MOUNT VERNON — Vicki Fitzgerald is passionate about preserving the city’s history. Mount Vernon officials say they are, too. But they differ about how that looks.
Fitzgerald has addressed council multiple times over the years about preserving historic buildings, most recently relating to the buildings at 16-20 N. Main St. slated for demolition.
At the Sept. 28 council meeting, and again on Monday, Fitzgerald asked the city about its vision for the city over the next 10 years.
“Does our city want to preserve what’s left of our historical downtown area? If so, what are the plans for preserving those buildings?” she asked.
“Do you have guidelines or rules in place, and if not, why not, to ensure that those we still have standing will not decay or denigrate in the way that the two buildings on North Main Street were allowed to until the city determined that they needed to be torn down?”
She also questioned what guidelines determine what replaces demolished buildings.
“We cannot continue to allow the spaces where buildings once stood to be made into parking lots or dog fountains,” she said. “If you want new buildings built in the downtown, how will those look? Do you have guidelines so that there is some consistency, or could it just be whatever any builder wants to build regardless of whether it fits the look of our downtown area?”
Preserving recent history as well as old
Fitzgerald wants the city to preserve recent history and centuries-old history. Noting the demolition of the concession stands at Memorial Park, she asked what happened to the plaques commemorating the Babe Ruth and Little League teams that went to their respective World Series?
She said she appreciates what Karen Buchwald Wright did for the community, but Mount Vernon should not depend solely on a single benefactor for how the city grows.
“Since our elected officials have long depended on a benefactor approach to city development, I’m worried about what will come next for future financing of development in Mount Vernon,” she said.
Fitzgerald asked about bringing in better-paying jobs and creating additional spaces for more small downtown businesses and unique establishments.
“As a constituent, I don’t want any more Dollar Stores, pizza parlors, oil change shops or coffee hubs. The only way we get better is for those of you in charge to create an environment for bringing in better,” she said.
‘A good conversation’
Councilman Taylor Jacklin said he was glad Fitzgerald’s comments struck a nerve.
“It’s a good conversation. We deeply care about this,” he said.
“When you ask what the vision for Mount Vernon is, I’ll tell you what mine isn’t. It isn’t what this town looked like when I was 10 and 13, when shops were closing down, when factories were closing, when my friends were moving away because they had to because we had become so dependent on two or three factories that all closed down in a handful of years.”
He encouraged Fitzgerald to talk with the Area Development Foundation, which he said is “working day and night” to bring economic opportunities that pay living wages.
Jacklin defended the dog fountain as a place to congregate outside and said the rerouting of State Route 13 will make downtown more accessible and intentional.
“I do think there are things in play to preserve the character of Mount Vernon while adapting it,” he said. “Would I like to save these buildings? Yes, but each decade, it seems like we get the option to make that choice.
“My understanding was people really balked at the idea of having building codes. Could building codes have saved those buildings? Maybe, but that was not popular when it came up, and now we deal with the ramifications of that.”
Councilmen Mel Severns and James Mahan agreed.
Mahan seconded the ADF’s work and noted the city’s hiring of Retail Strategies to market the city to retailers and restaurants.
“We’re trying to bring in things that are interesting, things that people want in Mount Vernon,” he said. “You also have to understand that the city can provide the setting, but businesses are free market.”
History deserves respect
Mayor Matt Starr said history deserves respect.
“I also think honoring the past doesn’t necessarily mean we have to continue preserving each and every building, particularly when they have reached an end of life and are not available for any kind of modern use,” he said.
He noted historic preservation requires prioritization and a balancing act when taxpayer dollars are involved.
Regarding the planned parking lot on the North Main site, Starr said it is “buying us time” while the city works on the police station, courthouse and wastewater projects.
“We’ve got probably a fire station that’s going to be going in, so we’re taking on a lot of debt right now,” he said. “We have to be careful and judicious, even though revenues are up.”
Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers said he takes umbrage at the suggestion he does not care about history, noting he was a history teacher and helped establish the historical marker honoring Dr. Ella May Simmons.
“To say I don’t care about history in Mount Vernon is just flat-out false,” he said. “But there are also things that people have to accept as reality.
“If a building has spongy wood and is falling apart and a cleanup crew has to be hospitalized after they deal with leftover drug paraphernalia in it, maybe it is not a number one priority of private or public developers,” he said.
He said the city responded to citizens’ request to preserve the Taugher block by putting it into an urban renewal area.
“People have said, no, don’t touch the downtown. Not touching the downtown is what put the buildings north of Public Square in the situation they’re in,” Salyers said.
“It’s very easy to expect the city … to come in and bail these things out. But when it comes time for people to put their money on the line … suddenly the line is relatively short.”
