History

This page will be devoted to information or links about the history of the depot district. If you have some history to share, see material in error or is inaccurate or incomplete, please contact the blog master.

One factor in redevelopment is the need to remove or re-purpose buildings. Many of the buildings in the Depot District come under a state review and cannot be demolished or altered without review and approval. The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, NCSHPO, click here is the agency that the City of Lexington has been working with in review of proposed redevelopment plans for the Depot District.

Some demolition has already occur as documented on the City's web site, read about it here and here.

The basic rule is that any building over 50 years old has to be reviewed. The NCSHPO has completed an assessment as part of the Multimodal Transportation Center engineering and architectural work completed by the City in 2014.

From the City Website: "The Environmental Analysis, which is required for the project, includes a review of any impacts to historic structures. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) indicates that this area is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and as a result, any adverse effects to historic resources must receive a separate federal approval.

The City has been actively negotiating with the SHPO over the last year in order to be able to move forward. At this point, plans have been revised so that the only two adverse effects will occur: 1) change/improve the streetscapes, and 2) to close-in part of the tunnel as a new tunnel will need to be constructed adjacent to it. In exchange for being allowed to adversely impact these resources, the City has proposed mitigation strategies such as displaying a historic exhibit in the portion of the tunnel to remain open."

The City expects to reach an agreement with SHPO by January 2016 so that the Federal Railroad Administration can complete their approval. (click here to read entire page on the City web site)

Smokestack Demolition. No one knows if the smokestack in our Lexington Depot District will eventually experience the fate of the one in Wisconsin. We do know that it stands on property that belongs to the North Carolina Railroad Company. If it comes down by an act of man, it might come down like the following clip on YouTube.



...