Preserving the Places that have Meaning

Historic Preservation is an idea that has been given a bad rap in Elizabethton. Many people, rightly, associate Historic Preservation with the Historic Zoning Commission here in Elizabethton. Many assume that this Commission will freeze everything in place, stripping the property owners of the right to do as they wish with their property.

Yes, the Commission does regulate some aspects of the exterior of buildings, but this generally is just ensuring that the materials and style of the building remain true to when it was originally constructed and still allow a property owner to make changes as needed. While the interior of all buildings can be completely modernized, one goal is to keep historic structures and neighborhoods in our community, well, looking historic!

Another reality our Commission faces is that an occupied historic building is better than an unoccupied historic building. An occupied building is maintained much better that one that is unoccupied, so limiting the regulation on these buildings to some aspects of the exterior allows the business to modify the interior of the building to however they see fit in order to ensure the success of their business. Franklin, Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina have done an excellent job of doing this!

The ultimate goal of the Historic Zoning Commission and other preservationists is to preserve the unique and historic places in Elizabethton. In other-words, to preserve the places that have meaning to our community. I often hear from people who tell me the Lynnwood Hotel was so beautiful and such a treasure to this community. I wish I would have been able to experience it as well and I’m sure many of you wish you children and grandchildren could experience it. This is an example of Historic Preservation at its core.

If other buildings that had meaning in our community fell in the name of progress, I would argue, years later, many would feel homesick for those buildings and scenes just like I see for the Lynnwood Hotel. Had the Historic Zoning Commission been around at the time, the Lynnwood Hotel might still be with us, rehabilitated back to its former beauty for another use.

I can understand frustrations with an extra layer of approvals, but take a moment to reflect on the alternative.

What are the places in Elizabethton that have meaning to you? Share with us your pictures of a place and a short sentence about why that particular place has meaning to you. Use this as an opportunity to begin the conversation about preserving places that have meaning in our community. Let’s talk about it!