Has Northampton Gone Too Far With Unsafe Buildings?

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Photo courtesy of the Cape Charles Historical Society – The Cape Charles Historical Society didn't have the opportunity to salvage any part of the Capeville train depot before it burned, but it has a major project in the works – restoring the pilot house, seen above, that once stood above the tracks on the Nandua railroad barge.

By Stefanie Jackson – A concerned citizen opened a dialogue with Northampton supervisors March 12 on whether county procedures for addressing unsafe structures are too heavy-handed on historical properties that may be worth saving or at least allowing salvage of valuable materials before demolition.

Donna Bozza, of Cape Charles, noted that “the county has been really proactive with tearing down abandoned buildings,” but she was concerned about the demolition of the former Capeville train depot that was located just south of the Cape Center.

Northampton County staff had sent the property owners notice of the building’s unsafe condition last year, requiring them to either repair or remove the structure. The owners gave permission for the county to demolish the building by controlled burn in December 2018.

Bozza said the building had been featured in a magazine article about travel on the Eastern Shore and suggested Northampton’s disposition toward its old and historical structures “speaks to our tourism initiative” and “how we present ourselves.”

“I know there’s a fine line between what is a historical building and what is … rubble,” she said.

“How do you discriminate between what is an eyesore and what is something that brings character and charm?” she asked. “The soul of the Eastern Shore is a lot of its old buildings.”

Roy Ballard, of Exmore, who is known for restoring railroad relics, would have liked to do something at the Capeville train depot if he had known it was about to be “torched,” Bozza said.

In a conversation with the Eastern Shore Post, Kim Denny, the executive director of the Cape Charles Historical Society, which runs the Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center, said her organization also would have been interested in the Capeville train depot, but the historical society did not know about the plans to burn the building until it was “too late.”

It would not have been the historical society’s first time getting involved with Eastern Shore railroad history outside of Cape Charles. The organization saved the Bloxom train station, which was dismantled and rebuilt onsite at the Cape Charles Museum – one of the projects Ballard worked on, Bozza said.

“Most historical-minded people on the Eastern Shore would agree that the burning (of the Capeville train depot) was sad,” Denny said.

Even if a historical building is beyond saving, the wood could be salvaged. There are “lucrative business” opportunities in selling reclaimed hardwood, Bozza said.

Before a historical structure is demolished, local historical societies and craftsmen should have the opportunity to contact the owner and say, “‘We’ll take that off your hands,’” rather than find out about the demolition afterward and realize “it’s gone and we’ll never get it again,” she said.

Spencer Murray, the chairman of the Northampton board of supervisors, responded.

“The process for demolition of unsafe buildings is not totally without sensitivity to historical value,” he said. That process requires locating the property owner and obtaining written permission to proceed with demolition. Sometimes the owner doesn’t respond, Murray said.

There are additional complications when a historical society expresses interest in a property but lacks funding, causing further delays, he said.

The Capes Charles Historical Society is one of those organizations with limited resources, Denny said. “There’s only so much we can do … so much money … so many volunteers.”

But “if there’s another checkmark that we need to make … we ought to check that,” Murray added later.

“I don’t want anybody … to think that we’re just going around burning down buildings willy-nilly,” he said.

Supervisor David Fauber suggested that, in the future, the county could advertise the demolition of a historic structure in advance and give the public the opportunity to salvage material from the site.

Murray referred Bozza to County Administrator Charlie Kolakowski and Director of Planning and Zoning Susan McGhee for further assistance.

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