Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409230050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Historians and city planners are pursuing state and national designation for a downtown Salem commercial district that would recognize the significant buildings of a three-block area of Main Street.
"Not only is it the core of the original town of Salem as it was platted in 1802," said architectural historian Leslie Giles, "it also contains a real wealth of buildings representing most of the significant periods in Salem's history."
City planners met with property owners last week, and participants said the response was positive. One concern was allayed when city planners assured the owners there would be no architectural review board. And there are no restrictions on buildings in the district, unless owners take advantage of a federal tax credit.
"As long as we weren't going to create some architectural review board to tell them whether they can paint their door green, they were happy," said Joe Yates, director of planning and development for the city.
The proposed district roughly parallels the original plat map of Salem when it was founded in 1802. The Post House, Salem Presbyterian Church, Tarpley's Inc., the Macado's building, attorney Harry Bosen's office and the old Post Office are significant buildings included in the proposed district.
Several already have landmark status, and many of the ornate brick buildings have been restored.
"This just adds structure to a concept Salem believes in and always has believed in, through all its preservation activities," said Norwood Middleton, historian and author of "Salem: A Virginia Chronicle."
The city has not applied to see if it's eligible for the status because officials wanted the approval of property owners first, but Giles said it's "a shoo-in."
"It's just a formality we have to go through," said Giles, who works for the Roanoke Regional Preservation Office.
A Roanoke College intern cataloged the district in the spring, and the preservation office is working on the application for designation by both the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places.
There will be other public meetings, and owners and adjacent property owners will be contacted for input. The district's boundaries are not final and "could change around the edges," Giles said, including taking in more of College Avenue.
Dave Robbins, a member of the Salem Planning Commission and president-elect of the Salem Historical Society, said the downtown commercial district is one of several the city has in its five-year plan. Overlay areas on residential streets are the next step, he said.
He said he wishes the city had started sooner, because downtown has lost a lot of significant buildings in the last 30 years. The ones that are left, however, are fairly well-preserved.
"In general, there's a pride in the city and pride in ownership," Robbins said. "That's why what's left is in such good shape."
Of the approximately 25 property owners in the district, not all own historically significant buildings.
But if a building rates as a "contributing structure" - it's more than 50 years old and retains its historical architecture - the owner qualifies for a federal tax credit of 20 percent if he or she restores it. And that applies to heating and air conditioning, which appealed to many of the property owners.
"It may convince someone, 'Hey, there's a tax credit if I fix it up,''' Yates said.
The city hopes the designation increases tourism and promotes downtown, too.
"I can only see positive things from this," Yates said.
Probably half of the surviving downtown buildings date from the turn of the century, when Salem was booming, Giles said. Many of them still have "wonderful pressed metal ornaments on the facade and cornices."
by CNB