley at (843) 722-4630, www.preservationsociety.org or Email: rgurley@preservationsociety.org