SR 104 Cottage Destroyed June 2005

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A Wake-Up Call for a Preservationist

I got to wake up the morning of May 11 to hear and see demolition underway from my office window. Glillums was hard at work demolishing and hauling off a small historical brick cottage on State Route 104 north of Chillicothe, just south of Fairgrounds Road. The property is owned by the Ross County Water Company. The house stood far off the road, behind a huge elm tree that the water company will hopefully leave.

The house was a double-pen cottage with rear ell, with early Federal-styled "flat arch" window headers. It may have dated to 1810-1840 and was still livable. It was determined eligible to the National Register by the Section 106 review of the "SR 207 Connector" that is currently being built in front of it.

(The Ross County Engineer had additionally designed the road to avoid the elm tree and nearby schoolhouse, but the cottage was nowhere close to the new roadway. I have thorough recent photographic coverage of the complex. )

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Some trees were cut before demolition commenced. One appears to have been intentionally felled onto a small timber-framed storage shed behind the house.

A medium-sized barn was also a part of the small complex. Its sawn timber frame was coming apart at the joints and I had no doubt it was doomed also.

The Ross County Water Company also owns part of the Dunlap Earthworks adjacent to the Ross County Fairground, just north of this complex.

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'Funeral Pyre for a Barn'

Funeral Pyre for a Barn

Everything on the homestead had been levelled by the next morning. Gillums was busy there until at least 7 pm the first day, wrecking and hauling the rubble away - probably a ten-hour workday to destroy and remove an approximately 2,000 square-foot one-story brick house, 80 s.f. shed, and 1,875 s.f. timber barn.

The last thing they did was start the crumpled barn on fire - and then after a couple of hours, carelessly left it to burn overnight. As you can see in the above image, neighboring trees began to burn in the dry landscape. They probably figured the coming rain would keep the flames in check. I was half-tempted to call the fire department.

A Conversation with the Owner

The brick one-room schoolhouse on SR 104 in front of this former complex is also owned by the water company. As far as I know, the water company has made no effort to care for it, except secure the door a few months after it was knocked open. I figured since they had demolition equipment on site, they might target the schoolhouse next.

I called the water company, identifying myself to the woman who answered the phone, and she connected me to the general manager (I forgot to ask his name). I asked if the schoolhouse was going to be demolished next, and he said no. "Do you have any plans for it at all?"

"No, not really. To whom am I speaking?"

I identified myself (again) and said I was a historian (avoiding the dreaded "P" word), and that I live across the highway from the area. He was a little skeptical of that, since I'm not directly across from the site - I'm a little catty-corner to it.

He paused and was a little defensive when I asked why the house was demolished, asking "Do I have to justify this?"

I mentioned that it was sort of a landmark along SR 104, and looked usable.

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I should have explained that the water company is a de-facto monopolistic public utility even though it is private company, and that public money has been used to destroy a building that has been determined eligible to the National Register, and that the company has destroyed a bit of history that is a part of a greater community, and I wonder how hard they considered selling off this little parcel or re-renting the house - or even something cooperative with the fairgrounds, which has almost expanded out to the site, and may have been able to put the house to good use. And, money from my water bill has gone towards this little act of barbarism.

But I restrained myself. They still own the schoolhouse, tree, and a Hopwell earthworks, and diplomacy may have long-term benefits for preservation of those.

"A landmark? Was it listed on the 'historical registry'?" (...not sounding as sarcastic as it may appear in print.)

"It was determined eligible to the National Register in the study for the highway project." (A little technobabble to sound officious.)

A brief pause... "Well, it was not practical to build a diveway to it now that the highway crosses the old driveway, and it was in pretty bad shape; it would have cost too much to fix it up."

From my observations, the barn was in bad shape, but the house was liveable, though outdated and small. (A sheriff's deputy last lived in it a couple years ago.) The limited-accress restriction of the new highway probably would have required a long driveway from Fairgrounds Road.

"Is the big elm tree in front staying?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

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Lessons to be Learned - and Reminded of

Only a fool takes no lesson from a bad experience...and a somewhat-less-foolish person is reminded by a bad experience of lessons that should have been learned and applied after past experiences.

The following are questions that should be asked in a situation like this:

• Trust your intuition. I had walked past the house and barn several times while observing the work on the 207 Connector, and was thinking I ought to contact the water company about their plan for the site. But I didn't. And, when I first knew something was heppening, it was far too late.


• How much did this demolition contract cost? How does it balance against maintenance? Renovation and reuse? Sale? Mothballing? ...Liability of previously long-term unsecured and neglected buildings? (The house was secured, but the barn and shed weren't)


• What are your funding sources, and is there federal money involved? (relevant to the Section 106 process that protects places listed or eligible to the National Register)


• Do you have any plans or policies regarding the buildings you own that are not a part of your primary business? (water service)


• Are you receptive to any guidance at all...Or are you a part of the consensus of local government leaders who give history token value, and preservation none at all?


• Do you care about the schoolhouse? Or are you just leaving it there out of convenience...or for avoidance of controversy?


• Do you have any knowledge of the Dunlap Earthworks that you have recently built wells and pumping lines through?

'Executioner in Silhouette'

A Slap on the Wrist by the Ohio EPA?

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was alerted about the barn burning and was concerned about the open burning by a public entity without a permit... But any action the OEPA would take would probably be a letter of warning, a 'slap on the wrist.' ...

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