THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412060180
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MIKE KNEPLER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Architectural historians have a view of the world all their own.
One moment they extol the somber Romanesque Revival architecture of a century-old church. Next, they drool over a building that houses a used-car dealership.
How will the untutored ever understand?
Maybe it doesn't matter. Architectural historians Kim Williams and Lisa Tucker drew oohs and ahhs in City Hall as they flashed color slides of some of Norfolk's most interesting old buildings.
The talents of Williams and Tucker wasn't in their mastery of phrases like ``vernacular Mission Revival style'' (for the Meadowbrook Elementary School, built in 1923). It was their joy in helping Norfolk residents see another dimension of the city.
Where most of us usually notice only a curious relic of the past - the long-vacant Birtcherd's Dairy, for example - Williams and Tucker saw dignity, elegance and grace.
Where we pay scant attention to a structure such as the 26th Street Bridge over the Lafayette River, the architectural historians offer a different view - quite literally. They look at the underpinnings, a series of connected arches that make up the span.
Mostly, the audience was in synch. One exception was the reference, several times, to a certain architectural gem on 21st Street - the Charlie Falk Auto dealership.
Laughter greeted every mention. Williams and Tucker smiled, and continued with their show.
It wasn't until later that Williams asked, ``Why was that? Is that a local landmark?''
Obviously, architectural historians don't use late-night TV as a research source. Otherwise, they would know that Falk, Virginia's largest independent used-car dealer, is famous - among other reasons - for commercials featuring a goat that eats bad credit reports.
Undaunted, Williams and Tucker recommended that the Charlie Falk building be nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. They noted how Ghent's 21st Street once was called ``Car Row'' for its series of automobile showrooms.
The 72-year-old Charlie Falk building, ``an elegant Classical Revival style. . . is an excellent example of the now-defunct, urban automobile showroom,'' they wrote.
Today, Williams added, most auto dealerships display little grandeur. ``They're basically parking lots,'' she said.
Nowhere for a goat to graze.
History's volunteers. Kim Williams and Lisa Tucker came to announce results of a study of Norfolk buildings and neighborhoods.
The consultants work for Traceries, a firm hired to find Norfolk nominees for historic landmarks. The effort recommended 13 properties and seven neighborhoods: Ballentine Place, Berkley, Colonial Place, Lafayette, North Ghent, Riverview and Winona.
Recognition on the national register is an honor. It doesn't mean you can't remodel your house, unless you try to use federal money, said Mary Miller, a city planner.
Restrictions apply, though, if a neighborhood becomes a local historic district, she said. But residents help City Hall write the rules, and 51 percent of property owners must approve the designation.
For now, the recommendations aren't going anywhere. There's no money to complete the research, Miller said.
There's another way. Neighborhoods can supply volunteers.
Elizabeth Lipford of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources said she will come here to train volunteers on request. Call her in Richmond at 804-786-3143. Locally, contact Mary Miller, 441-2375. by CNB