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As some of you might have seen in the N&O, Greyhound is planning to imminently demolish the historic Carolina Bus Barn along the 1200 block of S. Person/S. Blount in downtown Raleigh - perhaps even this week.
For those of you who appreciate our architectural heritage, and can see treasure and opportunity instead of blight and dereliction, I highly encourage you to take a brief moment to sign a petition to encourage Greyhound to stay the complex's demolition. By returning to the negotiating table and working with a private investor who intends to purchase the site for a historic rehabilitation of the existing structures (and redevelopment of the remaining vacant parcel), we can retain a really wonderful asset. It's a critical parcel anchoring a gateway in and out of the city - and we have so few of these types of sites remaining.
I wonder why they pulled out of the negotiations? They have had demo permits since early January so they could have started then.
From the pictures I've seen, I will say that is it really worth saving? I suppose I have nothing against it in principal if it can be made to look good and be put to good use, especially if the alternative is a vacant lot for a number of years, but I just don't see any real significant architecture there. It is a pretty bog standard block construction warehouse from the 40s. There are many other examples of the type all over the area.
On Twitter I had seen it compared to American Tobacco and I have to laugh as there is a world of difference in construction, size, etc between the two. While, I think there are times that people do not try hard enough to work historical structures into larger projects and miss opportunities that would benefit them in the process in the name of expediency, there are also people that just don't want anything torn down, regardless of the utility or lack thereof.
That's what a lot of folks said about American Tobacco, Golden Belt, our restored/adaptively reused cotton/manufacturing mills, etc., and look at them now. As they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." - I'd say that's pretty relevant here. Raleigh never did have the industrial building stock of, say, Durham...which is why it's even more important to reuse what we have if at all possible. And considering there is a ready and willing buyer available - my bet is on the possible.
I just took a look at the site on Google maps. My first inclination would be to bulldoze it. There's nothing architecturally significant there, but there might be some utility to it. First thoughts would be a city-market type of situation.
I would be concerned about any sort of site contamination. Back in "those days", they often used to spray used motor oil down to keep the dust down. Have there been any environmental studies done on the site that anyone knows of? Any buried storage tanks? Covered up oil/trash pits?
Regardless of how it might be used, remediation would be necessary for the site to be reused, I would bet.
As a transportation facility my guess is there are several underground storage tanks on that site (and most likely leaking) that need to be addressed. I would want to know what the plan is for addressing them under both scenarios (demolish vs. rehab) before I signed a petition one way or the other.
Most often these older structures were built with now unacceptable building materials such as asbestos which requires costly remediation if the building is re-purposed in addition to costs associated with bringing it up to current building code requirements. Sometimes companies will choose to raze a structure simply for tax purposes.
On Twitter I had seen it compared to American Tobacco and I have to laugh as there is a world of difference in construction, size, etc between the two.
Agreed - it's certainly incomparable to American Tobacco - Raleigh never did have the industry that Durham had. But it's similarly located in a challenged, redeveloping area. It has contributed to the existing blight, and has been left in a state of abject dereliction and abandonment. It's hard for a lot of people to see past that.
I would compare the plans for this site along the lines of the plans for the Stone's Warehouse complex - a similarly sized parcel, also housing vacant and derelict buildings. It is the site of the original Carolina Coach shops, before the Carolina Bus Barn was constructed. It's redevelopment plans call for a wonderful weaving-in and appreciation for old, while making room for the updated, creative, and new - win-win.
When you have someone willing to shoulder the work ahead and wants the old buildings, and the alternative is leaving a huge vacant parcel for untold years to come, what's the harm in trying?
As to the environmental contamination, the buildings are asbestos-free, but there is lead paint (as is the case with most buildings constructed prior to 1976), and decades of oil changes, cleanings, refueling that will need to be remediated. Don't quote me, but it's my understanding that if the buildings remain, the property could go into a NC brownfields program. Greyhound will be responsible for remediating otherwise.
So, what are the plans that Passage Home has for the buildings? The article mentioned manufacturing and agriculture? Is that truly an upgrade? Will it have the desired effect of enriching the community and eliminating blight? Typically non-profits are not saddled with having lots of cash laying around to get rid of and these buildings will need millions to become something more than what they are.
I agree that fixing them up is better than a vacant lot, but having a nonprofit that was otherwise doing good work in the community having an albatross around their neck, diverting resources from their work and causing them to not have the funds to actually impact the look of the building is a more likely scenario.
This article provides some more recent insights. Basically, the city is powerless to stop it so I'm not sure what a petition can really do in this case.
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