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In this presentation we’ll be looking at ways to help make buildings fit in with neighboring buildings as well as the larger community. There are six sections in this presentation and our focus will be mainly on commercial buildings. We’ll be looking at rediscovering existing buildings as well as those that are serving a different purpose than what they were built for. We’ll also take a look at newly constructed individual buildings as well as buildings in groups, and the common characteristics buildings have when they fit. First, let’s look at rediscovering existing buildings.

Buildings can reflect the tastes and interests of the people who own the property, the people who design and build them, as well as the period in history when they were built. Sometimes when ownership changes, the new owner wants to modify a building’s appearance; it can also happen when people’s ideas of what looks good changes. Over time, however, people may decide the way the building looked originally is best.

When we look at this building in downtown Salisbury NC, several things stand out about it. It is built next to the street corner, there are designs and fine detailing in the brickwork, there are large windows that encourage interaction between those walking by and the people eating or working inside—and overall it looks like it “fits in” with the town. It was constructed before the Civil War, in 1858-59, and was the tallest building in the state when it was built.

This is what the very same building looked like in 1986 before it was rehabilitated. Several of the characteristics are exactly the same—it is still located next to the street corner, there is a pattern in the brickwork and the windows are there yet it looks a lot different—it doesn’t really fit. The dull paint scheme—all 13 coats of them—obscures the beauty of the building.

Let’s go back to the first picture—what changed? The paint on the brick was removed, the metal awnings were replaced with cloth, and one of the bricked-up windows on the side was re-opened. In addition, the empty upper floors were renovated; the third floor was converted to an apartment and the second floor now has offices, so the building’s property value has increased. This is an example of historic preservation, where an older building has found new life while keeping its original architectural character.

Let’s look at a few other examples of buildings in downtown Salisbury where the “after” restores the architectural character of the building when it was first built. This is what the Zimmerman building, built in 1899, looked like for several decades starting in the 1950s. An aluminum “slipcover” was placed over the façades of two buildings in an effort to compete with the suburban shopping centers and make the buildings look “modern” but instead…

… it hid all this striking brickwork and the unusual arched windows, concealing everything that made the buildings and streetscape unique and appealing. In the last 20 years as part of the Main Street downtown revitalization effort, city officials and property owners in Salisbury have done an exemplary job of historic preservation—to protect older buildings and at the same time strive to have new construction complement the existing fabric of the community.

On the right-hand side of this picture is the addition that the Salisbury Post newspaper, also located downtown, built in the 1960s. The completely blank walls are totally devoid of any human scale. Characterized by a local resident as a “three-story sugar cube,” it was also noted that “how you tell bad architecture from good architecture is…

…when you turn it upside down and you can’t see any difference.”

Here is what it looks like now—it’s hard to believe it’s the same building. In an unusual renovation, the outer skin of the original building was removed, and then the new façade was installed around it; during the entire renovation process the newspaper continued its operation from the same site. In addition…

…this view from the side shows that two buildings were removed to give more space for the enlarged building. The new windows and articulation--elements that project out or are recessed--create a more compatible design with neighboring buildings.

In 1997 the city of Salisbury purchased this building along with several other industrial properties in a five-block area of downtown for $503,000. This particular building had formerly housed a bakery thrift shop and before that was an automobile dealership. The city sponsored a design charrette that took place over several days, and at the end had a redevelopment plan ready for implementation.

The public investment, including the land purchase, infrastructure improvements and grant money totaled $1.9 million; based on the latest estimate the charrette sparked more than $17.5 million in redevelopment and new construction, or a ratio of $1 of public money to $12.46 in private. This building was sold and is now occupied by several offices. You can see that the three bays that housed the delivery trucks have been filled with large windows…

… and parking has been moved to the side to create an outside patio space oriented to the public. Later on in the presentation we will be seeing other buildings in this area of Salisbury that are under construction.

The Grove Arcade was the dream of E.W. Grove, a self-made millionaire who moved to Asheville in 1910. Mr. Grove conceived of the Arcade as “the most elegant building in America.” When it opened in 1929, it took up an entire city block and replaced the public market that had been located near City Hall several blocks away. For the next 13 years, the Arcade was highly successful and became home to a collection of local owner-operated shops as well as offices.

In 1942, the Federal Government took over the space and evicted all retail and office tenants. The doorways that fronted on the streets were bricked up to maximize office space, so a vast expanse of blank wall was the view from the street.

After the war, the Arcade continued under federal ownership and became home to the National Climatic Data Center. In the early 1990s a group of community leaders and concerned citizens formed the non-profit Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation with the intent of converting the space back to its original purpose.

In the 1980s the Federal Government announced their intention relocate the Data Center to Denver. The City of Asheville lobbied the Federal Government to instead retain the jobs in Asheville and build a new facility downtown to house their offices.

In 1992 the government committed to this proposal, and a group of community leaders and concerned citizens in Asheville formed the Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation. The new federal building was completed in 1996 and the following year the City of Asheville acquired title to the Arcade at no cost under the National Monument Act.

The City signed a 198-year lease with the Foundation for $1.00 per year.

The Arcade Foundation has made every effort to restore the architectural features both inside and out that made the building unique and special when it was first built.

The Arcade features locally-owned and operated shops and restaurants on the street level…

…and offices and apartments on the top two floors.

Now we will turn our attention to buildings in several communities that are serving a different purpose from what they were built for.