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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey April 10, 2004: The efforts of the White Plains Historical Society and the owners of the Bar Building resulting in the Bar Building on Main Street being recognized for listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places, and the current effort to have it recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, do not in the ultimate protect the Bar Building from its own owner.
THE BAR BUILDING NOW “HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT” BUT STILL NOT PROTECTED : The owners, whether they continue to be the Longhitano brothers, or ultimately, Louis Cappelli, (should the Super Developer eventually acquire the building), retain the right to raze the building, if they wish to do so. Photo by WPCNR News.
Media Spokesperson for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Catherine Jimenez, told WPCNR Wednesday that when Commissioner Bernadette Castro signs the request for the Bar Building to be recommended to placed on the National Register that will be all that’s needed for the owners of the Bar Building to apply for the National Register, which is administered by historians and is part of the National Parks Service.
Maintenance Not Required.
WPCNR asked Ms. Jimenez if the owners are required to maintain their State Historically Recognized properties, she said they were not, though grants were available from the state for such maintenance should owners request them. WPCNR asked if the owners lost the right to raze such structures, and build something else, and Ms. Jimenez said no, that owners of historically recognized places retained the right to destroy the building.
On the National Parks Service web site, the section “Key Points about the National Register Process for Property Owners,” conveys the impression that recognition as an historical place is prestigious, but that is about all it does for a building, other than creating a public relations black eye if a developer or city attempts to tear it down:
“Listing in the National Register honors the property by recognizing its importance to its community, State or the Nation.”
There is no requirement to maintain the property, either:
“Owners have no obligation to open their properties to the public, to restore them, or even to maintain them, if they choose not to do so.”
The popular idea that if a property is designated historical that it is protected, and it is required to be maintained is simply not true.
There is also this significant statement on the National Parks Service website:
“Under Federal law, private property owners (of historically registered buildings) can do anything they wish with their National Register-listed property, provided that no Federal license, permit or funding is involved.”
There are some protections, Ms. Jimenez, said if Federal moneys are involved in the building. However, that is it.
Paul Lusignan, an historian with the National Park Service, in Washington, D.C., confirmed this to WPCNR saying that any owner of a historic property could tear down an historically registered place.
No Second Opinion on Historical Credentials and Significance
WPCNR asked Lusignan, in view of the fact that Commissioner Castro, will be signing The Bar Building into perpetual historical significance shortly (within two weeks, according to Ms. Jimenez) as being on the list of State Historically Recognized Places, if she has not already done so, does the National Register take another look at the building, or send representatives to inspect the building for its historical and architectural value.
Lusignan said the National Parks Service, as rule, did not do that.
He said they relied on the application for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places to the National Park Service, usually prepared, he said, by the owner of the property. Jack Harrington, of the White Plains Historical Society, is helping The Longhitanos, owners of The Bar Building submit their application, which Harrington lead WPCNR to believe was being submitted.
Lusignan said usually there are photographs submitted with the application to be included on the National Register, and that the Parks Service does not make an onsite visual inspection (in this case to evaluate the architectural value of the Bar Building).
45 Days to Eternital Significance?
He said the Parks Service usually relies on the State Historical Preservation agencies to recommend, and will usually rule on an application within 45 days. He said most State Historical Preservation Agency recommendations are automatically accepted for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
The knowledge that, though now being officially recognized as historical, the Bar Building still could be torn down by its owner by right, or restored, makes
Super Developer, Louis Cappelli’s plea for upgrading of the Bar building façade to the Common Council last Wednesday evening significant.
The Cappelli Option.
Should Mr. Cappelli seek to acquire the Bar Building anew, he could conceivably buy it from the Longhitanos, and upgrade the historical façade and the interior completely, creating a prestigious office building more aesthetically compatible with his “Triple Towers” project.
Or, he could purchase the Bar Building within the next 40 days, and take it down during his upcoming demolition of the remaining Main Street block up to Grace Church, planned to begin in May. He could do that, as owner of the Bar Building, by right, should he acquire the building, irregardless of its historical status, according to what Ms. Jimenez and Mr. Lusignan, and National Parks Service policy.
Grants Not a Large Sum of Money
Mr. Lusignan, the historian WPCNR spoke to at the National Parks Service, was asked if the Parks Service had grants available for restoration of historic buildings. He said the states handle the distribution of the grants, but said the grant money was not a large sum, and that it was an insignificant amount, and the Parks Service left it up to the states to parcel the meager money out.
The Longhitanos may be eligible for federal investment tax credits for rehabilitation of the building should they wish to do so.
