On Oct 23, 2008, at 4:17 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Sounds like its a white elephant best torn down and closed.
I went before the Richmond City Planning Commission with the Mayor in  
attendance a number of times years ago and told them that rather than  
a sign saying "here formerly stood" something really interesting, they  
might consider keeping the real thing. Roundly ignored by history's  
detractors, as usual. Tourist dollars are the benefit to keeping those  
white elephants, along with the unquantifiable ambience in a place and  
a sense of the past that's intangible.
>
>
> Or else, leave it up to the private sector to develop it as was done  
> with
> the Charleston battery.
>
> If the City of Hampton wants it, let them raise the funds.
Hampton flattened all of its 18th century buildings in a spate of  
"urban renewal" back in the 1970's and they rue the day they did it.
>
>
> Anytime Federal money is poured into a project it is wasted.  I am   
> sure we
> can all agree on that.
Like hell we can. Federal tax dollars put into Section 106 of the  
National Historic Preservation Act have enabled archaeological  
discoveries that help tell what happened here in VA that would  
otherwise be lost. That translates into tourist dollars that benefit  
us all.

Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits are another avenue for Federal  
money that does some good. Instead of demolishing older buildings with  
character, developers get tax credits for rehabbing them. And guess  
what, they can sell them for more than they would have got for a new  
building. Those places anchor developments as clubhouses, recreation  
areas and whatnot. Folks pay extra to live in neighborhoods with a  
connection to the past.

Lyle Browning, RPA
>
>
> By the way, who exactly lives there now?
>
> J South
>
>
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