Applications

1.  Bradford House and Store.  Click here for Survey and Research Report.  The owners of the Bradford House and Store support historic landmark designation for their property.

Staff Recommendation:  Recommend to the Historic Landmarks Commission that the Bradford House and Store, including the exteriors and interiors of all contributing structures, be processed for designation as a historic landmark.

2.  Neal House (612  Walnut Ave., Charlotte).  The owner of the Neal House is requesting that the property be placed on the Study List for prospective historic landmark designation.  Mary Beth Gatza, preservation consultant, has written the following description of the property.

The Neal residence is a one-story front-gabled house which is notable for its stone construction.  The walls are made of stone in various hues of brown and rust, laid up in uncoursed rubblework with raised mortar joints.  All door and window surrounds are accented with red brick and light-colored cast stone sills.  There are three bays across the front, including grouped windows and a projecting center entry.  The entry portico is also made of stone and has arched openings on the front and sides.  The protico matches the porte-cochere which is located on the left (south) side.  The house has a shallow roof pitch and three stone chimneys.  On the interior, it has a regular floorplan, including living and dining rooms, kitchen and breakfast nook on the north side, and a bathroom, two bedrooms and a den (or a bathroom and three bedrooms) on the south side.  There are three fireplaces, one of which has a stone surround.

The house was built in 1927 for Calvin Neal, a bookkeeper and accountant for the Southern Public Utilities Company (which later became Duke Power).  Neal lived in this house with his wife, Margaret, until his death in 1966.  She remained in residence through the mid-1970s, at which time the house was sold.  The second family only recently sold the house to the third and current owner, who is now restoring it.

The Wesley Heights neighborhood was first laid out in 1911, although the majority of the houses were built in the 1920s.  The neighborhood is both a local Historic District and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The current renovation is a tax-act project which has already been approved by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History.  This particular house should received individual designation as a historic landmark because the stone construction is unique to the neighborhood and unusual in Charlotte, and because it was the home of the Neal family, who were stable members of the community for about fifty years.

Staff Recommendation:  Table a decision until additional information is provided:  an assessment of the number of rock rubble houses in Mecklenburg County and the name of the architect.  Staff does not believe that the house has not yet met the standard of special significance required for historic landmarks.

3.  Consideration of Recommendations of Effects for the Proposed Charlotte South Corridor Light Rail Transit, City of Charlotte, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is seeking Section 106 Consultation Comments for the South Corridor Light Rail Project.  Comments should be made by July 8, 2002, so they can be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Findings:

Districts

1.  The Poindexter-Elmhurst Streets Historic District.  No effect on the proposed historic district.

2.  Pineville Historic District.  No effect on the proposed historic district.

3.  Industrial Historic District.  No effect on the proposed historic district.

4.  Wilmore Historic District. 

 If the NC DOT approves the crossing gates on the rail corridor without audible warning devices, the proposed LRT Alternative does not alter the characteristics of this potential historic district.  If NC DOT requires the use of audible warning devices on the crossing gates, measures would be taken to mitigate the noise impact so that it does not adversely effect those characteristics of the houses that make them a contributing resources to the proposed historic district or to the district itself.

Individual Buildings

1.  South 21 Drive-In Restaurant.  No effect on the building or its setting.

2.  Atherton Cotton Mills.  No effect on the building or its setting.

3.  Parks-Cramer Company Complex.  No effect on the building or its setting.

4.  D. A. Tompkins Company Machine Shop.  No effect on the building or its setting.

5.  Nebel Knitting Mill.  No effect on the building or its setting.

6.  Chalmers Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.  No effect on the building or its setting.

7.  Exposition Hall.  No effect on the building or its setting.

8.  Old Dilworth Fire Station.  No effect on the building or its setting.

9.  Philip Carey Warehouse.  No effect on the building or its setting.

10.  McNeil Paper Company.  No effect on the building or its setting.

11.  Charlotte Trolley.  No effect on the building or its setting.

Staff Recommendation:  Recommend to the Historic Landmarks Commission that it issue a letter of concurrence with the findings outlined above.

4.  Consideration of Revised Ordinance for the Ratcliffe Flower Shop Building.

Wachovia Bank has moved the Ratcliffe Florist Shop Building to its new location on Tryon St.  A new ordinance is required to reflect the changed circumstance.  Archives and History has notified the Commission that the new ordinance will have to go through the regular designation process.  The changes in the ordinance reflect the fact that the building has been moved, and it excludes from designation the ground beneath the building, the air above the building, and those portions of the interior that do not contribute to the historic character of the building.  Click here for a Survey and Research Report.

Staff Recommendation:  Recommend to the Historic Landmarks Commission that it process the Ratcliffe Florist Shop Building for historic landmark designation at its new location and approve the proposed changes to the ordinance.

5.  Report on the Ramah Creek Rural Historic District.

This is an informational item.  Mattson-Alexander Associates has been hired by private citizens to conduct a study of a prospective local historic district in the Ramah Creek community of northern Mecklenburg County and also to identify what historic landmarks might exist within the district.  This study will be brought to the Survey Committee in the near future.  The Survey Committee will be asked to recommend whether the area meets the statutory requirements for a local historic district.  This initiative might lead to the Historic Landmarks Commission's  working with the Town of Huntersville to have Huntersville establish its own historic districts commission or have the Historic Landmarks Commission assume that responsibility for the Town of Huntersville.