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June/July 2011 — Surviving and Reviving: How to Repeal the Mid-Life Crisis of a Structure
Written by Melinda Winchester, Historic Preservation Specialist
Photos by Aynex Mercado

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Our historic structures suffer from mid-life crisis syndrome, a period in the "middle years" of their life resulting in a sense of the passing of "youth" and the imminence of old age. Witold Rybczynski, states in his book, Makeshift Metropolis that the biggest test for most buildings is usually between their 30th and 50th birthdays, a time when "architectural tastes have changed and the original design no longer seems fresh." Our buildings and neighborhoods were constructed for a specific function, but due to the evolution of economics, market demands, stylistic trends and technology their original functionality became outmoded. For example, many of the obstacles in rehabbing a historic commercial structure include the need for central heating and air, indoor plumbing, local code requirements, or places to park cars rather than house horses.

Think about the growth and development of your own community over the last one hundred years. As architectural tastes veered away from the Classical designs of the late 18th and early 19th century into the progressive movements and modernism, the buildings of each of these periods became obsolete and undesirable to the new generation. Even now the buildings of the 1940s and 1950s are historic in their own era and part of the development of the community but are often unappreciated. Many of our turn-of-the-century neighborhoods and downtown main streets are filled with empty shells that sadly, to say in many cases are becoming victims of demolition by sheer neglect.



Fortunately, a renewed interest in historic resources began in the late 1970s throughout America. Paducah is a prime example of committed community members interested in more than just "simply history". There is an obvious reinvestment taking place in Paducah's downtown and neighborhoods. This is a community striving to preserve and revive its historical resources to ensure a vibrant, successful future by treasuring its heritage.

As a historic preservationist, I believe that there is a general public misconception of the definition of "historic preservation" in a development sense. A clarification of a few basic terms is needed:
  1. Preservation - refers to applying measures to sustain and protect the existing form and materials where necessary
  2. Restoration - the strictest of definitions refers to accurately recovering the form and details of the property as it appeared in a particular period of time.
  3. Rehabilitation - the approach of adaptive reuse of a property allows for a sympathetic rehabilitation to be undergone on the property but allows the owner to have a newly functioning updated structure. This is the definition generally used when applying for historic tax credit incentives to develop a historic
    property.
  4. Reconstruction - is replicating the design or structure with new materials.


Financial incentives to aid in the development of historic structures are available. The historic tax credit program allows for up to 20% up your money back on qualified costs from the state and/or the federal government after the project is complete. There are required construction guidelines that need to be followed BUT every project is unique and the requirements will be different for each building. The key thing to keep in mind is that if you apply for historic tax credits you are doing a rehabilitation of a historic structure not a restoration! You will be pleasantly surprised what you are able to do with your building and if are doing the project anyway, you may as well go for the additional money!"

Examples of acceptable treatments:
  1. if the interior plaster has been removed or is severely damaged you are allowed to put up drywall and not re-plaster the walls and ceilings
  2. Modern kitchens and bathrooms
  3. New compatible flooring in many areas
  4. If your windows have already been replaced with new windows prior to your purchase of the property, and you are not replacing the windows, you are not required to put a more historically correct window in the structure
The buildings that manage to survive their mid-life crisis are given a new life and function and have successfully adapted to the changing demands of society. Take the time to educate yourselves on the programs available to help you successfully revive one of our valuable resources.

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