Page Title
News Archives
Razing Questions
The demolition of the Eighth and Ninth street buildings might make way for a new parking deck and state offices
Mike Ward
Friday February 4, 2005
Richmond preservation groups and the state are caught up in a demolition derby over the fate of two aging downtown buildings.
The Ninth Street Office Building (formerly known as The Richmond Hotel) and the Eighth Street Office Building (formerly known as The Murphy Hotel) border Broad Street and flank the Capitol, ideally suiting them for inclusion in the massive Capitol Square improvement plan. Both buildings are currently home to multiple state agencies.
The General Assembly has already passed a bill allocating $2.5 million for a capitol improvement project for the Ninth Street building. A $16 million bill was introduced last December to demolish the Eighth Street building and then construct a parking deck and office building in both buildings' place. The Ninth Street building began construction in 1904 while the Eighth Street building began in 1911.
But preservationist groups, including the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (A.C.O.R.N.) and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, aren't just frustrated with the proposed demolitions but with the process by which the decisions were made. About 60 activists held a peaceful protest Thursday afternoon on the sidewalk next to the two buildings to publicly air their frustration.
"The process is broken," said Jennie Dotts, executive director of A.C.O.R.N.
Dotts argues that there has been no opportunity for public input throughout the process. She also accuses the Virginia Department of General Services, or DGS, of being close-minded to citizen concerns. The DGS is the governmental branch responsible for state construction projects and real estate management.
"I guess the basic issue here is that the Department of General Services doesn't really answer to anyone," Dotts said. "We decided we would forgo going through the state altogether because they've been very hostile."
DGS spokeswoman Susan Pollard said that the DGS simply carries out directives that are passed by the state legislature. She also said that according to the current development plan, even if the bill that would demolish the Eighth Street building passes, it's not certain that an office building and parking deck would take over the property. In fact, one of the plan's options entails demolishing the Eighth Street building but keeping and renovating the Ninth Street building.
At Thursday's protest, preservationists signed a petition, chanted and waved signs. While some signs were straightforward – "Murphy Hotel – do not destroy" – others were tongue-in-cheek, such as "Richmond: Easy to Lose." Some protestors even taped signs to passing GRTC buses.
"Tearing down these buildings doesn't make any sense," said protestor David Conmy, an urban and environmental planning student at the University of Virginia. Conmy spent this past summer working in the Ninth Street building in an internship.
"It's a beautiful building," he said. Conmy says his biggest beef is that the state rejected multiple offers from private developers looking to buy and renovate the buildings.
Dotts echoed these concerns: "More than a dozen qualified developers were interested in these buildings and taking advantage of historic tax breaks."
But Pollard denies these charges. "There seems to be some misinformation about the rejection of offers," she said. Since the state still owns the buildings and has need for the space in the Capitol, the offices haven't been deemed as surplus. And unless a property is determined to be surplus, private developers can't place bids on them. "More importantly, we need the space," Pollard added.
And how big is this need?
The state annually spends $25 to $35 million to lease more than two million square feet of office space in Richmond, Pollard said. Plus, more than 25 percent of state workers aren't provided with downtown parking.
"It's very crucial that the state has that space because we need office space," Pollard said. "We all know that it's better to own than to rent."
The one fact that can't be disputed is that both the Eighth and Ninth street buildings have seen better days.
For the Eighth Street building alone, a pedestrian walkway had to be constructed to keep damaged masonry from hitting anyone. And currently, beams and posts are being propped up in the building's basement to keep the sidewalk from falling in.
Dotts and other preservationists blame the state for letting the buildings fall into this condition and only want the opportunity to renovate what they describe as landmark buildings.
And while it might not make a difference, Dotts has a couple of powerful allies on her side. Del. Viola Baskerville (D, Richmond) recently wrote a letter to Gov. Mark Warner asking him to look for alternatives to demolishing the buildings.
"A moratorium through your office will allow for a meaningful urban dialogue between the Commonwealth and the City of Richmond," Baskerville stated in the letter.
Richmond City Council adopted two resolutions in November that urged caution when development entails demolition of buildings, specifically citing state-owned buildings in Richmond.
And Dotts has yet another recourse. She recently nominated the Eighth and Ninth Street buildings to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of "11 Most Endangered Places in America." "That will bring national attention to what is at stake here," Dotts said.
The list has included more than 150 buildings and places since its existence, and of those, only one has been destroyed, said Jeannie McPherson, spokeswoman for the National Trust. "Many if not all of them have benefited from this listing and the national exposure these buildings receive," she said.
Regardless of the outcome of the development, Pollard is concerned that the state has an undeserved stigma.
"It seems that the state is getting accused of basically not preserving history and that couldn't be further from the truth," she said.
Pollard points to the four historic buildings that the state has committed to renovating in the Capitol district, including the Washington Building and Old State Library.
If things go to plan, the Eighth Street building will be vacated in early summer and demolished after it is prepped.
"We are taking efforts to preserve buildings where we can," Pollard said. "But we have to weigh the economic issues."