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Preserving our history

By
Home Inspector with Royal Home Inspection

I have noticed lately that many historical buildings are either not being maintained and in worst cases torn down completely.  A main concern I have in my area is the neglect of the buildings in historic downtown Woodstock, Il.  Everybody else may remember it as the setting of the movie Groundhog Day.   Anyway as I was driving through the Woodstock square the other day I began to notice problems.  The brick was detoriorating so badly in some areas that chunks had fallen out.  The mortar was no longer holding it together.  This is old masonry on these buildings and needs to be regularly maintained.  Routine tuckpointing would be advisable. 

Now these are the things that I noticed just as I was driving by, I don't know what could be happening on the inside of the buildings.  I am big on local history and would like to see these points of interest properly taken care of.  Now I don't know who takes care of these buildings and what kind of money they have for maintenance, but I would like to do my part.  Therefore I would offer my expertise for any owners of these buildings in dowtown Woodstock.  If anybody knows who to talk to about this or knows anybody in the historical society I would like the oppurtunity to speak with them.

Eric Reid
Renaissance Realty Group of Keller Williams Atlanta Partners - Lawrenceville, GA

It seems with budget cuts buildings once maintained /owned by city and county authorities are being cut from the budget... I agree once lost these buildings will never be replaced

Jun 27, 2008 01:23 PM
Jimmy McCall
JimmyMcCall.com - Cunningham, TN
The Ex-Mortgage Consultant

Luke, Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  I love old buildings and I too think it is important to save these buildings.

Jun 27, 2008 01:35 PM
Scott Gilligan
Accuracy Assured Home Inspections, LLC - Philadelphia, PA

Historic buildings are often governed by multiple historic societies. You can go to The National Trust fior Historic Preservation and find loads of information on how to establish a local historic society, feasibility assessments, sustainability assessments, and loads of other information.

Jul 06, 2008 09:26 AM
J. Marcus McMahon
Alert! Home Inspections - Griffin, GA

I also feel that it is important to save history, sad but many don't, we had an old covered bridge close to where I live and I would go by often just to gather my thoughts and admire the old construction techniques. One day I went by and found that it was destroyed by vandals, burned down. Makes you wonder what goes through some peoples head.

Jul 08, 2008 02:18 AM
Greg Zaccagni
The Federal Savings Bank - Wheaton, IL
Illinois Mortgage Lender

While I too love architecturally significant buldings, we are entering an era where lifestyles have changed so much that many building designs have become functionally obsolete. Take for example going to a modern shopping mall. Have you noticed that elevators are becoming wider?  All those strollers and rascals for the aging baby boomers need space.  What do we do with public spaces that have no elevators?  How will our aging population reach the higher floors? 

Modern warehouse buildings have much higher ceilings to take advantage of fork lift technologies that permit much higher lift heights.  I have seen warehouse buildings in towns like Addison IL that nobody wants to buy any longer.  What would happen if they were given landmark status due to some unique facade?

Aug 06, 2008 03:06 AM