Orange County NC Website
J <br />2) Deconstruct the house. Deconstructing the house, in part, or in its entirety, may be <br />more politically correct that demolishing it, but it really doesn't do much for preservation <br />efforts in the long run, Deconstruction is a "green" alternative to demolition. It only <br />contributes to preservation when the materials are reused in other buildings. Local <br />governments should not get into the salvage or stockpiling business. Deconstructing the <br />Laws House can only be a viable alternative if another building is earmarked to receive <br />the salvage materials at the time that the older building is dismantled, Proper material <br />storage is essential.. It would be inappropriate to deconstruct the house because it's <br />considered unattractive and then leave the piles of material at the park site, particularly if <br />there is no place to store them. <br />Another option is to demolish or deconstruct part of the house and leave part for reuse. <br />The back portien is the older part of the house,. It would be difficult, however, without <br />any additional information about the evolution of the house to use the back portion as a <br />stand-alone display to represent a "typical" house, or to help visitors visualize what was <br />once there. <br />3) Move the house off the site. Orange County could try to sell the house to a private <br />buyer. Preservation North Carolina http://www.presnc.org/ is a private non-profit <br />preservation organization, which sells buildings with preservation covenants through a <br />revolving fund program. PNC would not buy or arrange for the house to be removed, but <br />the County could advertise the house for sale through their listings, which has a large <br />audience, and specify that the building has to be moved within a certain period to avoid <br />demolition. <br />The house has an exterior stone chimney on the west elevation, a trademark Orange <br />County feature. While masonry chimneys can be moved, they add significantly to the <br />complexity of moving a structure. Chimneys are typically dismantled and reconstructed <br />at the new site, <br />4) Relocate the house to another area on the site. Relocating the house to another <br />area on the park site may provide a way to save the building. However, the County <br />should study this option further before pursuing a moving company. The building would <br />need to be stabilized, lifted off of its foundation Qacked up) and temporarily supported on <br />cribbing. An experienced moving crew would place I-beams under the floorjoists and <br />slowly move the house to its new location and lower it onto a new foundation. The <br />chimney would be expensive to move or to rebuild properly--a modern concrete block <br />chimney with stone veneer, would be historically inappropriate and would look out of <br />place, If the County would like to move the house, it should begin initial efforts to <br />stabilize the building while determining its new location. The new location should be part <br />of the overall plan for the park site. <br />5) Stabilize the house and consider future use(s) and renovation plans. This <br />choice provides the most options for the future.. "Mothball" the building during this fiscal <br />year, and study potential uses which would contribute to the overall theme of the park. <br />Once a potential use or reuse is determined, staff could prepare a more detailed <br />renovation plan with specific cost estimates, or proceed with arrangements to move the <br />building to another location on the park site. If on the other hand, after careful <br />consideration the County determines that the building cannot add to the park complex in <br />any capacity, all of the demolition/deconstruction options are still available. <br />6) Renovate the house for immediate re-use. Considering the time constraints to <br />assemble budget information it is unlikely that the County can complete a full renovation <br />as part of the upcoming fiscal year, Staff should evaluate potential use(s) for the <br />C9Documenis and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\CIP budget 2004-Laws-Extra doc <br />