Sunday, February 18, 2001
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Sunday, February 18, 2001 |
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Historic house demolished without warning By MONROE ROARK
County workers demolished the historic Dorsey House earlier this week, a move that county officials say was necessary but has left some local residents displeased. "I just can't belive they trashed it and didn't at least save the windows and doors," said Denise Fair, a local resident who has pushed for preservation of the house. County Manager Chris Cofty said that the work was done Tuesday morning because the county is ready to solicit bids for construction of the new jail complex. The house was on Long Avenue across from the rear of the existing courthouse and jail complex, on property designated for a portion of the new facility. As far back as 1999, city and county officials discussed moving the house, and the county gave the city an opportunity to do so. An initial deadline was set for April of last year, but that was not met and the city came back to ask for a brief extension. There has been no formal communication between the municipalities concerning the house since then. City Manager Joe Morton said that Fayetteville officials were still looking into several options for relocating the house, and may have even found one, but Tuesday's demolition caught the city by surprise. "Had we known it was going to be torn down that specific day, I guess we could have scrambled and found a temporary place for it," said Morton. Fair said city residents had expressed an interest in buying salvageable materials from the house, which is considered historically significant because a well-known early 20th century architect did some work on it. "I'm just totally shocked," she said. "I just don't know what's the matter with this community." At Thursday night's City Council meeting, Morton briefly mentioned the demolition of the house, but no council members commented on it.
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