The following is a guest post by downtown resident Brady Barlow.
I awoke on Friday morning to an ear-piercing noise and my daughters running into my room excited because the house across the street was finally being torn down to make way for a proposed condominium complex at the corner of Kentucky Avenue and East Main Street. Though I am a big supporter of downtown infill, this redevelopment project had the grand Victorian home at 518 East Main in its path; a house that should have been protected by a historic overlay. Built at the turn of the 20th century, this house had the original slate roof and a classic architectural style shared with the house next door and the house I live in. And so closes the book on another historic home in Lexington being sacrificed to make way for a needless, tasteless concrete altar to a developer who has figured how to take advantage of the porous historic preservation system.
In this case, Bill Justice of Justice Real Estate is the unapologetic culprit. Justice owns the Victorian home adjacent to 518 East Main and, as often is the case, has allowed the victimized property to erode through neglect. He and a local architect planned to erect a bunker-style building reminiscent of the downtown Chase Building or World Trade Center and initially had planned for the structure to be luxury condos with Justice and the architect each living in one of the units. However, with the downturn in the economy, the deal fell through. Nevertheless, according to an August 17th Lexington Herald-Leader story, Justice chose to tear the house down to “clear the lot” and draw interest to the corner.
The tragedy of this situation is two-fold. First, this house was intentionally left out of the Aylesford Historic District because Justice fought tooth and nail for any of his properties to be included. So, despite all the other houses in the Aylesford area and across the street in Bell Court being included, Justice’s properties were omitted from the overlay that ultimately paved the way for him to destroy a 112 year old house. Second, as has been the case in our beautiful city for decades, developers are still allowed to unilaterally make decisions about historic properties because there is no protective overlay in place throughout much of downtown. As a result, instead of Main and Vine Streets lined with pedestrian-friendly historic buildings more like the Kentucky Theater and Victorian Square, we largely speed by non-interactive buildings that will never contribute much of anything to our city outside the hours of 9-5.
Lexington has made amazing strides over the last ten years with the re-use and redevelopment of existing older and historic buildings, such as the Cheapside entertainment district and the erection of new developments on open lots, such as the Main and Rose mixed use project. Though as a city we can only look forward, learning from the mistakes and lack of regard of irresponsible developers will allow us to protect those buildings that give our city its true character.
Edited 8/20 12:00pm to clarify the omission from the overlay.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s sad in so many ways, including the way the materials in the house were just crushed and hauled away. Even at 50% breakage, the slate on the roof was worth more than I make in a year. As the owner of a historic home in Lexington, it always makes me sad to see one torn down. Especially when it is in such a prominent location. How could this not have been incorporated into a project like the one on limestone, where new and old were melded? It’s just a lack of vision. I’ll be so glad when these old guard, glad handing, smoky room, types become history.
Didn’t we seen this act already at the corner of high and woodland? @harncw
I lived in Lexington for 6 years while at college thinking that Lexington was like most any other city in Kentucky, or perhaps the nation. I always believed the traffic to be awful, the nightlife to be kind of limited and the housing to be too expensive.
Then I moved to Nashville, TN. I visited Lexington this past weekend, and I can tell you, without a doubt, that Lexington is the most affordable, beautiful, easy to navigate, fun and diverse city I’ve ever lived in. In Nashville, historic buildings have been destroyed for nearly a century, virtually without limitation. While Nashville is a large city with many historic homes, there are few left when compared to what was available just 60 years ago. If you want to live in an historic house older than 120 years in Nashville, you’ve got to be willing to pay at least 700k or be willing to live in a risky crime laden neighborhood.
You all are going to have to fight tooth-and-nail to keep eliminate the demolition by neglect method of removal. Your ordinances are going to have to reflect penalties for what truly is a manipulation of the system of government and a threat to the benefits created from a strong tourism industry that is based in the preservation of Lexington. Your city would be far less valuable without the beauty of its historic fabric and while beauty is subjective, the benefits derived from the economic boost provided by those who visit Lexington for its beauty, and the tax credits available to those who restore instead of demolish, is black and white.
The city has the right to seize neglected properties and should. It’s time for this nonsense loophole to end and for Lexington to make a firm stand towards saving the historic fabric of the city and therefore, ensuring that the vestiges of Lexington’s past become a resource for the economic viability of its future.
Before too many of you jump on Matt’s bandwagon of seizing neglected properties, you need to research the Eminent Domain laws of Kentucky. Surely the city may use the law, but then the property MUST be used for public purposes and may NOT be sold to willing buyers. I believe that the City has way too many aging buildings that they cannot maintain at present to wish to take on any more.
just another example of Lexington continued lack of respect and appreciation of our history!!!
Even my 5-year old saw the sadness in this building being destroyed…..as we drove by on Friday and saw the wreckage she said, “why would would anyone tear that down….didn’t the people love their home?”. Hmm……….indeed.
Shame on all of us…look around and see all the empty “new” developments. Yeah…we really need this. Shame..shame..shame