From Fay Observer: Pitts: History should be saved, not stripped
by Myron Pitts
Some history you cannot save.
Fire twice destroyed hotels downtown bearing the name of Lafayette, namesake for Fayetteville and a hero of the American Revolution who will be celebrated next weekend.
Then there is the history we can save.
I've come to learn, unfortunately, that a building's location in a historic district is no guarantee its history will be preserved.
Which brings us to the former Capitol department store, founded by the Stein family in 1921 and closed in 1990. The Hay Street store carried back to the days when downtown enjoyed a thriving retail, before Cross Creek Mall came in the 1970s.
The Capitol building's iconic letters and marble facade were stripped recently during what the city says is repair work, and the difference to downtown is noticeable.
An entertainment complex owned by Mel Henderson failed in that spot, and the building is in the hands of an out-of-town bank.
I have a feeling that the facade as we know it will not return; the city seems evasive as to its fate.
To my direct queries about whether the letters and marble would be replaced, spokeswoman Jennifer Lowe emailed: "Marble will be removed from the face of the building in order to allow the correction of facade stability issues. The owners are aware that they are required to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Resources Commission."
She said that Bruce Daws, the city's historic properties manager, signed off on that interpretation.
Lowe said the city's development director cited "too many variables" to know whether the letters or marble would stay, including the commission's ruling, "condition of the existing marble for re-use, the availability of replacement marble, etc."
These clinical responses don't sound like a city fighting to preserve one of its unique facades.
Now, for those who say "it's just a sign," remember Pete Skenteris thought a sign was just a sign, too. In 1999, he sought permission to add a "Y" to the word "Hamont" in his famously misspelled sign above his restaurant, which was meant to recognize the Haymount area. (Why he did not also want a "U," I don't know). But the commission said no. It didn't want him to mess with history.
Will it show the same concern for the Capitol?
Developer John Malzone, a former member of the resources commission who has properties downtown, says an inconsistency would not be new.
He said builders were allowed to remove and not replace carrera glass from the front of a former jewelry store that now houses computer business N2. The glass, which makes up the veneer of Horne's Deli, is manufactured in very few places, though it was once ubiquitous, he said.
"I've slowly watched the iconic images disappear," he said. "It's very sad."
Malzone was part of a group that in 2001 had an idea of putting town houses in the Capitol building. They were planning on keeping the facade. But he also believes the Capitol letters and marble might now be gone for good.
Shame.
That's history we can save, if we choose.
