Historic Preservation Briefs : December 2006

The lawn of the Majestic Theatre - or rather the Majestic Performing Arts Center - has grown by two lots.

The owners of the two buildings damaged by fire July 17th and demolished afterward have donated their properties to the center. Bob and Valerie Althoff owned the lot closest to the Majestic Theatre, where the center had its offices. Wilbur Poole owned the lot next to that, where a small concrete block storage building at the rear was left standing. Mr. Poole also donated his property in memory of his son Gregory. The donations were announced just before Christmas.

The site now presents an opportunity for redevelopment to compliment the historic streetscape and serve the Majestic Performing Arts Center. I can imagine a building that is modern, yet resonates with the theatre and harmonizes with the adjacent commercial buildings, and embraces a courtyard and allows a peek at the painted sign.

This is a chance for Chillicothe to show wisdom and creativity in responding to a loss of part of its downtown character. The burned buildings should have been saved and rescued (and the Majestic Hotel should have been reused) but since that did not happen, something good can still grow on the open field next to the theatre.

Mayor Joe Sulzer has appointed former radio journalist Tom Castor and spokeman for the Ross County Sheriff's Office and Crime Stoppers Anonymous to a position on the Design Review Board, replacing the resigning Rami Yoakum. Castor's appointment was mentioned after the December Design Review Board meeting.

Castor's appointment occurs at almost the same time he criticises both the administration and preservationists in the same Gazette letter to the editor focusing on the Carlisle Building, which I feature in another article.

In his letter, Mr. Castor, the new Design Review Board member, levels such statements at preservationsists as

That's pretty much what I'd expect from an outfit that specializes in shaming property owners and filing 11th-hour lawsuits against the demolition of anything. ... Does this give you any idea of the effectiveness of this troop of space cadets? In my opinion, they have no credibility and are philosophically bankrupt. ... No, the only thing these self-styled preservationists have in their collective purse is criticism for anyone who disagrees with them.

Hopefully Mr. Castor will read through the material Mr. Yoakum will pass onto him, especially the binder of Design Review Board regulations, procedures, worksheets, ordinances, and critria that the Chilicothe Restoration Foundation presented to members of the Design Review Board last summer. In it, he will find that the Board's responsibility is, by law, to

Maintain and enhance the distinctive character of the Preservation District by safeguarding the architectural integrity of the various period structures within it, and to prevent intrusions and alterations within this district that would be incompatible with this established character.

(Emphasis added.) Those words can be found in Chillicothe law, as city code no. 1197.02.

P.S. While combing through my files, I came across another letter to the editor penned by Mr. Castor. His August 21st, 2005 letter can be found in my January 2007 Preservation Briefs.

The windows of 61 South Paint Street, formerly the St. Mary's Convent and now church offices, have been replaced with vinyl windows with the approval of the Design Review Board. The church installed custom-built Risotti vinyl windows, which are almost the same size as the old windows, but with muntins sealed between single panes of glass.

As you can see in this image, they are at least a far sight better looking than the hoakie vinyl windows that have been approved about everywhere else.

The church also came back to the Design Review Board and got approval to replace most of the back doors on the building.

I had reported on the the windows request in my September issue.

The house at 51 East Water Street was demolished for an expanded drive-through for the neighboring Oak Hill Bank. The Design Review Board gave approval to the request in its August 17th meeting. The building was demolished Saturday, November 15th.

Before...

...After.

I had reported on the the demolition approval in my September issue.

One of the oldest surviving buildings in Chillicothe appears to be coming back to life after a damaging fire July 22nd. Work is underway on the former Sherman Haus at 52 East Second Street. I'm not so sure about the color of the fake shutters, or the realism of the simulated multipane windows, but at least the c1808 house is being revived.

The South Bloomfield Bypass has to be the dumbest idea to come down the pike so far. A bypass around a straight shot through a small town? Ridiculous. Especially at the price tag of up to $78,000,000.

I don't see what is wrong with the condition of US 23 through South Bloomfield, except possibly that people can't speed through it at 60 miles an hour. The town is small, it's a straight route, and there's little development outside the town to slow traffic. If anything, the traffic light at SR 752 just north of town is the most aggravating because half the time it goes red just when you've accelerated to highway speed.

The Gazette reported on the concepts drawn up by the Ohio Department of Transportation for this supposed problem. The concepts included a short and long bypass, both on the east side, as well as just improving existing US 23.

Any possible bypass would be 8 to 10 years away, which is good, because someone might wise up by then and realize the wastefulness of this idea.

A PDF handout on the results of the study, which includes this map, can be found on the Ohio Department of Transportation's website.