Honoring the Past, Building a Future
“We strain to listen to the ghosts and echoes of our inexpressibly wise past, and we have an obligation to maintain these places, to provide these sanctuaries, so that people may be in the presence of forces larger than those of the moment.” Ken Burns Adrienne Copland is an active voice in the Rocky Mount … Continue reading 306 Villa is on the Demolition List – If Lost – Can It Serve as Our Penn Station
“Preservation does not mean merely the setting aside of thousands of buildings as museum pieces. It means retaining the culturally valuable structures as useful objects: A home in which human beings live, a building in the service of some commercial or community purpose. Such preservation ensures structural integrity, relates the preserved object to the life … Continue reading “Don’t it always seem to go -That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone: They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” – from “Big Yellow Taxi.”- Part 2
“There may have been a time when preservation was about saving an old building here and there, but those days are gone. Preservation is in the business of saving communities and the values they embody.” Richard Moe - Retired president of National Trust for Historic Preservation Rocky Mount, NC has not had an inventory of … Continue reading “Don’t it always seem to go -That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone: They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” – from “Big Yellow Taxi.”- Part 1
What is deemed historic, and worth saving, often depends on whose eyes you are looking through. I like the definition "old and worth the trouble," when applied to structures that are under consideration: should they be preserved or torn down? With each individual decision, we need to ask ourselves what part the structure has played in Rocky … Continue reading “Historic and Worth the Trouble” – Tap @ 1918 – A Preservation Success Story
"In my opinion, cities have got to be committed to downtown if they are going to save it. If they aren't committed, they can't expect other people to be." -Lynell Bynum … Continue reading Station Square – Lynell Bynum: Are You Committed to Downtown? – Part 2
Why would Mr. Lynell Bynum, (1924-2002) decide in the early 1970’s to buy up an entire block of buildings in downtown Rocky Mount NC? How is this connected to real estate investor and general contractor, Ben Braddock, and his business partner, who have purchased from Chambliss and Rabil Commercial Reality, Station Square, a 65,000 square … Continue reading Telling The Station Square Story – Mr. Lynell Bynum -Part 1
Main Street Rocky Mount 