$1 Houses!

UC Berkeley has an offer for an enterprising buyer in the San Francisco Chronicle: two turn-of-the-century homes for just $1. Well, and a commitment deposit of $100,000 and a commitment not to destroy any of the surrounding trees.

Actually, this may be a good deal for the buyer (I have my doubts), but it's a terrible deal for historic preservation. As is usually the case, Berkeley wants the land and not the houses. Prohibited, philosophically disinclined, or otherwise limited from demolition, the university offers the houses up for removal. In the process, the houses will be at minimum removed from their historic context -- it's better than demolishing them, but not much. Most likely the houses will suffer significant damage and lose a lot of their historic fabric.

It's too bad Berkeley can't apply some of its famed alternative thinking and figure out a way to incorporate these houses into its campus plan. Surely some departments need office space, or some students need housing. Or, heck, other articles in the Chronicle have been reporting on Berkeley's efforts to find permanent housing for its new President and Provost -- maybe they'd like to move in?

Preservation on its Merritts

I was delighted to see this recent article in the New York Magazine on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut -- not only is Merritt a pleasure to drive (most of the time), but it remains more or less in historic form. I also really enjoy unconventional preservation challenges, so highways are right up my alley.

The article notes, correctly, that a historic highway is a delicate thing, and it's often undone incrementally with good intentions. A signal upgrade here, a widening there, and suddenly a historic route is unrecognizable as a snarl of traffic or a maze of Jersey barriers.

The Merritt, though, is most distinguished by its historic bridges, which are somewhat likely to be protected if the awareness exists. It's tempting to widen a bridge. It's also very expensive, very complex, and very inconvenient. And if the bridges are also recognized as the architectural gems that they are, perhaps that will be sufficient to aid in their preservation.

Xenophobia or Cultural Bias?

I find the recent New York Times article on the renovations afoot at the Hotel Lambert on the Seine fascinating.

There are the obvious intrigues of historic preservation, such as endless debates about installing elevators, accommodating cars within designs that predate the invention of them by hundreds of years, and so on. But leave it to the french to make the story also about xenophobia and cultural bias.

Naturally, the complaint is that the proposed renovations would threaten the cultural patrimony of France itself. This is generally a good thing to be concerned with, but for two things:

1. The french government has a lot of safeguards, and it appears that the use of a particular architect who is well-versed in just the sort of delicate and complex restoration that is proposed will probably ensure that it is done properly, at least with proper oversight.

2. Similarly histrionic groups said the same thing about Euro Disney. Which, to be fair, is an abomination, but hardly a nefarious mechanism for degrading France's cultural patrimony.

So I suppose I have no idea what to make of the competing sides, except to note that it would be a shame if a proper and well-done restoration were averted due to hysteria.

A Night With Al Capone's Ghost

I've always been fascinated with Alcatraz. Raised on true crime novels about the likes of Machine Gun Kelly, I was fascinated by The Rock from an early age. When I finally got to visit it a few years ago on one of what were then experimental night tours, I felt like I had been there before. It's a interesting site -- people think of the prison, obviously, but it has a lengthy and complex history going back to the colonial era that is evident in the physical attributes of the place.

It's so close to San Francisco that a quick jaunt will allow you to visit and the prisoners could hear the city's parties on major holidays -- yet the tides were so perilous that no one has decisively been known to escape. It's also a big challenge for the National Park Service. Shut down due to the logistics of keeping it supplied and maintained, Alcatraz is a huge and rotting landmark. It is a hell of a challenge, and when you visit you will see entire buildings more or less abandoned to decay.

So I was pleasantly surprised to see the Night in Alcatraz's D Block a Haunting Experience article in the San Francisco Chronicle. While I'm sure there are pitfalls to allowing civilians to maintain machinery, I feel strongly that a landmark like Alcatraz has no hope of surviving without the investment and involvement of the public.

And why does the public invest? Some clearly are invested in heritage. Some must get a thrill. Some are interested in criminal history. What they all seem to have in common is a desire to experience a unique and genuine connection with the place. And by literally interacting with the physical environment of Alcatraz, both the place and the people are altered.

"Permitting Issue" Threatens Unconventional Business

The recent articles about the permitting issue in the Athens Banner-Herald have been raising all kinds of thoughts for me, as a preservationist, and also as someone who's passionate about land use.

For starters, this is the kind of case that gets people worked up about government intervention in people's lives, consistency, fairness, and so on. Jittery Joe's, which I should disclose I am heavily physically dependent on and have been patronizing since 1994, when it was actually run by its founders and not franchised, has been operating the roasting location for at least five years. It has been operating as a roaster with some retail since nearly the beginning. So why is Athens-Clarke County just now swooping in to demand that permits be issued to accommodate the parking that makes the retail possible?

Beyond that, the whole issue is very odd because directly across the street until about five years ago a feed mill operated, and that feed mill functioned with about an equally intensive retail use and with about as little improvement to the parking surfaces in the vicinity. In fact, if you went back 50-some years in the area where the Jittery Joe's roaster is located, you would find virtually all of the businesses in the vicinity operating as some form of factory or production facility with a little retail. There was a feed store, a general store, and a number of farm/well/building material suppliers. And none of them had what Athens-Clarke County would consider a legal parking lot.

So, ad hoc it may be. But the roaster is actually operating in line with the historical land use of the area. Further, the type of building that the roaster occupies is one of the most endangered types of properties -- it is a quasi-agricultural and non-permanent structure fashioned out of tin and brick. It has no chance of becoming a B&B or house museum, has little chance of gaining any kind of statuatory protection, and in general is highly likely to be demolished in favor of more solid and formal structures. So the roaster is one of the few chances that such a building has to continue existing.

Basically, while I get Athens-Clarke County's perspective on the issue, I'd hate to see it cause the roaster to case being viable. It's basically its building's only hope.

What's This About?

As of tomorrow, I become the proud owner of a house in Bellefonte, PA. Well, actually, I move into it -- I actually buy it a little later, as I'll explain in another post. Im moving from Georgia to Bellefonte to take a job nearby, and this blog chronicles my many adventures. These include:
1. My quest to preserve/renovate/restore my new house, which is 125 years old and a bit dilapidated.
2. The everlasting hunt for good running routes. Which is kind of a challenge in Bellefonte because the hills are astoundingly tall.
3. General ruminations on what activities there are to participate in in Bellefonte and Centre County.
4. General ruminations, period. Particularly on historic preservation, which is a passion of mine and not the easiest route to take.

It's going to be quite an adventure -- I invite you guys to read along!