HPC meeting summary 04242024 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Hope Church Road. This is an important example of the county's log history and worthy of landmark status. Staff wants to reach out to the owners to see if they will entertain landmark status with the goal of allowing the HPC and others to help fund the preservation of the structure. b. Strayhorn House National Register Project launch: members viewed a video presentation of the unveiling of the recent Truth Plaque that was awarded for the Strayhorn House in Carrboro, on Sept. 1, 2023. The house was built in 1879 for freed enslaved farm workers Toney and Nellie Strayhorn. The house remains in the ownership of the family, now Dolores Clark. Preservation Chapel Hill obtained a Covington Foundation grant to fund structural repairs to the floor system and now wants to partner with us on a National Register nomination. Members agreed that this is a project the HPC should support. Staff will proceed to negotiate with Preservation Chapel Hill and a prospective consultant to get this underway. c. Potential for log building workshop at Davis Farm: staff reviewed our work on the Davis Farm Cotton Gin and Barn, which we landmarked last year. We're interested in helping do some sort of log restoration work on the barn as well as stabilize the leaning cotton press. Dickinson explained his recent work to help the Eno River Association with the restoration of their old log building from the 1930s, and also the Piper-Cox House at the Eno River State Park. He explained that a log workshop will need to be broken up into separate phases or components, so that each step can be demonstrated in an effective manner, and that would allow participants to actually do something. Another approach is to create a video using a sort of time-lapse technique, creating the videos in sequence over several working sessions. So the challenge is going to be to figure out how to have the attendees be able to participate in a meaningful way, to make it an effective workshop, along the lines of our previous workshops at the Burwell School and the Norwood Law Office. In our previous workshops the attendees expressed interest in attending multiple workshops, so perhaps this could be handled by having several workshops over the course of a couple of months. The other challenge is to find a source for good logs to use for the rebuilding. This can be discussed at a subsequent meeting, after Todd and Peter meet with the owners. d. Field Trip Opportunities: Morrow's Mill is one option, along with the Faucette Mill outside of Hillsborough, near Chatwood. e. Membership update and review of roster: We're still looking for prospective new members with strong backgrounds in history/historic preservation, archaeology, landscape architecture or architecture. Dickinson indicated that Rob Golan expressed interest in applying. Staff will follow up with him. Members should be on the lookout for potential applicants. One suggestion was the current landscape architect at UNC, who lives near the Belleview mill complex in Hillsborough. Another archaeologist might be a good candidate, perhaps Anna Agbe-Davies at UNC. Please share any prospects for staff follow up. Staff will likewise scout for applicants. ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS a. Historic Hillsborough Excursion Event: Dickinson added this topic to report on the upcoming historic excursion day on May 18t", sponsored by the Alliance and other local historic sites. Tours of Ayr Mount, the Burwell School, He'll be stationed at the Dickson House as a tour guide to explain his role in the restoration. b. Report back on the review of outside agency grants with County Manager: Staff reported on the outcome of the zoom meeting held by the manager to allow each agency to make a pitch to present their applications. These were informative and helpful. Staff was able to ask the director of the Museum about their financial sustainability plans; she acknowledged the issues and said the board was actively engaged in addressing this problem. We won't know any details about the grant awards until the county budget is approved in June. 2