Wednesday”s demolition of a historic property in downtown Columbus has left some preservationists and supporters asking what can be done in the future to prevent similar cases.
First Baptist Church officials had first applied for a demolition permit in June 2010 for Friendship House — an 1890 Victorian mansion on Seventh Street North — saying the home had fallen into disrepair, and though they wanted to retain the lot, they no longer wanted the house. Because of the structure”s age, and because it is located in a historic district, the Historic Preservation Commission issued a six-month stay of demolition.
The purpose of such stays are to ensure that property owners exhaust all efforts to seek grant funding for renovation, possible purchasers, or take other means to save historic structures.
In the case of Friendship House, First Baptist Church officials reapplied for a demolition permit at the end of the 180-day search, saying they were unable to find a buyer for the derelict property. The demolition permit was approved March 28, 2011.
So what went wrong? Legally, nothing, Kenny Weigel, building official for the City of Columbus, said Wednesday afternoon. First Baptist Church officials followed the law and acquired the proper paperwork.
But local residents Pat Kaye and Burnette Avakian, who were on hand to witness the home”s final moments, allege that the church made it impossible for anyone to buy the house. Both made offers of up to $35,000, which the church declined.
In an effort to ease tensions, church officials had advertised the house for sale for a dollar, with a stipulation that the purchaser remove the house within 30 days. Pastor Shawn Parker hand-delivered the same offer to Kaye.
According to the terms of the contract, the church sought to sell the house without warranty “where it is, as it is, and in its existing condition” to remove from its existing lot … and move to another lot of the purchaser”s choosing.”
The contract presented to Kaye and dated April 13, 2011, set a closing date of April 20, 2011, with removal to take place within 30 days or the house would be “immediately demolished by the seller.”
She turned it down. The one dollar sale ended Tuesday afternoon, and demolition began Wednesday morning.
“They could have had money in hand,” Avakian said, wiping tears from her eyes as she watched the house fall. “They could have named their price, but they totally ignored the wishes of the community.”
Thomas Southerland, business administrator for First Baptist Church, perched on a folding chair and waved reporters away as he oversaw the process.
“This has been a heated issue,” he said. “I”m not ready to talk to the press.”
“He let me waste a month of my life, thinking it was for sale when it wasn”t,” Avakian said of Southerland.
Pat Kaye clutched a sheath of American flags and shook her head.
“This is an ignorant decision and a tremendous loss for Columbus,” she said.
Weigel said he didn”t realize how run-down the property had become until it was up for demolition.
“I thought, ”Man, why are they tearing this down,”” he said. “Then I actually walked around the building, and I noticed, ”Man, somebody seems to have really let it deteriorate.””
In an interview with the Dispatch in April, First Baptist Church pastor Shawn Parker said the church had maintained the property for a number of years, but it had become too cost-prohibitive to continue.
That raises a question, for which the current city code offers no clear answer, said Weigel. What happens when a property owner has a derelict property but can”t afford to restore it?
Under the historic ordinance, adopted March 7, 1995, property owners are notified by the city that their property is in disrepair and must be brought up to code. If an owner fails to do so, they can be fined with a misdemeanor.
The amount of the fine, and the enforcement of it, is not clearly defined, and Weigel said this may be an area that warrants further investigation.
“Some of us in the city have been asking, ”What happens if I own a historic house and I”m on Social Security and don”t have any way to fix it?”” he said. “”Are you going to fine me? Fine. Fine me. But I still don”t have the money to fix it.””
In that case, the city would probably end up putting a lien on the property or demolishing the house and charging the homeowner for the demolition.
Weigel said if he had been aware of Friendship House”s deteriorating condition, he would have sent a notice to the church that it had to be repaired.
“I hope nothing like this happens in the future,” he said. “Things like this, especially in our historic district, should be brought to somebody”s attention before it gets to the condition Friendship House was in.”
He said the laws and ordinances should probably be looked at a little closer and modified.
“We have some guidelines, but the penalties aren”t clear,” Weigel concluded. “Frankly, they”re not even written down. It would probably be better if we had more defined guidelines. The planning and zoning guidelines may need to be looked at and modified.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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