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CREATE WEST VIRGINIA
Vintage buildings worth more than memories
AFTER: The Stamping Plant rehabbed as Orrick Global Operations Center, 2001, 2121 Main Street, Wheeling.
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More than 170 years ago, French archaeologist Adolphe Napoleon Didron said, "It is better to preserve than to repair, better to repair than to restore, better to restore than to reconstruct." The aphorism is as current as a classic building. West Virginia communities, take heed.
The eastern panhandle, Monongalia County and the Greater Kanawha Valley face urban sprawl challenges. Economic development is about the future, but to ensure our long-term success, we must start by valuing what we already have. The most responsible actions to revitalize our economy and encourage creativity are to retain, reuse, restore, reconstruct, rehabilitate, renew and recycle. To live in a sustainable manner, we need not start from scratch. We can achieve many sustainability goals by reinvesting in old buildings in old towns.
It's not about nostalgia. It's about effective reinvestment in valuable assets. Conservation-based community development protects traditions and creates affordable housing, generates jobs, supports independent businesses, increases civic participation and bolsters a community's sense of place.
Fresh perspective
Revitalization and community development projects under the banner of renewal often threaten distinctive resources inherent in structurally sound old buildings, many of which are excellent candidates for adaptive re-use. Short-term thinkers often claim they are too costly to renovate.
"The greenest building is one that is already built," is more than a snappy T-shirt slogan; it's a fresh perspective on existing building stock. We have largely ignored the inherent economic and ecological advantages of building reuse, including the primary one: embodied energy, a term that may be unpleasant to the ear, but one with which we need to get comfortable.
It takes the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline to make, deliver and install eight bricks. One ton of coal contains enough energy to make and deliver 1,775 bricks. Preserving old bricks instead of dumping them and making new ones means the energy of a gallon of gasoline or a ton of coal can be used to meet other pressing needs. Reusing old buildings saves energy required to demolish and replace them with new buildings. A properly rehabbed old building requires no more operating energy, on average, than a comparable new building.
Hold that wrecking ball
Older buildings embody sustainability. The list of energy-saving characteristics of existing buildings is long, but the list of sins against these structures, inadvertently eroding their green characteristics, is equally long. The fact is, rehabilitation is the most environmentally responsible action in building community.
Societies need growth and new investment, but it should not come at the expense of heritage and character. Today's teardown trend is an example of how we sometimes throw away our most valuable assets in the name of progress.
Jeffrey Miller, president and CEO of Hunter-Miller Associates, is a design consultant who has worked in historic preservation and community development in many West Virginia communities. He will expand on the topic, "What's A Building Worth?" in a Quality of Place session, 11:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19.
