JONESBORO -- A 110-year-old building that the city plans to demolish because it is falling apart is being considered for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
The city has wanted to tear down the Home Ice Co. on Cate Avenue northeast of downtown since 2013 after its owner died and the building fell into disrepair. Jonesboro's code enforcement unit said the building had "unsafe or unsanitary conditions" and was considered an "open unsafe building."
The owner's family members appealed the city's condemnation order and, after a series of court battles, an appeal will be heard in July in Craighead County Circuit Court.
Meanwhile, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program has considered the building for the National Register. The program's state review board will nominate it for the register during its April 5 meeting.
Inclusion does not necessarily mean the building will be saved from demolition, said Ralph Wilcox, the state program's National Register and survey coordinator.
"It's an honorable designation," he said. "If it happens to be demolished, we will send information and have the building's listing removed."
City officials have deemed the building unsafe and placed a chain-link fence around it. The fence has fallen in some spots, and broken windows in the facility are large enough for people to enter.
"It's a dangerous building for Jonesboro," Mayor Harold Perrin said. "Kids could get hurt in there. The building is not structurally sound. If it endangers public peace, health and safety, we're going to tear it down."
He said the building has been altered because it's changed hands so many times, and it probably could not be restored to its original structure. Perrin said the building may not be eligible for federal restoration funds because of that.
The two-story structure was built in 1907 along the Cotton Belt Railroad tracks as the site for the Jonesboro Wagon Factory where wagon wheels were made. When the wagon factory closed, the Jonesboro Peanut Hulling Company purchased the building and processed peanuts there for a year.
In 1919, the building housed an ice cream manufacturer, and in 1926 it began making blocks of ice.
At its peak, the Home Ice Co. made 100 tons of ice a day. The business closed after owner Sam Rosse died in 2012.
An Arkansas State University history professor has offered to help preserve the building, which is about a mile west of campus. Edward Salo has researched the building's history and sent his findings to the state's preservation program.
"We are trying to get it recognized for its importance in the area," Salo said. "It's an interesting story.
"Some people see an old building and don't really think of what happened there," he said. "But there's so much story in that building."
Salo said he hopes to draw more interest in preservation of historical places around northeast Arkansas.
"I don't think preservation is valued as much now," he said. "I don't think they see the connection and don't recognize the history of places."
On Friday, John Sanders, 68, sat outside his small appliance repair business on the corner of Cate Avenue and South Bridge Street just west of the Home Ice Co. building.
He remembers walking to the factory to buy ice for his store.
"He was always nice," Sanders said of Rosse. "I'd bring back a bag of ice nearly every day for my refrigerator.
"If it's going to be gone, I'm going to miss it," he said of the building's possible future demolition.
State Desk on 03/27/2017