Old Building ?

[Foofoogal]

Wondering what some of the FL would think about this. What would you do?
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http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2008/08/14/conroe_courier/news/mocc0814.txt

 

[Starius]

Hmmm a interesting situation.
While I am one in favor of seeing old buildings restored.... if the City here won't let him demolish it, they should be prepared to handle the restoration themselves and not just tell people what they can or can't do to it.

 

[dhermann1]

Sure wish there were pics. This is an old issue, and a tough one. Without getting into anything controversial, there are certainly two sides to the issue. It seems the way out is for him to prove conclusively that restoration is prohibitively costly. Please keep us posted on what happens.

 

[LondonLuke]

If he wants to just rebuild it, using the same layout etc, surely that's better than leaving it to rot?

And MILES better than some hideous "modern architecture" crap

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.historicmontgomerytexas.com/directory.aspx?category=3

this is the closest to photos I could show. the Liberty Bell photo is indicitive of what the article is discussing. A great place really.
There is a great antique show in the downtown once a year. This town is the Birthplace of our Texas Flag so they want to keep it as pristine old as possible.

 

[LocktownDog]

I've always been one to suggest spending the extra money to restore a building, rather than tearing it down and starting over. I haven't seen this particular case come up in the National Trust newsletters yet, so I can't comment specifically. [huh] As far as I'm concerned, every city should have some funds budgeted for projects like this.

 

[Paisley]

If they replace 80% of the building, aren't they going to basically have a new building anyway? If 80% new is OK, why not 100%?

And of course the council can OK the demo "right off the bat." There's no need to use this man to prove a point.

 

[Paisley]

If he wants to just rebuild it, using the same layout etc, surely that's better than leaving it to rot?

And MILES better than some hideous "modern architecture" crap

Amen.

 

[Foofoogal]

Interesting dilemna isn't it. A bit ago someone painted one of the old buildings hot pink for a teen boutique. This may be a bit of a backlash. How far do we go you know idea...

 

[hargist]

This seems to me to be a "buyer beware" situation. Buying old buildings comes with it a special responsibility. It is important for a buyer to do his/her due diligence to know what exactly he/she is getting into, because ultimately the goal is preservation and restoration. It's simply not enough to buy a historic building with the intent of restoration, only to later say that it would be too expensive and demolish it. The buyer should know that BEFORE purchasing the property.

I feel for this guy because it seems that his intentions were in the right place, but he should have known what he was getting into before he bought the property. Ultimately, old buildings should be in the hands of someone who is willing to invest the time and money in keeping them around.

I live in LA and we have torn down so much of our history that I am in favor of protections like this. If the guy in the article in unwilling to spend the money to restore the building, perhaps he should sell it to someone who is.

 

[Foofoogal]

It may sound like a lose/lose situation but due to the market in that area he will really not lose any way he goes.

http://www.censusscope.org/us/s48/c339/chart_popl.html
this is old and it is just going higher believe me.
Cannot build schools fast enough.

I wish I could afford it for sure. People are moving out of Houston in droves...

It is either go North young man or go West young man..lol

 

[Mike in Seattle]

If it's as dilapidated as he says, how did he get an appraisal that would allow the purchase? Also, he's a contractor. He said they couldn't get in to inspect until after the purchase - that's got to be wrong. The cynical side of me thinks he found a cheap parcel large enough that it would allow three homes to be built. He probably bought intending to tear down...and why not just proceed with building the other two homes? And again, without pictures or more details, how can we really judge the condition from the write-up. Why not demand the council go out and inspect themselves? Why don't they hire someone to inspect and report on what they expect restoration would cost? The buyer's just going to find one who'll write a report saying the costs are astronomical.

 

[Foofoogal]

lol lol lol
Welcome to small town politics clashing with big town encroachment. Notice it said new Historical ordinance.
Alot of big money is coming to these places thinking country bumpkins.
Makes for good comical reading sometimes anyway.
Really strange world we live in when I see mansions just crumbling in Fort Smith Arkansas area and then seeing people fight over these matchbox houses because of location it really brings it home.
Since we never put the bite on people on the FL it is a lesson to be learned if you do indeed have an old home and suddenly people start calling you wanting to do you a favor.
I have caught them walking on my land and calling me when they have gone to courthouse to look me up.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2008/08/28/conroe_courier/news/mocc0828.txt

Update and photo of the house in ?

 

[DerMann]

I used to live not 20 minutes from Plantersville.

Interesting to see what comes of it.

The county really ought to be able to cover most, if not all, of the restoration if they plan on preventing this man from demolishing the house.

Oddly enough, I went from living in Montgomery County, Texas, to Montgomery County, Indiana....