Greensboro's Treasured Places

Planning for balance in Greensboro

Developers say they are weary of continued neighborhood opposition of infill projects.

Neighborhoods say they need direction and assurance that infill projects will be compatible.

City staff recognizes that both developers and homeowners want to protect their investments.

But where to start?

When the City of Greensboro and constituents* applied for a Smart Growth Implementation Assistance grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Smart Growth initiative last year, they hoped to focus on this issue by creating a design prototype for infill in established neighborhoods that could help mediate future conflicts between concerned parties. The EPA saw merit in that issue, but encouraged those involved to step back think broadly. By thinking more comprehensively, perhaps the EPA could engage stakeholders in a dialog to address all concerns, and assist in facilitating discussions between neighborhoods, developers, and the engine that drives much of central Greensboro’s growth: colleges and universities.

You can’t throw a rock in central Greensboro without hitting a higher institution. They are woven into our fabric like Bedazzler beads in denim. In addition, all of our colleges and institutions are experiencing growth today, and all city leaders acknowledge that Greensboro’s economic growth depends on their future growth. So it makes sense we begin this discussion now and make appropriate plans.

This point is vividly illustrated recently by letters that were mailed to residents of the College Park neighborhood, just west of UNCG. Though the residents were told they were not within the universities scope of expansion as recently as last year, they received letters of interest from the school this week towards purchase of their properties. Instantaneously, plans for repairs and upgrades of homes dried up as the apparent future of these houses is now in question. To say this is damaging to the health of the neighborhood is an understatement.

Hopefully, the timing is right with the EPA and the Smart Growth grant. Representatives from Washington met with city staff, constituents, and university officials on Wednesday and addressed these concerns to each group. They left their meetings with optimism that a solution could be presented to Greensboro residents based from similar issues and solutions in other cities across the nation. Smart Growth strategy, it seems, really can be smart.

Examples abound. The EPA cites Akron, Bethlehem, and Rochester, as benefiting from the economic opportunities nurtured by higher education as well as the collaboration and cooperation between the communities and their colleges and universities. Mississippi State University is often held as a good example of a growing university that recognized off campus growth and the benefits it can have if done carefully. See image of Cotton District (above right). Perhaps Greensboro can learn from these places.

In the meantime, a logical strategy will be developed in coming weeks towards creating a solution by spring. Representatives from TREBIC, the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, area universities and colleges, and Preservation Greensboro, among others, have brainstormed about the possibilities. This is the kind of collaborative effort that could result in a win for neighborhoods who want planned growth, a win for developers who seek opportunities, and a win for Greensboro's universities who need to recruit students to a cool and dynamic city.

*constituents include the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, Preservation Greensboro, TREBIC, and others.

Wanna be in Pictures?

“If Walls Could Talk” the weekly series, Sundays on HGTV, is coming to Greensboro to film homes with intriguing pasts and unusual stories. Now in production on its 9th season, the series kicks off with new homeowners who make surprising historical discoveries about their homes as they explore and restore them. A lucky few will be amazed to learn that the historic artifacts they’ve discovered are worth a fortune when the “If Walls Could Talk” appraiser drops by for a look.

Each half-hour episode features homeowners from across the country who share their amazing discoveries. Recent stories include:

• A Connecticut family moves into a neglected 1800’s Victorian only to find antiques and a mysterious locked cabinet. What they find inside tells the touching story of their home’s original owner. Then, in the attic they discover original paintings and the “If Walls Could Talk” appraiser pays them a visit. The expert reveals their discoveries are worth thousands of dollars.
• A husband and wife turn a turn of the century bank into their dream home. In the process they find the original bank vault full of safety deposit boxes that are still locked!
• A Colorado couple find books, clothing and jewelry in their new home. The clues add up to the story of a best-selling author who lived in the house until she disappeared.
• A New York bachelor buys a hundred year old mansion and makes a chilling discovery in the basement— his home sweet home used to be a funeral home!

The series, which premiered in September of 1998, has aired over 200 episodes –each filmed in historic neighborhoods throughout the country. Some of you might recall some recent Guilford properties that have already been profiled on the program, including Magnolia Farm in Jamestown, and the Walker-Scarborough House in College Hill.

If Walls Could Talk is produced for HGTV by High Noon Entertainment in Denver, CO.

Greensboro area homeowners who would like to be considered for the program should contact Jason Mercado at (303) 712-3109 or email at jmercado@highnoonentertainment.com

Changing of the Guard

A changing of the guard occurred last week with the Guilford County Historic Preservation Commission (GCHPC). The GCHPC made a few news headlines in June with a surprise announcement that its single part-time staff position was eliminated in an 11th hour decision by the Guilford Board of Commissioners. The commission is now staffed by Greg Niles, the Planning & Development Director for the county.

Last week’s change was much less dramatic, occurring with regular election of officers, in which E. T. Edwards took over position as Chair. E. T. has a long history with the GCHPC, joining in 2001. Since then he served on numerous ad hoc committees and has been a valuable voice on the commission. His commission term ends in 2009. E. T. replaces yours truly as Chair.

Jerry Nix was elected to the position of Vice-Chair. Though Jerry’s current term began in 2007, he has served as a commissioner off and on since 1990, including roles as chairman.

The GCHPC was established in 1980 as a joint effort, banding together the governments of Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown, Oak Ridge, Gibsonville, with Guilford County. Over the past 27 years, the governmental volunteer group has worked to designate over 85 historic properties throughout the county and every municipality. These properties are subsequently protected from destruction by a demolition delay, and require certification for all physical alterations and repairs.

Architecture Tours of Greensboro

Preservation Greensboro will be holding a series of architectural tours of the city this fall. Established in 1808, Greensboro has the good fortune to have examples of nearly every American architectural movement, ranging from First Period Log Houses, through elaborate Italianate, Queen Anne, Prairie, and Period Revival styles. Join your friends at PGI for a series of three minicoach tours that will examine three very special periods of Greensboro’s history, and the architectural styles that represent them. Greensboro’s classic antebellum buildings will be explored, as well as the city’s Victorian and Gilded Age past. Who knew Greensboro had so much style? Attendees will gain insights on the gate City’s history, architecture, and the people who made the city what it is today.

TOUR A
Ante-bellum Greensboro
Sunday, October 14, 2007, 2pm
DESCRIPTION
Greensboro has a great collection of architecture built before the Civil War. This period was one of the most exciting in American architecture, encompassing Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and vernacular styles. Preservation Greensboro Executive Director Benjamin Briggs presents a look at the buildings and architecture of ante-bellum “Greensborough,” including several of the city’s oldest and most regarded landmarks. Learn about themes and styles of Greensboro’s oldest buildings, ranging from modest houses to generous residences designed by a New York architect.

Tour B
Victorian Greensboro
Sunday, October 28, 2007, 2pm
DESCRIPTION
Greensboro grew from a courthouse-market town to a transportation center during the Victorian period, and the city has one of the finest collections of Victorian architecture to show for it! Tour guide Benjamin Briggs will demonstrate examples of Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, and Romanesque-style buildings in hidden neighborhoods and forgotten neighborhoods in every quadrant of the city. Examples in the “Gate City” range from college buildings to row houses, and churches to mansion as we explore Victorian-era Greensboro.

Tour C
Gilded Age Greensboro
Sunday, November 11, 2007, 2pm
DESCRIPTION
New York has their Rockefellers, Biltmore had its Vanderbilts, but Greensboro had its own set of Gilded Age millionaires who set the tone for gracious living in the Gate City during the 1910s and 1920s. This period of economic prosperity saw splendid profits from textiles, insurance, and real estate turned into grand housing on a scale never seen before in the city. The tour examines Fisher Park, Greensboro’s first Gilded Age address, and Irving Park, which catered solely to high income residents.

The cost for each tour is $25 for Preservation Greensboro members (members may invite a guest at member cost), $35 for non-members. Join PGI and save $30 for all three tours!

Due to the intimate nature of the tour, only 31 seats are available and children under the age of 13 may not attend. Reservations must be paid in full 10 days prior to the event. No refunds will be given if cancellation is made five or less days before the event, or for no-shows. Tours begin at the Blandwood Carriage House. Please make checks payable to Preservation Greensboro, and mail to PO Box 13136, Greensboro, NC 27415. Please act immediately, reservations are first come, first served, and interest is high.

A Landmark in the Mail

It has been a very busy week here at Preservation Greensboro, but this morning we have gotten the summer issue of our Landmarks newsletter delivered to bulk mail. For those of you who have been involved with newsletters, you know what a monumental task they can be.

Landmarks has been a tradition of Preservation Greensboro since its first issue was composed in December 1969. Over the past 38 years it has benefited from the hands of countless editors, contributors, and staff time. Our staff of two and a half souls continues to put a high priority on maintaining high standards of publication including interesting articles related to a diversity of topics related to Greensboro’s treasured places. Some members have told me that receiving Landmarks in the mail is the best part of being a member of Preservation Greensboro. Well, that’s ok!

This issue, we review Greensboro’s textile heritage, including two defining periods of development in our city. We are fortunate to have an in-depth article about Greensboro’s earliest textile mill, the Mount Hecla Mill begun by Henry Humphreys in the 1820s, researched and written by Mac Whatley of Franklinville. Mac is an enthusiast of industrial history, especially textile history here in North Carolina. His article profiles this Greensboro patriarch, declared by Mac to be a “primary influence” on industrialization in antebellum North Carolina, adding:

“… Greensboro is no stranger to the superlatives of American textile history (since the 1890s). But the association is even older. Before 1830, Greensboro was home to what appears to have been the first steam-powered textile mill in the South, and the first textile mill of any kind in the North Carolina Piedmont: the Mount Hecla factory, located on the northwest corner of Bellemeade and Battleground. The proprietor of the factory, Henry Humphreys, is an unsung trailblazer for the southern textile industry. The state historic marker on West Friendly Avenue at North Greene Street is Humphrey’s only memorial in Greensboro, but his personal initiative and vision were crucial to the industrialization of antebellum economy, with his pioneer example inspiring textile entrepreneurs for more than half a century.”

To read more about Humphreys and his Mount Hecla factory, look for Landmarks in your mailbox (or become a member of Preservation Greensboro if you aren’t already!).

Other articles in our summer issue include a profile of the Cone family and their Revolution Cotton Mills, a primer on the nomenclature of brick construction, and news from Greensboro’s active historic districts.

Though I’m glad we got this issue to the post office today, we are already designing the lay-out for the next issue – ready to learn about the lost symbolism of nineteenth century gravestones?

Save Our Historic Buildings One Day at a Time

Maintaining an old building can be daunting for some and sometimes raise a cornucopia of questions:

“Didn’t we just fix that leak in the roof?”
“The new air conditioning system is going to cost how much?”
“How do I find someone to patch the plaster walls?”

Help is on the way! Preservation Greensboro is partnering with the National Preservation Institute (NPI) to provide a series of workshops to address historic building maintenance this November.

Maintenance and stewardship are often accomplished using an Historic Structure Report, the focus of the first workshop to be held at the Blandwood Carriage House on November 13th in a day-long session. Participants will learn how to document a site's history, its present condition, and a plan for maintenance utilizing emerging technologies such as computer-aided facilities management programs.

The second workshop will be held on November 14th and 15th, focusing specifically on maintenance of historic buildings. Participants will learn how to “read” buildings and understand the effects of daily, monthly, and annual maintenance activities. The identification, care, and maintenance of historic materials are critical to efficient and cost-effective stewardship. Discussions during this two-day workshop will touch on the nature of building materials, how they age, and how they fail. Learn when to bring in a specialist to help identify the problem or a contractor to handle a specific task.

Both workshops will be led by Alfonso A. Narvaez, senior associate and principal architectural conservator with the Preservation Technology Group at John Milner Associates, Inc. with experience on preservation projects nationwide; formerly with the National Park Service.

Take advantage of this detailed and specialized workshop held here in our own backyard. PGI is dedicated to attracting high-quality, skilled workshops such as these to our city for the benefit of our inventory of historic structures. AIA members will receive 6 learning units each day for designated seminars that meet the criteria for programs in the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System.

Visit the NPI website to learn more about this event. Sign up quickly, the session will not be held is there is not sufficient interest.

Watch List Property Plans Pass Hurdle

On September 10th, the Greensboro Zoning Commission unanimously approved the rezoning of the historic Albright House for office use, paving the way for preservation of the site as the headquarters for the Junior League of Greensboro. Final approval will be requested of City Council.

In 2005, Preservation Greensboro named the Albright House to its inaugural Watch List, a list of ten buildings and places important to the history of our city, whose welfare was a concern of Greensboro citizens. At that time, PGI began to discuss the future of the site with its owner, the Starmount Company. This year, the site was renamed to the Watch List, but an exciting plan has emerged to preserve the structure for the benefit of the city.

The Albright House is an excellent example of historic architecture in Greensboro, sporting a notable two-story Neoclassical portico. Likely built in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the house stands along a busy city thoroughfare across from the rapidly expanding Friendly Shopping Center. The Starmount Company has owned the house for decades, and it has recently developed a plan to donate the house for charitable use. The surrounding wooded land and stream would be dedicated to the city and preserved for use as a passive park memorializing Blanche Sternberger Benjamin.

In discussing the proposal, Commissioner Cyndy Hayworth likened the project to the Junior Achievement offices at 3220 Northline Ave, three blocks from the site. The project also featured the reuse of an historic house for use by a charitable nonprofit, and retains its original details such as hardwood floors and mantles. The motion to approve the project was made by Commissioner Zack Matheny, seconded by Paul Gilmer.

Preservation of this structure would be a great way to move it from the Watch List. Fingers crossed.

Stopping Losses

The September/October issue of the National Trust’s Forum News provides a solution to a problem we experience here in Greensboro in a weekly basis.

The Forum News states “It has long been a cause of frustration for preservation advocates, and misunderstanding by the public, that there are no formal preservation protections for properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.”

Residents of Greensboro wonder aloud how can a building of national significance be destroyed, when a building of local significance (designed through a local landmark or district program) be denied demolition? Doesn’t that seem backwards?

Well, sure it does!
At this time, any building listed in Greensboro on the National Register of Historic Places can be destroyed with no advanced permission (aside from a standard demolition permit). Examples of lost National Register properties abound, including The Mantleworks on South Elm Street (right), and a charming bungalow on Arlington Street. Both buildings were listed on the National Register, and both were destroyed without delay.

How can this be so? It seems that it is easier to pass stringent local laws regulating destruction of historic places than stringent national laws and regulations. What is acceptable in North Carolina may be unacceptable in Texas. Our state, it seems, can count itself as one of the more progressive states of the union in terms of passing legislation to delay or deny destruction of historic landmarks.
Destruction of buildings that are locally designated landmarks, or located within locally designated historic districts, can be
delayed for 365 days in order to provide a “cooling off period” to determine alternatives to destruction. This tool has been used in Greensboro as recently as 2006, when the Margaret Gay House was relocated from North Elm Street to West Bessemer Avenue (right).

Alternatives to the destruction of historic resources are out there, however, it is the will of the community that turns these alternatives to reality.

A Hartford (CT) preservation ordinance, which took effect in December 2006, solves the problem efficiently. It requires that properties within the city listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as part of a historic district, undergo the same design review as locally designated properties. The nonprofit Hartford Preservation Alliance has partnered with the city to present workshops introducing the ordinance, and will soon lead a training program for building contractors who work on historic properties.

Closer to home, New Bern and Statesville have made strides in closing the demolition gap.

On August 14th, New Bern’s Board of Aldermen adopted an ordinance to require permits before demolishing structures within their historic district. In order to gain approval, the application must be reviewed to meet standards that include: architectural integrity, style, superior craftsmanship, the building merit as part of a significant group, or the building’s cultural significance.

Last year the North Carolina General Assembly gave New Bern authority to adopt the ordinance. The Historic Preservation Commission and the city planning and zoning board both provided favorable recommendations that the aldermen adopt the requirement for a permit.

A similar ordinance was passed in Statesville, requiring approval by Statesville City Council for the demolition of structures within historic districts. The applicant must first submit an application for review by the Historic Preservation Commission. Based on the application the Commission submits a recommendation to City Council. City Council then renders a decision on the requested demolition.

Examples exist for Greensboro to follow. History and architecture are features that define the city against cross-state rivals as a great place to live, work, and shop. Where there is a will, there is a way.