Historic Preservation --Is it necessary?
From:
Andrew Miller
Date:
May 08 12:47 UTC
Short link
I don't think it is useful to get into an argument of This as opposed to That.
Historic Preservation benefits the community at large by retaining historically
significant structures and in some cases maintaining the stylistic elements of
that period within a neighborhood or community. The effect is that residents
and visitors have something beautiful to admire, feel a sense of pride and
learn from. Overtly this benefits the people who can afford to own property as
it raises the value of their property. The other side of that is that these
same people are the ones who have to pay for maintence, etc. which can be a
substantial cost on a historic home. Slate roofs which are common on historic
properties in Central Ohio cost upwards of 8 times the price of an asphalt
shingle roof.
Most historic preservation doesn't require tax right offs by the city. Columbus
has some very comprehensive HP legislation based on neighborhoods (German
Village being the most stringent) and none of it is based on tax breaks.
Unfortunately there are structures (such as the Firestone House) that fall
outside of the current legeslation due to their location, etc. I think it is
valid to fight for these structures wherever they may be but also believe that
HP should come from a desire of the community to preserve important structures
and not through tax breaks.
As for the needy in our community I agree we shouldn't give an across the board
tax break for anything that would affect our ability to pay for their services
either. I would say that however poor I've been (which has been substantial at
times in my life) I never wanted to live in an city that didn't appreciate
beauty.
Andrew
http://elephantsonbicycles.com
----- Original Message ----
From: Nick Bates <<email obscured>>
To: Central Ohio Regional Issues Forum <<email obscured>>
Sent: Thursday, May 8, 2008 7:44:55 AM
Subject: Re: [CORIF] Historic Preservation --Is it necessary?
I am all in preserving historical sites around town. History is part of our
culture, however, before investing hundreds of thousands if not millions
into preserving historic buildings I need to know.
1. what will the building be used for?
2. Is the plan a revitalization plan for a neighborhood for residential to
prevent new suburbs from being built?
My only concern as we look at preservation is that people are suffering
right now in Columbus from evictions, foreclosure, homelessness, inadequate
and unsafe housing etc. Investing through tax breaks or repair programs
through the city and county make me feel as if we are providing welfare
services to benefit the rich. Why invest in updating the electricity in one
building on E. Broad street when for the same cost we could update the
electricity in homes a few blocks away that have citizens living in.
I do not know the history of the building and exactly what it will be used
for,(my comments are not directed at the specific address mentioned but
larger philosophical questions) but I have seen in Cleveland a lot of
historical renovations that have taken old run down buildings and turned
into wealthy housing and also into office space that primarily benefits the
upper socio-economic levels when for the same cost, we could have helped a
lot of low-income and moderate income persons improve their housing.
> Hi all, This is my first time posting on the group. I wanted to make everyone
> aware of the imminent demolition scheduled for 1266 E. Broad Street,
otherwise
> known as the Firestone Mansion. This building, is listed as a contributing
> element to the architectural integrity of the E. Broad Street National
> Register Historic District and is one of only two Second Renaissance Revival
> buildings left in the City. Several entities collaborated and tried to work
> with the owner of the property to develop strategies to save the building.
> I've attached a Press Release from the Columbus Landmarks Foundation if
anyone
> wants to read more about it. This leads me to the following question and
topic
> for discussion: Is there more that can be done here in Columbus to help
> instill a feeling of history and hence an obligation to save unique historic
> properties or historic neighborhoods from demise? Do you feel this an
integral
> part of creating an identity for Columbus? Do you feel this is a necessar
> y step when seeking to create more sustainable neighborhoods? When living in
> New Orleans, my friends bought a house needingrenovation and theyreceived a
> tax break from the City when they updated things like the electrical.Is it
> feasible/possible tooffer incentives like this in Columbus? Though the State,
> MPO, or City level? Canwe engage large corporations/philanthropers to
> understand the benefits of preserving historic properties?Different
viewpoints
> on thistopic would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Heather Bowden
> Central Ohio Regional Issues Forum now contains the following file
>
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/file/2394-2008-05-08T040922Z
> Name: Demolition of 1266 E. Broad
> St. Release.pdf
> Tags: "attachment"
> Type: application/pdf
> Size: 25KB
>
>
> All the files that have been added to Central Ohio Regional Issues Forum can
> be viewed at
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/corif/files
>
>
> Heather Bowden
>
> Info about Heather Bowden:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/6oTVArn0QzDwAaKIIZVkKN
>
> This topic's messages may be viewed at:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/1Ggtaugkojm00qkloTq608
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Nick Bates
Info about Nick Bates: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/3ZK8ceaOP2J1vHu0XC03g0
This topic's messages may be viewed at:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4Od8kdwjnj9kXq2NkQ5Dxu
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