The historic preservation movement began as a good idea in this country -- defend the best of the past from the worst of the present. When done right, it's done a lot of good; just visit Grand Central Station in New York, or Center City Philadelphia. But like a lot of good ideas, the rule makers can undermine the mission by insisting on their rules -- fair and reasonable be damned. This hasn't always worked out so well: How many historic churches have gone under the wrecking ball because restoring them to preservationist snuff was too expensive? That phenomenon is alive and well in Charleston, South Carolina, where a mansion in the city's historic district -- built in 2002 to guidelines laid down by the city's Board of Architectural Review (BAR) -- is buried under lawsuits over the rules. Without getting into the weeds of claims and counterclaims, the BAR's outside counsel, a personable and no doubt capable man named Timothy Domin, has been given the thankless task of insisting that the laws of the BAR trump the laws of physics, and reduced to arguing that the house is in a historic district, the owner knew that when she bought it, the rules are the rules, and she must obey.
Andrew Reinbach: Historic Preservation Goes Bananas
Andrew Reinbach, Huffington Post: Living
Tue, 03/01/2011 - 12:30pm
Topics: grand central station new york center city philadelphia architectural review bar timothy domin melinda ballard french so ms ballard cost after hurricane hugo dripping springs texas soviet union christmas nullification crisis andrew jackson constitution's supremacy clause fort sumter civil war visit website reinbach observer a and and city charleston in so south carolina bar bar ms ballard ms ballard december after stachybotrys house rules mold doors million good problems fix lot present moisture roof turned owner people work lost rot obey district brick fight bulldoze veneer worse
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