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Recent National Register Listings

Rehabilitation Highlights

Restoration Specialist Reid Thomas Keynote Speaker at Halifax Day 2015

Wake Forest Innovation Quarter Wins Annual Award from the National Trust

A New Architectural Survey Project in Franklin County

UPDATE: Judge Halts Demolition of Hildebran School

Elkin Theater Receives Main Street Grant, Rehabilitation May Start

Morehead Planetarium Gets a NC Highway Marker for its Role in Astronaut Training

British Royal Visit Includes Several Preservation Stops

The Official Numbers Are In!

In Preparation for the National Park Service Centennial

For Your Entertainment and Edification...

Events, Awards, and Grants

Staff in the Field

HPO staff attended many meetings and made dozens of site visits throughout March.

Worth Saving

The Newsletter of the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office

Kennedy Store, Allegheny County, placed on the Study List in 2006

Recent National Register Listings

Albemarle Graded School--Central Elementary School, Stanly County, prepared by H. Fearnbach, listed 12/02/14

The Albemarle Graded School - Central Elementary School is historically important as it served as the city's only public graded school from 1921 to 1933. To accommodate a growing student population and to provide up-to-date facilities, additional classrooms, a cafeteria, and an auditorium were constructed in 1952 and 1965. Both school expansions are of local architectural significance for their distinctive modernist designs.

Wayland H. and Mamie Burt Stevens House, Wake County, prepared by S. Argintar, listed 12/10/14

The 1936 Wayland H. and Mamie Burt Stevens House is significant as a remarkably intact example of a Colonial Revival style house from the early twentieth century in Fuquay-Varina. Its restrained use of the style's distinctive features includes symmetrical massing, an entry portico, a front door with fanlight and sidelights, double-hung sash, and a classical mantel. It is one of only a few houses built in Fuquay-Varina in the late 1930s in the Colonial Revival style, a style which began to appear in the town in the first decade of the twentieth century and continued to be used through the late 1930s.

Flat Rock Historic District Boundary Increase, Boundary Decrease and Additional Documentation, Henderson County, prepared by C. Griffith, listed 2/27/15

Listed in the National Register for more than forty years, the Flat Rock Historic District documentation and district boundaries have been re-examined in a newly completed nomination that fully describes and delineates the historic buildings and landscapes in the resort community and reexamines the town's twentieth-century development and architecture through 1965. Boundaries have been re-drawn to remove areas that have lost their historic integrity through new construction and subdivision redevelopment, while other intact acreage associated with the estates and year-round resort growth have been added.

Rehabilitation Highlights

Durham County, Durham, J. E. Cheek House

The ca. 1922 J. E. Cheek House in the Watts-Hillandale Historic District was rehabilitated 2013-2014 for continued single-family rental residential use. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $76,000.

J. E. Cheek House, before and after rehabilitation

Edgecombe County, Tarboro, Nicholson-Simmons House

The ca. 1923 Nicholson-Simmons House in the Tarboro Historic District was rehabilitated 2012-2013 for continued single-family rental residential use. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $60,000.

Nicholson-Simmons House, before and after rehabilitation

Rowan County, Salisbury, 1220 Crosby Street

The ca. 1940 four-unit apartment building at 1220 Crosby Street in the Fulton Heights Historic District was rehabilitated 2013-2014 for continued apartment use. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $130,000.

1220 Crosby Street, Salisbury, before and after rehabilitation

Wilson County, Wilson, G. S. Tucker & Company Annex

The ca. 1890s-1915 commercial building in the Wilson Central Business-Tobacco Warehouse Historic District was rehabilitated 2013-2014 into five market-rate apartments, including a live/work storefront unit in the former commercial space. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with an estimated private investment rehabilitation cost of $697,000.

G. S. Tucker & Company Annex, before and after rehabilitation

Restoration Specialist Reid Thomas Keynote Speaker at Halifax Day 2015

Ca. 1760 Owens House. Photo Courtesy of Historic Halifax

State Historic Site.

Reid Thomas, Restoration Specialist in the HPO's Eastern Office, will be the keynote speaker at this year's Halifax Day on April 12. Mr. Thomas's presentation will be "Gambrel Roof Houses in Northeastern North Carolina." The presentation will begin at 2:30 PM in the Historic Halifax State Historic Site visitor center. Other activities begin at 1 PM and continue until 5 PM. Click here for the event flyer.

Wake Forest Innovation Quarter Wins Annual Award from the National Trust

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Building 90

The Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, a historic tax credit project at the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Building 90 in Winston-Salem, received an award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC, in March. The $150 million project was named one of "Preservation's Best of 2014" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Trust Community Investment Corp., and Preservation Action. Dan Cramer, Senior Vice President of Development for Wexford Science + Technology, a partner in this redevelopment project, accepted the award. Congratulations to our preservation partners at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Wexford Science + Technology, and the City of Winston-Salem, among many others!

The building is now the corporate headquarters of Inmar Inc., a retail technology firm, and 525@vine, a mixed-used building. Tenants of 525@vine include Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Division of Public Health Sciences and Physician Assistant Studies, Innovation Quarter YMCA of Northwest North Carolina, co-working space Flywheel, Forsyth Technical Community College, and Clinical Ink, an electronic data-capturing technology firm.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and WexfordScience + Technology are currently working together on Building 60, a $100 million rehabilitation project to create a new home for the Wake Forest School of Medicine and other tenants.

A New Architectural Survey Project in Franklin County

Over the last decade, only coastal Brunswick and Currituck counties, which both had an abundance of hotel/motel tax revenue, were able to provide all of the funding for an architectural survey, but now we are pleased to announce that a third county is joining them: Franklin County has allocated $20,000 for the first phase of a comprehensive survey.

Patty Person Taylor House, Franklin County.
Photo courtesy of Preservation NC

The vast majority of the county survey projects conducted in North Carolina have been funded by matching federal Historic Preservation Fund grants administered by the State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) and take more than one year to complete. Since the late 1990s, the HPO has been able to award these grants only to Certified Local Governments (CLGs), which are municipalities and counties with a local historic preservation program led by a historic preservation that has been certified as meeting certain state and federal standards. By fully funding the initial, reconnaissance phase of a comprehensive survey, Franklin County aims to initiate a preservation program that will include establishment of a local historic preservation commission and application for CLG status after the commission has been operating for a year.

The reconnaissance phase of the Franklin County survey will update existing HPO records on properties in the unincorporated areas of the county as well as the towns of Bunn and Centerville and will identify undocumented properties throughout the entire county, including the larger towns of Franklinton, Louisburg, and Youngsville, that now merit more intensive survey to be undertaken in a subsequent phase. Located immediately adjacent to Wake County, Franklin County remains largely rural but is experiencing a rapid increase in population as Raleigh's suburbs expand to the northeast. Franklin County was surveyed in the 1970s and the county seat of Louisburg was studied in the mid-1980s, but very little survey work has occurred there in the last thirty years. It is anticipated that this new project will begin in April and end in late November. Hats off to Franklin County for taking the initiative to record their historic architectural resources!

UPDATE: Judge Halts Demolition of Hildebran School

Attorneys for the town of Hildebran and two citizen groups signed an agreement on March 11 to halt demolition of the 98-year-old Hildebran School, at least until July 20. On February 24, the Hildebran Heritage & Development Association (HHDA) joined Citizens United to Preserve the Old Hildebran School as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the town of Hildebran to stop demolition of the school.

The Town Council voted 4-1 on January 26 to demolish the building. The town had entered into a contract with Foothills Recycling & Demolition to demolish the structure over numerous and vocal protests by current and former Hildebran residents. A February 22 Town Council meeting saw more than 200 residents and non-residents in attendance as more than two dozen spoke in opposition to tearing the building down. No residents spoke in favor of demolishing the school building.

The lawsuit alleges the town broke the North Carolina Open Meetings Law during its deliberations and meetings leading up to the demolition vote, the town violated its lease with the HHDA, and a conflict of interest by Mayor Cook. If the two parties do not agree to a solution before July 20 the case will be tried "on its merits," with a judge determining whether or not demolition can proceed.

For more information, read this article.

Elkin Theater Receives Main Street Grant, Rehabilitation May Start

Reeves Theater before rehabilitation. Photo courtesy of www.bizjournals.com.

Rehabilitation of Reeves Theater, built in 1941 on Main Street in Elkin, may begin soon thanks in part to a Main Street Solutions Award grant of $100,000 from the NC Department of Commerce.The grant is expected to fund four full-time positions, each with a $25,000 salary, to facilitate the project. Discussions of the building's rehabilitation have been ongoing since the theater closed in 1994. The BB&T Bank across the street offered to purchase the property with plans to demolish the building to create additional parking for its employees and patrons, but concerned citizens were able to raise funds to purchase the building. Rehabilitation plans include turning Reeves Theater into a venue for regional music and entertainment with costs estimated to total about $700,000.

The total for Main Street Solutions Award grants awarded for 2014 and 2015 was $450,000, and included: Shelby, $75,000; Warrenton, $75,000; Clinton, $200,000; and Elkin, $100,000. For every $1 invested by the state, an additional $4.50 will be invested by the local community. Four businesses will directly benefit from the 2014 Main Street Solutions grant awards. Those businesses will create or retain a minimum of 37 full-time or part-time jobs. The total projected investment is $2,036,263.38.

For more information about the Reeves Theater project, read this article. For more information about the Main Street Solutions Award, visit the NC Department of Commerce Main Street Solutions Fund page.

Morehead Planetarium Gets a NC Highway Marker for its Role in Astronaut Training

NC Highway Marker at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History

In March, a NC Highway Marker was placed in front of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill. According to an essay prepared by the Research Branch of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History:

From 1960 to 1975, NASA sent its astronauts to Morehead Planetarium, on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to train in celestial navigation. Over the course of Morehead's astronaut training program, sixty-two astronauts-including eleven of the twelve men who walked on the moon-trained in the planetarium dome. The astronauts learned to recognize stars, constellations, and other celestial objects from the perspectives they would use during flight. The program served the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions. (Read the full essay here)

Speakers at the ceremony included Todd Boyette, director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, Gabi Tesoro, who spoke on behalf of her grandfather Richard Knapp, former astronaut educator at the Morehead Planetarium, and Michael Hill, research branch supervisor. Also on hand to help with the unveiling was Jarrod Jenzano, grandson of former astronaut educator Anthony Jenzano.

For more information, read this article.

British Royal Visit Includes Several Preservation Stops

When Prince Charles and his wife, Duchess Camilla, visited the United States in March, they spent much of their four-day tour visiting historic locations. Prince Charles heads several charities centered on the built environment in Britain, including the Prince's Regeneration Trust, which focuses on saving and restoring historic buildings for modern reuse, and apparently made preservation part of his message during tours of President Lincoln's Cottage, a National Trust Historic Site; Mount Vernon; and Louisville, Kentucky on Friday. On March 20, in Louisville, they attended a speech by National Trust President and CEO, Stephanie Meeks, announcing the Heart of Louisville as the National Trust's newest National Treasure.

For more information, read this National Trust blog post.

The Official Numbers Are In!

Last year, historic tax credits were certified, nationwide, for 762 completed rehabilitation projects that represent $4.32 billion of investment. These projects created 77,762 jobs. In addition, 1,156 projects received approval for proposed work representing $5.98 billion.

Read the annual report here, and the statistical report and analysis here.

In Preparation for the National Park Service Centennial

On August 25, 2016, the National Park Service will celebrate its 100th Birthday. April 2, 2015 is the official kickoff of the celebration. If you would like to sign up for updates, view a webinar, or learn how to participate, visit nextcenturyforparks.org.

For Your Entertainment and Edification...

Eric Nathan, composer, has written a piece for oboe, horn, and piano that explores the importance of historic places through music. Click through the post to hear an excerpt of the composition.

Another Tool for Construction Inspiration: The Materials Newsletter

Events, Awards, and Grants

For statewide events lists, visit the HPO Facebook events list, Preservation North Carolina events list, or a March - May 2015 calendar of events and workshop and conference list courtesy of the Federation of NC Historical Societies.

2015 Advisory Council on Historic Preservation training schedule is now available Visit this page for registration details and pricing. Please contact Cindy Bienvenue at cbienvenue@achp.gov if you have any questions.

2015 National Center for Preservation Technology and Training workshop and event list is available here.

UNC School of Government offers training to quasi-judicial boards. Visit their website for more information and the training schedule.

April 9 Wilmington Historic Preservation Commission Training, 4:00 PM to 5:15 PM, City Council Chambers, 2nd floor, City Hall, 102 North Third Street, Wilmington. Open to other commissions. Email Laurie Mitchell or call the City of Wilmington Planning Office at 341-3251 or 254-0900 for more information.

April 13 Harry Rosenblatt Memorial Speakers' Series, "Heritage at Work for All Generations: Project Snapshots of Preserving Places that Matter," 5:30 PM at Shepard-Pruden Library, Edenton. Reid Thomas, HPO restoration specialist, will be the speaker. For more information call 252-482-4112.

April 13-16 Mid-Century Modern Structures: Materials and Preservation 2015 Symposium, Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, MO. Focusing primarily on the history, use, and preservation of materials found in Mid-Century Modern architecture, the three-day symposium will provide in-depth understanding of the complex issues associated with the preservation of these structures. Special emphasis will be on modern architectural metals, but presentations on other materials, such as concrete and curtain wall structures, will be included. The call for papers/posters and registration information can be found at this page.

April 15-18 National Council on Public History Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. This year's conference is organized around the theme of "History on the Edge" and will offer a program of sessions, tours, working groups, keynote addresses, and workshops. Visit this page for more information and to read the full conference program.

April 17-18 Edenton Pilgrimage of Historic Homes, with presentations about the "Oldest Dated House in North Carolina" by dendrochronologist Michael Worthington, at the Edenton Council Chambers. Presentations are at 1 PM on Friday and 11 AM on Saturday. Click here for more information.

April 25 Historic Preservation Trades Fair, Edgecombe Community College, Tarboro. Crafters from North Carolina and the Southeast region will have booths, demonstrations, and displays about historic preservation. Home owners, woodworkers, construction firms - anyone with an interest in preserving buildings is encouraged to participate. Check the website for updated information.

April 25 2015 Lithics Conference, "Modeling Prehistoric Behavior Through Lithic Studies: A North Carolina Example," William Ross Conference Center, 4th floor at the Nature Research Center, Raleigh, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Free and open to the public. Click here for the conference agenda.

May 14-16 Building Foundations: Building A New Culture For Building Craft Education and Industry, Savannah, GA. The Savannah Technical College Center for Traditional Craft in partnership with the Preservation Trades Network and the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU) USA, will host the 5th International Trades Education Symposium (ITES). For details, see ptn.org.

May 15 Historic Preservation Commission Training, Wake Forest Historical Museum, 414 N. Main Street, Wake Forest, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Open to other commissions. Sponsored by the Wake Forest Historic Preservation Commission and the Wake County Historic Preservation Commission in cooperation with the State Historic Preservation Office. Contact Laurie Mitchell at 919-807-6575 or by email for more information. Click here for the agenda.

June 11 National Register Advisory Committee Meeting, 10 AM - 3 PM, 3rd floor conference room, Archives and History Building, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh. Open to the public.

June 17-19 National Rosenwald Schools Conference: Sharing the Past → Shaping the Future, Durham, NC. Riding the wave of the wildly successful 2012 Centennial Rosenwald Schools conference in Tuskegee, AL, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is partnering with the NC Department of Cultural Resources, Preservation Durham, the Conservation Trust of North Carolina, and others to sponsor a second national Rosenwald schools conference that will feature thirty educational sessions, poster sessions, field sessions at area schools, and other thematic tours. For more information in the coming months, see this page. Click here to sign up to receive conference updates by email.

June 17 - 20 National Underground Railroad Conference, "Into the Light: Striving for Freedom," Hilton Head Island, SC. For more information about this conference organized by the National Park Service, contact Diane Miller, National Program Manager, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, 402-661-1588, diane_miller@nps.gov or Sheri Jackson, Southeast Regional Coordinator, 404-507-5635, sheri_jackson@nps.gov. See this page for more.

September 16-18 Save the Date! 2015 Annual Preservation North Carolina Conference, Salisbury. Keynote speakers are Don Rypkema and Tom Mayes. Go ahead and book your hotel room now. Click here for details

October 8 - 10 2nd Annual Slave Dwelling Project Conference, North Charleston, SC. The conference's mission is to convene attendees from around the United States and abroad to exchange ideas and resources and to share perspectives and solutions for preserving extant African American slave dwellings for future generations. For more details go to this page.

November 3-6 Save the date for PastForward 2015, the National Trust Annual Conference to be held this year in Washington, DC, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Sign up for PastForward 2015 updates.

Adventures in Preservation is a non-profit that offers trips to heritage sites around the world to teach participants conservation and preservation skills while helping conserve historic sites. Please see the schedule on their website for trips in 2015, including one in Virginia that features archaeology and preservation. Visit the organization's website for more.

PastForward 2015 Diversity Scholarship Program Applications are being accepted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation from emerging preservation professionals and community leaders new to the preservation field whose attendance at PastForward 2015, the national preservation conference in Washington DC scheduled for November 3-6, 2015, will strengthen their commitment to historic preservation and benefit their communities. Program participants will receive complimentary registration and lodging. For more information, go to this page. Applications are due May 5, 2015.

New Prize for Social Sector Innovators The J. M. K. Innovation Prize is a new initiative of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, a New York-based family foundation. Up to ten prizes will be awarded to U. S.-based individuals or teams addressing the country's most pressing needs through social sector innovation. The prize will provide up to three years of support at $50,000 per year, as well as a $25,000 "bank" of funds available for technical assistance or targeted project expenses, making a total award of $175,000. Specifically, the prize seeks to support inter-disciplinary innovation in the fields of cultural heritage, human rights, the built environment, and the natural environment. The prize is particularly designed for early stage ideas being piloted or prototyped by dynamic visionaries. To learn more, or to apply, visit www.JMKFund.org.

Preservation North Carolina Honor Awards nominations are being accepted until July 1. The awards recognize outstanding people, projects, businesses and organizations in the field of historic preservation in several categories: Gertrude S. Carraway Awards of Merit (up to 12 given each year), the Minnette C. Duffy Landscape Preservation Award, the L. Vincent Lowe, Jr. Business Award, the Stedman Incentive Grant, the Robert L. Stipe Professional Award, and the Ruth Coltrane Cannon Award.

Click here for more information about each category and for instructions on how to apply. The Honor Awards Program will be held during the Annual Conference in Salisbury, September 16-18.

Best of the South: Preserving Southern Architecture Award Nominations are being accepted from the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians until July 1. This annual award honors a project that preserves or restores a historic building, or complex of buildings, in an outstanding manner and that demonstrates excellence in research, technique, and documentation. Projects in the 12-state region of SESAH (which includes North Carolina) that were completed in 2013 or 2014 are eligible. Nominations should consist of no more than two typed pages of description and be accompanied by hard-copy illustrations and any other supporting material. A cover letter should identify the owner of the project, the use of the building(s), and the names of all the major participants of the project. Send three (3) copies to Paige Wagoner Claassen, 2608 Chesterfield Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205. Questions: paigewagoner@gmail.com. For more information about the award and SESAH,visit http://www.sesah.org.

Please send any comments or suggestions to Jessica Dockery at jessica.dockery@ncdcr.gov . Please forward this newsletter to others who might be interested in the information.

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North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office

Division of Historical Resources | Office of Archives and History

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources