HPC meeting summary 10232024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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circumstances. For moved buildings, there are times that buildings get moved for preservation purposes that might be worthy of landmark status, so moving alone shouldn't count against it in that situation. Staff made suggested wording changes to the various significance categories to broaden their applicability. This raised the question: is it possible for a property or site that lacks a lot of historical or cultural significance get a high enough score to be eligible? Should architectural significance be weighted as high as historical/cultural? Environmental significance can include archaeological significance. Maybe change the word "site" to "resource." Perhaps we need to weight the environmental significance equally with the historical and architectural. There was a consensus for making significance one big all-encompassing category with a wide range of criteria listed under it. This will allow us to consider significance as a whole, rather than try to divide significance up into these limiting categories. Let's try to create a long list of criteria under the significance heading that address what we think are the key characteristics, and eliminate the existing four big categories. Let's consider an additional mitigation category to try to address underrepresented resources; that could be part of the long list under a new general significance heading. Staff will structure a new draft that incorporates this concept of a long list of criteria that determine significance and then will share that back with members. b. Proposal from Human Relations Commission for a memorial marker for the burial -ground for the enslaved at Blackwood Farm Park: Staff provided a brief overview of the cemetery and the Strayhorn family ownership of the property, and the archaeological work the county did to survey the cemetery. This site is an important place of memory for the descendants. The HRC wishes to partner with the HPC to install some type of memorial marker or markers to permanently mark the site. Staff gave the HRC staff members a tour of the site. Staff has been invited to share a PowerPoint about the cemetery with HRC members to start a conversation about this project. Staff would like to have a couple of HPC members. Moore and Deetz are willing to volunteer to be part of this process. There is definitely a need for an educational checklist for best practices for how to care for these cemeteries, to avoid well-intentioned cleanup projects that have removed important cultural artifacts that should have been left there. There is a growing interest in and awareness of the importance of these types of cemeteries, so we will be looking at ways to landmark these or otherwise help ensure their protection. c. Old Courthouse Preservation Project architect selection: Staff provided an overview of the project, with an update on the county's process to review five qualified proposals we received from architectural firms for our planned major project to do preservation work on the courthouse and the courthouse square. Members viewed the various proposals. The goal will be to try to select the most qualified team and get an initial contract signed this fall, with research and planning to take place this winter and spring. Staff and HPC member Todd Dickinson will be participating in the interviews on Nov. 21st and then in the final selection process, along with representatives from the courts and other county staff. d. Field trip: observations and ideas: Staff showed a PowerPoint for the benefit of the new members, to give them a sense of the site at 752 Rex Drive as well as the railroad bridges. It's a challenge to figure out how to assist the property owner and to help her with the preservation of the important site features: the house, the stone foundations on the adjacent property and the associated archaeological resources. The owner could use some assistance in developing a functional concise narrative about her site. The challenge of the bridges is that we have to recognize that they will ultimately be replaced or altered by major safety and functional upgrades, so it may be necessary to create a project to document these along the lines of the HABS/HAER program. ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS a. Preservation NC Annual Conference highlights: Staff gave a brief overview of some of the sessions and the setting at the newly renovated Rocky Mounty Mills. One of the most relevant sessions focused on the challenges presented by abandoned/overlooked Black burial grounds. 2