Recycling waste items – newspapers, plastic containers, glass and metal – has made inroads in communities across Kentucky. But the recycling of historic buildings just doesn’t seem to catch on – it is an elusive idea that seems downright alien to many towns and property owners. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, long a champion of historic preservation, said it far better than I can: “We are the only country in the world that trashes its old buildings. Too late we realize how very much we need them.”
Façade of the house in Lebanon, Kentucky. Photograph 2016.
The latest victim of this recycling failure is a late 19th century, two-story Italianate style house in Lebanon, Kentucky. I photographed it in 2016, and recognized it immediately when news of its impending destruction filtered through my social media feed. I haven’t been able to find out anything about it in my usual places – state survey forms and the like – other than it it sits right by a school and is owned by the local Board of Education. Institutions aren’t often known for being good stewards of historic buildings in small town Kentucky. Possibly the Board values the land underneath the house more than the the building?
Side elevation and facade. Photograph 2016.
The three bay wide house has a projecting center bay that contains the entry door, resplendent with a leaded glass transom and sidelights, and sheltered underneath a small portico. Paired, elongated windows pierce the facade and side elevations of the house, which rests on a stone foundation.
Detail of the central entry door. Photograph 2016.
While I know absolutely no details about how this house came to be in this situation (other than murmurs that it has been neglected by the owner), I am well versed in shoddy stewardship and a lack of imagination and will when it comes to retaining historic buildings. It’s an epidemic, with the quick fix and the quick buck usually winning over hard work and creative insight – and gasp! a willingness to compromise.
I wonder how much, if any, our country’s recycling (preservation) ethic would change if we were judged not by what we save, but by what we allow to be carelessly tossed aside?
Could we have a race to see which KY town has destroyed the most old historic buildings rather than reusing them? Would that be embarrassing enough to bring attention to the American culture that wants new over old regardless of quality? This reuse mind-set has saved lots of old mills where I am now, in NH. From housing to university space, to town services to art studios we are saving buildings to keep the NEW England character alive. I bet my hometown of Richmond KY would win the race of destruction. though.
Do you know which Ray built this ? We are in the process of having a DAR Marker placed on Nicholas Rays (American Revolutionany soldier) grave in St. Marys.
I believe it was built for Foster Ray.
Maybe before jumping to conclusions and making negative comments about a local governing body you should – gasp! – reach out for comment. Our board, of which I am the chairperson, is a group of thoughtful and concerned citizens who made the very difficult decision to address a building that had become a safety hazard for the children who live and learn nearby.
The adjacent school is being rebuilt to accommodate additional students while not displacing the current student body by relocating the school to another location where they wouldn’t be able to walk to the school. Many surveys were completed to determine whether moving the school would be a viable option and numerous attempts at finding a buyer to take on the home were unsuccessful. The local school district did its due diligence and then some. The simple fact is no individual found any merit in taking on said preservation effort. If the OP would like to actually make an effort of their own to preserve the home then they could simply reach out to the school district.