Your Comments"I'm afraid
the last laugh will be on the purchasers of the new condominium property.
Don't they know it's right on a chemical dump? I wouldn't live there
for free. I feel sorry for anyone that gets duped into buying this property." "I was amazed to
learn that our Mayor pro tem was the originating force behind the destruction
of the Ice House. What kind of a town is this?" "I can't
believe it! I have lived here in Wilmington since I was 5, and barely
know anything about the many historical sites in this area. The only
one’s I’ve ever been familiar with are the Bellamy Mansion, the Burgwin-Wright
House, along with some of the other most popular sites. I just recently
went down town for the Azalea festival and happened to walk towards
the area where the Ice House used to be. I didn’t know much about the
Ice House until I got to the location where a sign had been posted with
some historical information about the building. In all actuality, I
was absolutely depressed that I couldn’t view the building. As embarrassing
as it is for me to say this, when I heard the Ice House was going to
be torn down, I didn’t really care because I’d never been inside it
or had seen it or knew anything about it. I have also just recently
heard of the Iron Works only due to the fact that it is also being threatened
by developers. My point is that these buildings are not being made public.
If people don’t know about them, then how are they supposed to really
appreciate them? Honestly, I am truly appalled that this horrible man
is thinking about making Condos over a historical building. I love Wilmington,
and I love its history; but I don’t love that it’s being taken for granted.
I think that if more people knew about these buildings through some
type of media (be it the news or the newspaper) and not when they’re
only made known because they’re about to be torn down, then I think
more people will see how important these are to the community. All I
have to say is thank you very much for putting a bulletin in the Star-news.
It will definitely get a lot of attention." "The HPC should
either be given more legal power or should be abolished. A present it
is like a gun half-cocked, half-loaded, dangerous for everybody on both
sides of it. It promises to be able to save our buildings, but it can't,
it doesn't have enough ammo. Developers can always have a building condemned
and the HPC can't stop them. At the heart of all this controversy is
a poorly constructed preservation system. That makes the HPC treacherous
company, an untrustworthy guardian of our historic treasures. " "Thank you
for fighting to save historic downtown! Please let me know how I can
help. The "quick flip" mentality to turn a buck is all the rage in real
estate these days, but when that short-term thinking drives our elected
representatives and appointed officials' decisions, we the people need
to call them out. For example, why would anyone attend a convention
in a downtown Wilmington devoid of its historic charm? It's pretty clear
the City Council's agenda is motivated by handing out subsidies and
privileges to a few insiders, with little concern for long-term consequences.
" "hi ... read
the interview with the unknown commissioner...since he is no longer
on the HPC, it would make the article and comments more believable if
the person will have the courage to list his/her name. It is difficult
to believe someone is really serious or expect people to believe their
comments when they are afraid to let someone know who they are. There
is really no retaliation out there against someone who makes the comments..so,
why the fear? thanks.." "I think
we should have a little sympathy for our HPC people. Some of them are
sincerely trying to do a good job. Some of them may be only dragged
down by the others. It is, of course, possible that all of them were
sincerely trying to save the building from Lashley. It is not their
fault he is (or was) an ex-HPC person. There will always be bad eggs
and we can't make everybody responsible. It might well be a bad judgement
call on their part to cater to a "blackmailer" as you call him, in that
it will bring other blackmailers downtown who will follow of his ill-advised
precedent. If developers start removing the roofs off our historic buildings
and adding more floors onto them, that would be a disaster! Whether
well-intended or not, the ultimate responsibility will lie with the
HPC for letting that happen." "My husband
was a commissioner for several years and took his job very seriously
indeed. He and I together inspected every project up for approval. He
tried his best to be a fair, decent, un-biased and objective commissioner.
We both wanted only what was best for our adopted city. He died last
year. I am glad he never saw this web site. It would have hurt him very
deeply. Who are you? I'd like your names to be on your site. Let's see
all you advocates show some backbone and publish your names." "About the astounding
Iron Works condominiums . . . It seems impossible that such a thing
could be given a permit but it was. The only conclusion we can draw
is that something has gone deeply wrong with our Historic Preservation
system. The HPC is no longer on the same page as the rest of us in Wilmington,
NC." "The growing feeling
is that the HPC has outlived its usefulness to the community. This website
confirms it." "Weak when confronted
with developer dollars, and overbearing to the law-abiding citizen,
the Historic Preservation Commission proves itself irrelevant and meaningless in dealing with serious issues in downtown Wilmington." "The Historic Preservation
Commission's job is to protect the public's historic markers from people
who destroy them. Clearly, when the ex-commissioners themselves are the
ones doing the destroying, the system has broken down. Perhaps it is
time to destroy the Historic Preservation Commission! We should start
over, try something else. It might be good for Wilmington to get its
head out of the sand and model itself on other cities where these same
enemies have already raised their heads and been dealt with appropriately."
"The allegations
that the Historic Preservation Commission might have some corrupt players
comes as no surprise to me. What is surprising is that it has taken
people so long to realize it." "One shrinks with
horror to learn that a former Historic Preservation Commissioner is doing what Donn Lashley
is now planning! Somehow one expects it of a Toconis or one of the others,
but from a commissioner, this is disgraceful!" "We rely on the
Historic Preservation Commission to protect us from men like Lashley,
but to think that he himself was a commissioner- how could we expect
such a system to work?" "I think you people
are stupid. What we need these old buildings for anyway?! Knock 'em
all down, I say! Let's modernize the city. I for one would like to see
a strip club downtown, and a rodeo bar." "Mr. Lashley
has done a good job restoring the old Roudabush building, but I guess
he thinks it's two for one. Restoring one old building does not give
him license to knock down another. If every one of the good people in
Wilmington thought that way then the entire Historic District would
already be laid to waste." "I think the
attempts to embarrass these people are wrong headed - it will accomplish
little. They are on a different level . . . a level of hypocrisy where
shame doesn't reach them . . . They can always lie to themselves, lie
their way past anything you put across. True hypocrites always can.
They are simply the kind of people who will do anything to get rich.
Whether defacing a historic building or destroying a rain forest, if
there is a hole in the system they will find it." "Who are
you? Your anonimity takes a little gas out of your tank. I support your
feelings, your site is impressive. " Editor's note:Several of the letters we have received complain of the so-called "anonymity" of the PAHD supporters, but this has no basis in fact. PAHD makes no secret of its supporters, and the majority of their names are listed on the comments page under their remarks. These can be contacted directly through this site. Only three supporters requested his/her name be withheld. Two are unknown to us (see comments), and while the other is known (the former HPC member who granted us the interview) we respect every supporter's request for privacy.Critics of the site seem to follow the politician's habit of avoiding the issues at hand. They exhaust a great deal of verbiage regaling us with their own former accomplishments, followed by their personal endorsement of the public figures involved in the controversy, etc.,. None so far have even mentioned the present source of the problem, that yet another of Wilmington's great historic landmarks is being lost to unnecessary development; and that some of our former Historic Preservation Commissioners are at the end of the money trail.The PAHD is about preserving historic downtown. It is not an honorarium citing the past accomplishments of those who, for reasons obviously traceable to money, now wish to destroy it. Simply, it exposes those who destroy historic buildings. It is not interested in the personal lives of the destroyers, what good church goers they may be, how much they give to charity, or how much they have already done for historic preservation, etc.,. Because one person may have preserved one or more historic buildings in his life does not give that person the right to destroy other historic buildings in trade. PAHD is about the intersection of public figures with present day issues of considerable concern to Wilmingtonians. It reveals the abuses of positions of power.Contact
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