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Historic Preservation Commission

Orange County · Historic Preservation Commission
Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Regular meeting Historic preservationPublic facilitiesContracts and procurementArts and public artCivil rights and nondiscriminationGrants and outside fundingIntergovernmental agreementsPolice and public safetySchools and education

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Orange County's Historic Preservation Commission took no decisions on December 11, 2024. It spent the meeting on the county's justice facility expansion, which will affect the historic courthouse and the master plan for courthouse square, and on three properties moving toward the National Register.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The commission heard that the county and the courts have begun planning a major expansion of the justice facility on its current downtown site. Staff told members the project will bear on the historic courthouse and on the new courthouse square master plan, and may have archaeological consequences. Many options are still open, and staff will keep reporting back.

Three National Register projects moved. The owner of the Troy and Roberta Andrews House agreed after two years' consideration to let staff pursue listing. The house was designed by a Swiss architecture student studying under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin and built of field stone gathered on the site by two Black stonemasons from Carrboro, Alf and Willis Barbee; the owner has kept the original plans and photographs and has reached out to the masons' descendants. A consultant filed the draft nomination for the Strayhorn House in Carrboro with the State Historic Preservation Office on December 1, ahead of schedule because the owner's health is declining. Ridge Road School is already listed, but needs siding repair, roof work and paint before a plaque ceremony; staff will seek a Covington Foundation grant and possibly county money in 2025.

Staff also walked members through the draft annual report and work plan, due January 17 and headed for a Board of County Commissioners work session, and presented the ca. 1859 Oakley-Crisp House in Caswell County, recently auctioned, as a property whose future is uncertain. Interviews for the Old Courthouse preservation architect are done, with a selection due in early 2025. The lynching memorial marker ceremony on courthouse square has slipped to spring because the marker itself is late. Five of seven members attended.

Speaking at this meeting

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Jump to an item (15 on this agenda)
  1. 1Call to Order
  2. 2Changes or Additions to Agenda
  3. 3Approval of Minutes for October 23, 2024
  4. 4Items for Decision
  5. 5.aPresentation: Oakley-Crisp House
  6. 5.bNational Register Nomination project for the Troy and Roberta Andrews…
  7. 5.cLandmark Evaluation Form revisions
  8. 5.dAnnual Report and Work Plan
  9. 5.eRidge Road School: preservation funding and National Register plaque
  10. 5.fCounty Justice Facility expansion planning
  11. 6.aOld Courthouse Preservation Project architect selection
  12. 6.bLynching Memorial marker on Courthouse Square
  13. 6.cStrayhorn House (Carrboro) National Register Nomination
  14. 6.dBook Project update
  15. 7Adjournment

Agenda items (15)

Procedural · 4Discussion item · 4Staff or committee report · 4Minutes approval · 1Presentation · 1Other · 1
  1. 1 Call to Order
    Procedural
    Chair Art Menius called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m.
  2. 2 Changes or Additions to Agenda
    Procedural Historic preservation
    Staff added a presentation on the Oakley-Crisp House in Caswell County and a potential landmark in the Hillsborough extraterritorial jurisdiction.
  3. 3 Approval of Minutes for October 23, 2024
    Minutes approval
    The October 23 minutes were approved.
  4. 4 Items for Decision
    Procedural
    None.
  5. 5.a Presentation: Oakley-Crisp House
    Presentation Historic preservation
    Staff presented the ca. 1859 Oakley-Crisp House, an antebellum plantation house on 128 acres in Caswell County just over the Orange County line, recently put up for auction. Its interior woodwork is in the style of Thomas Day, with painted imitation graining and marbleizing by itinerant folk artists. Staff noted no house on that scale was ever built in what is now Orange County, and that its future depends on whether a preservation buyer or a developer takes it.
  6. 5.b National Register Nomination project for the Troy and Roberta Andrews House
    Discussion item Historic preservation
    The owner, a daughter of the builders, has agreed to let staff pursue National Register listing after considering it since late 2022. The Modernist house was designed by a Swiss architecture student studying under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin and built by two Black stonemasons from Carrboro, Alf and Willis Barbee, from rough field stones gathered on the site rather than quarried. Staff played a recording of the owner telling the story and showed photographs. Members backed the project and asked staff to get it under contract within a month.
  7. 5.c Landmark Evaluation Form revisions
    Discussion item Contracts and procurementHistoric preservationIntergovernmental agreements
    Deferred for time. Staff instead raised an early 19th century house on a large lot in the Hillsborough extraterritorial jurisdiction whose owner is interested in landmark status but has reservations. Designating it would require an interlocal agreement letting the county act inside a town's ETJ.
  8. 5.d Annual Report and Work Plan
    Staff or committee report Historic preservation
    Staff walked members through the draft annual report and work plan, due January 17 and presented to the Board of County Commissioners at a work session. Members were asked to send comments by early January.
  9. 5.e Ridge Road School: preservation funding and National Register plaque
    Discussion item Grants and outside fundingHistoric preservationPublic facilitiesSchools and education
    The school is now listed on the National Register, but needs deteriorated siding repaired, the roof tightened and the exterior painted before a dedication. Staff will pursue a Covington Foundation grant, possibly a challenge grant, and possibly county funding in 2025, and may hold a ceremony on the grant and place the plaque after repairs.
  10. 5.f County Justice Facility expansion planning
    Discussion item Historic preservationPolice and public safetyPublic facilities
    The county and the courts have started planning an expansion of the justice facility on its current downtown site. Staff told members it will affect the historic courthouse and the new courthouse square master plan, and may have archaeological consequences. Options are still open.
  11. 6.a Old Courthouse Preservation Project architect selection
    Other Contracts and procurementHistoric preservationPublic facilities
    The planning team interviewed the top two of five firms that answered the county's request for qualifications and finished its evaluations. A selection is due in early 2025.
  12. 6.b Lynching Memorial marker on Courthouse Square
    Staff or committee report Civil rights and nondiscriminationHistoric preservation
    The dedication ceremony has been pushed to spring because the marker itself is delayed.
  13. 6.c Strayhorn House (Carrboro) National Register Nomination
    Staff or committee report Historic preservation
    The consultant filed the draft nomination with the State Historic Preservation Office on December 1, ahead of schedule, because the owner's health is declining. Preservation Chapel Hill has funded structural repairs over several years and holds preservation covenants on the house. Approval is expected within the year.
  14. 6.d Book Project update
    Staff or committee report Arts and public artHistoric preservation
    The production consultant is editing and merging the manuscript and photographs. Staff are preparing photographs for the essay chapters, and photography continues into the spring.
  15. 7 Adjournment
    Procedural
    Adjourned at 8:13 p.m.

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