The Gettysburg Historical Architecture Review Board asked a local business owner to look for alternatives to demolishing a historic home to make way for a “pocket park,” that would feature bronze monuments of the Declaration of Independence and other U.S. founding documents.
Jacqueline White, managing director of the Dobbin House Restaurant and Tavern, brought a proposal before HARB for the demolition of the house and garage at 99 Steinwehr Ave, followed by the relocation of the house at 95 Steinwehr to that lot. She is the owner of both properties.
The goal is to redevelop 95 Steinwehr into a small public park and build a monument in partnership with Foundation Forward, Inc. celebrating the “Charters of Freedom.” White hopes to build in time to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and to draw more visitors to the Steinwehr corridor for years to come.
She said her dream was to have visitors read a replica of the Declaration of Independence, published in 1776, and be able to look up and see the Dobbin House, which was built the same year.
According to their website, “Foundation Forward, Inc. is an educational non-profit that installs life-size replicas of the United States’ Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in communities across America.” The park would also include a replica of the Liberty Bell, benches, lighting, and landscaping.
Both houses —- the one to be demolished and the one to be relocated —- are 1893 Queen Anne Victorian structures, according to HARB Chair Brandon Stone. He found the demolition objectionable because the houses anchor the streetscape of the historic corridor.
Any structure older than 50 years within Gettysburg’s historic districts is considered a “sensitive” structure and subject to HARB review before alterations, including demolition, can take place.
White and the project manager who presented the plans Wednesday night, said the organization that builds the monument sites have requirements such as square footage and street-front visibility that would make it challenging to move the project elsewhere.
After more than an hour of discussion at the Wednesday, May 21 meeting, HARB members expressed desire to postpone the demolition to try to find a solution to build the park and monuments in a different location without disturbing the historic houses.
To achieve that end, HARB voted unanimously to make a formal recommendation that the Borough Council deny the “certificate of appropriateness” (COA) for the demolition project. Clem Merlot was absent from the vote.
They then requested assistance from the Borough Council and the Borough Planning Department to review this project. Borough Council will be provided this recommendation before their next meeting on June 9 at 7:00 p.m.
“We want to partner with Main Street Gettysburg and with you to see if there are some other viable alternatives,” Stone said to White.
HARB Vice Chair Gary Shaffer, who says he has volunteered as a member of HARB for almost 40 years, said many of the regulations HARB follows exist because of situations in the past that have led to overzealous demolitions of homes. For example, the review requirements for demolition were strengthened in 2012 because many houses were being torn down following the housing bubble market crash. Many homes were torn down to make way for amenities in preparation for the 1963 centennial anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. At the time, there were 27 gas stations in town, he said.
Two others spoke in favor of the project during the public comment period.
Jill Sellers, president of Main Street Gettysburg, said the park would be a “brilliant strategic investment” for tourism and local business. She spoke about how the foot traffic on Steinwehr Ave. had never fully recovered to previous levels after the National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center moved. The proposed park could create a “much needed focal point” to draw visitors to the area, she said.
Karl Pietrzak, of Destination Gettysburg, said he would echo many of Sellers’ points. While he celebrates the record-setting income from visitors to Gettysburg reflected in the most recent data, he said that with recent economic uncertainty, the area should still be striving to improve its tourism product. Tourism supports approximately 5,000 jobs in Adams County, he said.
Andrew Dalton, president and CEO of the Adams County Historical Society wrote in a letter of support, “What makes this proposal especially meaningful is that it helps restore the site to a more historically appropriate appearance. By removing and relocating two 1890s homes, the plan reestablishes green space that once characterized this area during both the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Gettysburg.”
Catalina Righter, freelance reporter, lives in New Oxford. She previously wrote for the Carroll County Times and the Kent County News, covering crime, education, local government and arts. She works as a legal assistant.
The borough council should follow HARB and deny demolition. Enough is enough!
Relocating historic structures is very difficult and should be done as a last resort as it seldom goes well and then the structure is lost for eternity
It’s amazing how quickly historic buildings and sites disappear, and no one even remembers that they existed? Lived in another historic town for awhile, same-same, before we knew it the old courthouse was torn down because they needed a parking lot!
What legacy will we leave our children and grandchildren?