SALISBURY, N.C.-The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources today announced $92,000 in grant support to nine historic preservation projects in nine counties around the state. Projects range from work on nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, to a Wooden Window and Energy Efficiency Workshop, to preservation plans for the cities of Salisbury and New Bern.
“May is National Preservation Month,” said Cultural Resources Secretary Linda A. Carlisle, as she made the grant announcement in Salisbury, one of the communities receiving a grant. “This year’s theme is ‘Old is the New Green,’ and historic preservation grants help communities assure that their vital heritage is cared for and shared.”
Preservation Month in North Carolina is cosponsored by the state Historic Preservation Office, part of the Department of Cultural Resources www.ncculture.com, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Historic Preservation Office identifies and protects, and enhances historic properties and districts through tax incentives, architectural surveys, and information and technical assistance for public and private property owners.
“Since 1998, state and federal historic preservation tax incentives in North Carolina have generated more than $1 billion in private investment spent to preserve and restore the state’s historic properties,” said Peter Sandbeck, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. “We are extremely proud to report that in 2009, North Carolina ranked third in the nation in the number of projects utilizing the federal historic preservation tax credits.”
These federal Historic Preservation Fund grants are being awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
The State Historic Preservation Office is part of the Office of Archives and History within the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. Information on Cultural Resources is available at www.ncculture.com.
Alamance County
Alamance County will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $14,400 to hire a consultant to prepare a National Register nomination for two historic districts in the City of Mebane. Alamance County will provide $11,052 in matching funds to help with the nomination. Mebane is a participating municipal Certified Local Government (CLG) as a joint historic preservation commission with Alamance County.
The Mebane Commercial Historic District, placed on the State Study list in 2007, encompasses approximately two city blocks in downtown Mebane and includes approximately 30 one- and two-story brick commercial buildings that were constructed in the early part of the 20th century. This core area exemplifies traditional small town business districts once common in North Carolina.
The Old South Mebane Historic District, placed on the State Study list in 2000, is a residential district that includes approximately 100 houses and several churches, most of which were built between c. 1890 and c.1940. Located near the National Register-listed White Furniture Company, the area served as housing for the managers, skilled artisans, and laborers of the factory as well as other businesses in the town.
Mebane currently does not have any National Register-listed districts. The community hopes that listing the districts in the National Register of Historic Places will bring recognition to the area’s unique history and promote the preservation of the area’s architectural heritage. Listing in the National Register will also enable property owners to become eligible to apply for state and federal historic preservation tax credits, which have provided the incentive for the expenditure of over $1 billion since 1998 on the rehabilitation of historic buildings and houses in older neighborhoods and commercial districts across North Carolina.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local Contact: Jessica Hill, Planner
Alamance County Planning Department
336-570-4054 jessica.hill@alamance-nc.com
Buncombe County
The Asheville-Buncombe Country Historic Resources Commission has been awarded a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $4,500 for the Downtown Asheville National Register Nomination. The funds, which will be matched with $3,200 from Asheville and Buncombe County, will allow the city to hire a consultant to prepare the nomination.
This project will update and expand the Downtown Asheville Historic District National Register nomination listed in the National Register in 1979. Since 1976, more than 80 historic buildings have been successfully rehabilitated and preserved within the boundaries of the existing Downtown Asheville National Register Historic District. A number of other buildings have also been razed for surface parking. The existing district encompasses approximately 85 acres with 257 properties that are a mix of governmental, civic, institutional, and commercial structures. The update project will document twelve contributing resources within the existing boundary, which were not identified on the original inventory. It will also increase the period of significance to 1961. The proposed boundary increase, placed on the state’s National Register Study List in 2009, is estimated to add ten acres with thirty-five structures clustered to the west and southwest of the existing district.
Listing in the National Register will enable property owners to become eligible to apply for state and federal historic preservation tax credits, which have provided the incentive for the expenditure of over $1 billion since 1998 on the rehabilitation of historic buildings and houses in older neighborhoods and commercial districts across North Carolina
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Contact: Stacy Merten, Director
Asheville-Buncombe County Historic Resources Commission
828-259-5836; smerten@ashevillenc.gov
Craven County
The City of New Bern will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $15,000 to help fund a consultant to develop historic preservation plan. The City of New Bern will provide $10,000 of matching funds for the project.
New Bern has long been one of North Carolina’s leaders in historic preservation, marked by the creation of its first National Register Historic District in 1973, encompassing the historic downtown business and residential neighborhoods. In 1980, the city created its Historic Preservation Commission, which designated the first local historic district in 1981, followed by the designation of Riverside as a local district in 2004. The commission spearheaded projects to establish three additional National Register historic districts, as well as National Register nominations for significant African American sites. The non-profit Swiss Bear, Inc. was created in 1979 to promote downtown revitalization, leading to a partnership in 1980 with the national Main Street Program. The non-profit New Bern Preservation Foundation, founded in 1972, established one of the state’s first revolving funds to acquire and re-sell endangered historic buildings.
This grant-funded project will create a preservation plan for New Bern that will define a vision to allow for growth of historic districts while protecting existing historic resources and maintaining community character. The plan will be based on existing preservation plans in Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia that, once completed, should serve as a model for other communities across the state. The creation of such a plan will be a useful tool in planning for development pressure, growth, and sustainability while at the same time, protecting an area’s historic resources and maintaining community character.
The city plans to hire a consultant to work with its Historic Preservation Commission and staff to assess the planning needs and assist with data collection and analysis. There will be a many opportunities for the citizens of New Bern to make suggestions for the plan including public information sessions, workshops, and input from focus groups.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local Contact: Annette Stone, City Planner
252-639-7583; stonea@newbern-nc.org
Henderson County
The City of Hendersonville will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $1,600 to help the city sponsor a Wooden Window Restoration & Energy Efficiency Workshop. The city will provide $1,066 in matching funds to fund the workshop.
Residents of Hendersonville’s seven National Register-listed historic districts and three locally designated historic districts (containing a total of 667 properties) will be invited to attend the workshop. A specialist in the repair and restoration of wooden windows will address the benefits of repairing existing windows rather than replacing them. The specialist will also provide a Power Point presentation that helps to debunk the common belief that wooden windows are not energy efficient and will provide examples of simple weatherization techniques to increase energy efficiency. Additionally, methods and tools to restore wooden windows will be discussed.
A second presenter, Jennifer Cathey, restoration specialist in the Western Office of Archives and History, will discuss the energy efficiency of traditional building materials and how to apply modern sustainability principles to historic buildings while complying with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Ms. Cathey will also provide information about the state and federal tax credits for buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
The workshop will be held on Saturday, May 15, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. in Hendersonville’s Operations Center.
Local Contact: Timothy Murphy, Commission Coordinator, City of Hendersonville
828-697-3088, tmurphy@cityofhendersoville.org.
Iredell County
The Town of Mooresville will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $12,000 to hire a consultant to prepare a National Register nomination for the Mooresville Mill Village. The Town of Mooresville will put forth a $10,000 match for the project.
Between 1902 and 1923, Mooresville Cotton Mills constructed more than 450 houses for its mill workers in the Town of Mooresville. Located on either side of the railroad line and State Highway 115, the principal north-south road to Charlotte, the mill village developed in grid-plan sections surrounding the textile mill complex. Mooresville Cotton Mills was a significant economic force in the community, and the village development coincided with the company’s construction and expansion of a large mill facility at the southern end of town.
The Mooresville Mill Village retains very good historic integrity in terms of the street pattern and the survival of many of the historic houses and their distinctive characteristics. Several house types are found in the district, ranging from small hall-and-parlor plan and L-form houses dating to 1900-1920, and gable front and bungalow houses of the 1920s. The Mooresville Mill Village was placed on the State Study list in 2009.
Listing in the National Register of Historic Places will bring recognition to this important part of Mooresville’s history and will also enable property owners to become eligible to apply for state and federal historic preservation tax credits, which have provided the incentive for the expenditure of over $1 billion since 1998 on the rehabilitation of historic buildings and houses in older neighborhoods and commercial districts across North Carolina.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local Contact: Yvonne Hart, Mooresville Historic Preservation Commission
704-252-2740; ylhart@windstream.net
Mandy Edwards, Zoning Administrator
Town of Mooresville 704-799-4089; medwards@ci.mooresville.nc.us
Mecklenburg County
Mecklenburg County will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $10,000 to hire a consultant to complete National Register nominations for two historic districts in Pineville. The Town of Pineville will provide $12,000 in matching funds for the nomination.
Working under the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, the consultant will conduct the field work and research necessary for the preparation of National Register nominations for the Dover Mill Village Historic District and the Pineville Commercial Historic District. The Dover Mill Village Historic District incorporates the mill village built by the Dover Yarn Mill and its subsequent owner, the Chadwick-Hoskins Mill Company. The village, which was approved for the State Study List in 1989, consists of approximately one hundred houses in a variety of types, built in successive sections on several streets. There are frame L-form houses, hip-and-gable roof houses, and bungalows with hip and front-gable roofs which have retained good historic integrity.
Pineville’s small historic central business district developed after the turn of the twentieth century in response to the establishment of the Dover Yarn Mill in 1890. The proposed Pineville Commercial Historic District encompasses the early twentieth-century commercial buildings (approx. 20 buildings) immediately to the east of the railroad right-of-way along Main and Dover Streets. The one- and two-story brick buildings retain much of their architectural integrity.
With active preservation efforts already underway in the area, the town hopes that listing in the National Register of Historic Places will not only further these efforts, but help identify Pineville as a historic town in the county. Listing in the National Register will also enable property owners to become eligible to apply for state and federal historic preservation tax credits, which have provided the incentive for the expenditure of over $1 billion since 1998 on the rehabilitation of historic buildings and houses in older neighborhoods and commercial districts across North Carolina.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local Contact: Stewart Gray, Preservation Planner
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission
704-376-9115 or stewart.gray@mecklenburgcountync.gov.
Moore County
The City of Southern Pines will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $7,500 for the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities to conduct the first part of a cultural landscape report (CLR). The Southern Pines Garden Club will provide matching funds in the amount of $5,000. The CLR, Part I, will include a history of the landscape, a review of document collection and chronology, a landscape history narrative and period plans, and an existing conditions narrative.
A cultural center since 1979, Weymouth offers an established Chamber Music Series, the Ragan Writers Series, and the Arts and Humanities Lecture Series. The center also supports a Writers-in-Residence Program, which offers writers stays of up to two weeks a year to pursue their work.
Weymouth was originally built as the home of James Boyd, an industrialist from Pennsylvania. Boyd secured the services of his nephew, Alfred B. Yeomans, who was practicing landscape architecture in Chicago, to come to Southern Pines to create a landscape plan for the estate. Using native flora and drought-tolerant ornamentals, Yeomans created a design that both blended with the natural surroundings and proved viable in the long-leaf pine ecosystem of the 2500 acre estate.
During the 1920s, Weymouth became home to Boyd’s grandson, also named James, a well-known writer in the early part of the 20th century, and his wife Katharine. The Boyd family maintained ownership of the home until Katherine’s death in 1976, when the property was acquired by the Friends of Weymouth. Weymouth was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as significant for the literary, social, and humanitarian contributions of the Boyd family.
After working at Weymouth, Alfred Yeomans went on to design the Weymouth Heights subdivision in Southern Pines and the initial layout for the Knollwood subdivision between Southern Pines and Pinehurst. Yeomans is also credited for helping to create the park-like setting for which Southern Pines is known. As a great deal of Alfred Yeoman’s work has been neglected or forgotten, the report will help to highlight and preserve some of the work of this important southern landscape architect.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local Contact: Bart Nuckols, Planning Director
Town of Southern Pines
910-692-4003; nuckols@southernpines.net
Rowan County
The City of Salisbury will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $15,000 to help fund a project to create a citywide preservation plan. Matching funds of $8,000 will be provided by the city.
Salisbury has long been a leader in preservation in North Carolina. In 1975, the first National Register Historic District was designated. That same year, Salisbury established a local historic preservation ordinance established a locally-designated historic district. Although listing in the National Register is an honor attesting historic significance, local designation protects properties from unsympathetic changes and maintains community character through a review process by a local preservation commission.
The City of Salisbury has also supported the efforts of Historic Salisbury Foundation, Inc., Downtown Salisbury, Inc., and has for 30 years been a participant in the Main Street Program, “a community-driven, comprehensive strategy used to revitalize downtown and neighborhood business districts throughout the United States.”
With its strong history and established commitment to historic preservation, developing a preservation plan is a logical next step for Salisbury. Working closely with the community, the Salisbury preservation plan will seek to establish short, medium, and long range strategies to help manage existing historic resources, collaborate with other local preservation-related organization, build advocacy among neighborhoods, and establish a clear vision for including preservation in the city’s future.
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local Contact: Janet Gapen, Senior Planner City of Salisbury
704-638-5230; jgape@salisburync.gov
Wake County
The City of Raleigh will receive a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant of $12,000 to help fund a project to update the Design Guidelines for Raleigh’s locally designated historic districts. The city will provide a match of $10,000.
The City of Raleigh will hire a consultant to review and update their existing design guidelines, last revised in 2001. The city’s Historic Districts Commission (HDC) would like to address issues not clearly defined or covered by the current guidelines. Design Guidelines help different stakeholders in the historic districts. For property owners, residents, and contractors, they provide guidance in planning projects that are sympathetic to the special character of each of Raleigh’s historic districts. The HDC uses the guidelines in their efforts to preserve and protect historic resources and educate property owners and the general public. The guidelines also provide direction to applicants seeking a Certificate of Appropriateness, which is a required permit for all properties within a local historic district anytime there is to be a change in the design, materials, or general appearance of the structure or grounds.
By update the existing guidelines, Raleigh will address cemeteries, post WWII and Modern (1945-65) architecture, infill downtown urban commercial architecture, sustainability, and new materials. The update will also assist the city in the stewardship of several historic properties, as well as archaeological and cemetery sites “by outlining current best-practice principles for use in their protection and maintenance.”
This federal Historic Preservation Fund grant was awarded by the State Historic Preservation Office through the National Park Service’s Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grass roots level. The Historic Preservation Fund is a federal matching grant program administered jointly by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, and the State Historic Preservation Office.
Local contact: Dan Becker, Division Manager
City & Regional Planning Division
Raleigh Department of City Planning
919/516-2632; dan.becker@raleighnc.gov