With one at-risk property serving as a backdrop, the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas announced Thursday eight sites in eight counties that are being added to the list of endangered places in the state, plus one other site "worth watching."
The group's Most Endangered Historic Places list aims to bring attention to the need for preserving historic properties in Arkansas and the risks of losing the selected structures. The list is updated each year to generate efforts and support for the structures' preservation.
Two sites in Pulaski County are the 1940 Lee Theater, 3819 W. 13th St., and the 1913 Brittnum Rooming House, 1325 W. 12th St., both in Little Rock. The rooming house is already headed for demolition. Also, the "one worth watching," but not officially added to the endangered list, is the 1928 Worthen Bank Building, now the KATV Building, 401 Main St., in Little Rock.
Other properties are the Downtown Pine Bluff Commercial Historic District, Jefferson County, specifically the 1912 Hotel Pines and the 1902 Masonic Temple; the 1912 First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Howard County; the 1874 Old Springfield Road/Cadron Creek Bridge on the Faulkner-Conway county line; the 1904 Bondi Brothers Building in Clarendon, Monroe County; the circa 1940 State National Bank of Foreman, Little River County; and the circa 1849 James Horn Williams House (Howard-Williams House) in Luxora, Mississippi County.
"The main purpose is to bring awareness to these properties and statewide attention," Vanessa McKuin, the Alliance's executive director, said of the annual list.
McKuin spoke at the Thursday announcement, which was held in the back parking lot of the Willie L. Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 3805 W. 12th St., overlooking a deteriorated, white stucco outside wall of the former one-screen Lee Theater, which is also included on the 2015 list.
McKuin cited the resource center -- built in 1906 as Lee School -- as an example of how preservation efforts can turn around a neglected structure and make it a vital part of a community again.
From a once "worn shell of an old building," McKuin said, "this school building was transformed into a place that is used by neighbors and community groups from across the city."
Jamie Brandon, president of the alliance's board of directors, said that the annual listing has helped rehabilitate many historic properties, such as the former Roundtop Filling Station in Sherwood that has been restored and is set to become a Sherwood police substation.
"A lot of attention was called to that property," after being added to the 2013 list, Brandon said. "This [list] does call attention to buildings that are in imminent danger of being lost and that their local communities don't want to lose."
Lee Theater, part of Little Rock's historic 12th Street District, originally held about 700 patrons on its first floor and 200 more in a segregated balcony, with a movie ticket box office designed so that white and black patrons wouldn't come into contact with each other, according to a summary of the endangered properties.
The Brittnum Rooming House, a two-story framed house, also was a vital asset in Little Rock's black community. When converted for use as a boarding house during the 1940-1960s, it catered to black, blue-collar workers and is reputed to have housed several black baseball players during their playing days with the minor league Arkansas Travelers. The Little Rock Board of Directors voted earlier this month to demolish the structure.
The former Worthen Bank Building has been the home of KATV Channel 7 since 1969. The property is included in a future expansion phase of the planned Little Rock Technology Park development, including an alternate plan that calls for the building's demolition. No action is anticipated until 2019, giving state preservationists time to develop options for preservation.
Metro on 05/15/2015