Historic Preservation Briefs : January 2007

Steven A. Atwood of Brownell Street surrendered himself Monday night after a secret indictment was delivered, report WBEX and the Chillicothe Gazette January 17th. The former "Sherman Haus" received severe damage from the July 27th fire, but the online Chillicothe Gazette stated that it was gutted, which is incorrect.

I reported on recent work to repair and renovate the building in my previous newsletter ("Sherman Haus Reviving").

In my previous newsletter, I reported that the two wood frame cottages at 738 and 742 North High Street were to be demolished January 2nd, according to signs posted on the houses ("North High Street Cottages Lost"). So far, they still stand, but who knows for how long.

I have been trying to contact the owner, Englefield Oil Company, to get permission to salvage the Victorian trim from the houses. So far, the head of real estate, Frank McManus at 740 / 928-8215 has provided me with no response.

In my previous newsletter, I reported that the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce is coordinating an effort to hire a consultant to develop an "economic enhancement strategy" for Chillicothe's downtown ("Downtown Revitalization Effort").

The meeting January 3rd had about 100 attend, more than the organizers anticipated. The consensus was to go ahead and raise the $55,000 to hire the consultant. So far, the city and county have pledged $15,000 each, leaving $25,000 to be raised.

Chillicothe's old armory building is now out of the hands of the state and owned by the city. In its October 23rd session, city council voted to accept the property.

Council member Jean Malone has been reporting on the status of the old Armory in city council. On November 27th, she reported that Priscilla Smith of the Majestic Performing Arts Center was heading up the group to reuse the armory, but she had been "waylaid" by the chaos caused by the July fire that destroyed the Majestic's office. But, Mrs. Smith would meet with the Franklin Park Conservatory in a week.

On December 7th, the Chillicothe Gazette reported on an armory meeting the previous day, and at the December 11th council, Mrs. Malone also reported on the meeting. The gist is that the Chillicothe Parks & Recreation Department will take care of the armory for now, and the department and jail crews were cleaning the building. The roof was inspected, and it was found that the roof is in good condition overall, though a few patches would help. The windows need to be replaced, but will be sealed for now. The "Ross County Conservancy," formed to create an "orangerie" out of the building (and not to be confused with the preservation group "Chillicothe Conservancy"), is still interested in it. The Ross County Veterans Council is also still interested in a small part of it becoming a veterans' museum.

The Gazette additionally reported that the building will still be heated instead of being completely "mothballed," and there is hope that the building could be rented out for meetings or other activities. The Gazette quoted Mrs. Malone as saying "We always knew, from the get go, that the building was sturdy. It used to be an arsenal." However, she also said "the agreement was, if it became too costly, we'll tear it down as a last resort." Oddly, the Gazette article was mistitled as "Regular maintenance starts at elementary school."

Several articles recently in the Chillicothe Gazette report that the Chillicothe City School District will most likely close down the Smith Junior High School building after anticipated new construction and reorganizing of district elementary schools. The reason stated for closing Smith is to save the district more than $100,000 (presumably annually) in utilities.

The plan to close Smith was first publicized in a November 21st article, where four options were listed to reorganize the district elementary and middle schools. All but one anticipates closing Smith, though keeping it in use during elementary school renovations.

The Gazette article states that full details on the three options were available on the schools website, < www.chillicothe.k12.oh.us>, but after a Google search of the site a month and a half after the article was printed, I can find only a few statements in the school board minutes. One pertinent statement from the October 16th special meeting is that

only the first three options [of five] should be presented to the Facilities Planning Committee for consideration. The objective of the reorganization is to provide the best educational programs in an efficient and as cost effective manner as possible.

The original Facilities Planning Committee will be reassembled and given the remaining three options to review and return with a recommendation for what structure best serves the community and their needs. The committee will also review the original Master Plan recommendation of a three campus concept, one high school / middle school campus, one East side elementary campus and one West side elementary campus to determine if it is still the best plan for the District.

Above and below, a 1977 article in the Chillicothe Gazette memorializes the namesake of Smith Junior High.

It is unclear how the three options stated in the minutes match with the four stated in the Gazette article. As of January 17th, school board minutes were available online up to only October 23rd.

In the November 21st Gazette article, it was also mentioned that the district is having problems with declining enrollment and projected defecits that may reach $6,000,000 in 2011.

In a December 13th Gazette article, it was reported that the option chosen closed only Smith, with sixth graders attending the Western School building at 235 Cherry Street. No other school building would be closed, which however would not meet the state audit recommendation for the district to close two buildings. The sixth grade would be on the third floor of the Western bulding, with the city school offices remaining in the rest of the building.

In a December 15th Gazette article, it was reported that the board will receive an in-depth outline to determine if the plan is feasible, and the board will vote on whether to implement it.

The Gazette articles state that the redistricting plan has been formulated by a committee composed of more than 50 citizens, school staff, and administrators, in conjunction with the consulting firm of Fanning/Howey Associates.

Renovation to the Ross County Courthouse ended at the end of November. The almost $1,000,000 work included cutting out and replacing all exterior mortar; removing and replacing some exterior stone; re-sheathing the tower in metal; and replacing the belfry with a metal replication. This was a major re-investment in a building that I am told was under consideration for demolition and replacement in the 1970s.

In August, part of the one-story south wall was de-cladded. Water-damaged 150-year-old limestone was replaced with material from the very same quarry near Greenfield.

The Chillicothe Gazette featured a November 24th photographic montage showing work on the tower on their website. It is in color, and can be zoomed into.

I'm not a structural engineer, but I feel the mortar replacement was a little overdone - especially with the west and north brick walls. And, I wish the tower had been renovated with authentic wood insted of sheathed and replaced with metal. But, at least the metal was well done and is indistinguishable from the original cladding - and still very close to the original intent of looking like stone. The building should be good to go for another century, at least!

Neil Coleman's restoration of the Walke House is slow going but impressive. The house is a treasure 'hidden in plain sight' off Western Avenue at Locust Street.

On the rear (facing Locust Street) two doorways have become windows.

It's taken a while, but the Durable Slate company of Columbus has removed all the paint from the ground floor stone, upper floor brick, and front portico wood. The true brick color and rich, warm stone now gives the house a more refined appearance than the painted brick color and white paint.

Two replacement windows should be models for downtown window replacers to look to. The real multipane wood windows fill the entire opening and are a far cry from the hoakie-looking vinyl windows that are popping up everywhere.

Neil Coleman (no relation) has plans for modern but sensitive additions to the west and north sides, where additions were removed recently. The c1812-1820 grand house will then serve as his office and headquarters.

I worked with Mr. Coleman to write a National Register nomination for the Walke House, and discovered many new things about the house. You can read some of it in an excerpt from the nomination.

While combing through my files, I came across another letter to the editor penned by new Design Review Board member Tom Castor. His August 21st, 2005 letter further clarifies his views on preservation and the Design Review Board. I present it here to familliarize yourself with the newest guardian of downtown historic architecture.

It is worth noting that in this letter Mr. Castor wants the DRB to give approval to the First Baptist Church to demolish the Zimaroy Downs House without further architectural renderings so they can expand the church, stating that the church demonstrates its dependability to clean up the site.

And yet, the church at first said that a church expansion would be years away; they are only now delivering architectural drawings; and they have been struggling to avoid retaining the arcade they promised to keep, the result being that the wreckage is still there.

On January 10th, Chillicothe Mayor Joe Sulzer appointed me to a two-year term the Design Review Board. However, a week later he called to tell me that the city law director's office said that there were already the maximum of two non-city residents on the DRB - so he couldn't appoint me. He asked for recommendations. Any takers?

I live outside of the city. By law, 5 of the 7 DRB members must be Chillicothe residents, and since at least 5 of the current members listed city addresses for the mailing list for the DRB, he thought he could appoint me. However, it turns out that apparently those addresses were not the ones the law director's office considered.