There have been several times in the last several months, when I have driven by the Eggleston Hotel at the corner of Second and Leigh Streets in the heart of Jackson Ward, and I have thought to myself "What a handsome building that is!"  Now it is no more.  In the early morning of Saturday, April 11, 2009, the Eggleston Hotel partially collapsed.  By the end of the day, the remainder of the building was deemed unsafe and demolished.

The Eggleston Hotel was about to be redeveloped by a private development group into apartments and retail space.  Restoration work was to begin THAT DAY.  By Easter, the day of resurrection, this important piece of history in the Jackson Ward experience, a neighborhood that was called the "Harlem of the South" and was one of the most progressive and successful independent African-American centers in the entire country during the unfortunate days of segregation, was forever gone.  Oh, the irony, and the tragedy. 

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the building had been empty for over ten years.  In its heyday, it was one of three Richmond hotels that accepted black guests.  Just a week or two ago, in its piece on John Pierpont Morgan and the bank runs of 1907, Style Weekly referred to the hotel, then known as the Miller Hotel, as the accommodations of Bishop Samuel D. Ferguson, a Kenyan bishop attending the tercentenary celebration of the Episcopal Church being held right here in Richmond, Virginia.

It's tragic that a building so part of Jackson Ward's history, a building that was literally on the eve of restoration, should collapse and be lost for all time.  I commend the private development group that had stepped in to give the building a new life.  Shades of Miller & Rhoads, as well.

But where are the private preservation groups that are supposed to be doing this important work?  Why was this building vacant and deteriorating for ten full years?  Why aren't the City and not-for-profit preservation groups stepping in to identify and stabilize important structures in imminent danger, or at least raising awareness about the potential loss of these critical pieces of the City's architectural "story," until appropriate new owners and new uses can be found for them?

PROPOSAL:  I know Preservation Virginia (f/k/a Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, or APVA) maintains a "Most Endangered Sites" list for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.  Why doesn't Richmond have a "Top Ten Most Endangered" sites list for the City?  The members of the review committee could be made up of appropriate people from the City administration, architectural historians, academics, individuals from the preservation community, real estate professionals, architects.  Maybe if we did something like this, we could raise awareness about these endangered structures, and save other significant buildings from the same fate as the Eggleston Hotel.

Here's the other reason to do it, beyond just the inherent value in historic architecture:  It's good business.  EVERY single report, of the five zillion or so that have been commissioned to help Richmond "re-vision" itself, has identified Richmond's rich architectural history as one of ts unique and valuable assets.  If we won't take responsibility for preserving these unique assets in a systemic and thoughtful way - well, shame on us then.

Eggleston Hotel, R.I.P.  May something wonderful rise from your ashes.