Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
<br /> <br />Mx. David Stanch <br />Environment and Resource Director <br />Orange County <br />PO Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />Mazch 12, 2004 <br />Re: Laws House's future <br />Deaz Mr. Stanch: <br />~~I <br />A couple of years ago I was invited to accompany Orange and Durham Planners <br />on a inspection of the Laws House, located near the entrance of the new two county park <br />on Guess Road. Time has passed since that visit, but recently, Tina Moon, of your staff, <br />has consulted with me on my impressions of the house and its potential use to Orange <br />County. She and I had an interesting discussion and she shazed her thoughts and <br />estimates of the costs to stabilize the structure. <br />/~ <br />I found that I agreed 100% with Moon's assessment of the house's value as a link <br />to the agricultural past of our County, the importance of setting a proper preservation <br />example by reusing the house on site if'possible, and the costs to be expected in the short <br />term to accomplish this preservation. The reaz wing of the house is of especially great <br />value. The house as it now stands is a living record of how our local farmsteads grew <br />and prospered. Her arguments against demolition: Loss of a piece of the history of the <br />County, and wasted money to remove it, aze compelling. The recently fashionable <br />"deconstruction option" is not a way to save our heritage, only a method of conserving <br />some space at the dump. Moving and relocating an endangered historic structure are only <br />considered last ditch options in the preservation community. Preservation and the <br />interpretation of a structure on its original site are pillars of the modern preservation <br />philosophy. Since the structure is endangered by our government's choice; demolition <br />by neglect or by crowbaz or bulldozer, we have in our hands the preservation tool most <br />palatable and responsible to the Heritage of Orange County and the preservation of our <br />built environment. This is the temporary stabilization and eventual preservation and reuse <br />of the structure on its original site as an integral part of our fabulous new park, right <br />where and when it will serve the County the best. <br />