Concerns raised with work in Mount Hope Historic District

Jul. 7—MOUNT HOPE — Current construction work being overseen by the local housing authority has drawn the ire of a historic preservationist and some local residents.

A retaining wall made of ashlar stone at Stadium Terrace in the Mount Hope Historic District in the shadow of Mount Hope Municipal Stadium, the same stone that apears at other retaining walls around the city, is being replaced by a precast, manufactured concerete product made to look like stone.

The retaining walls for the 1939 Stadium Terrace housing project were made of ashlar stone, according to the successful 2007 nomination for the Mount Hope Historic District into the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places.

The historic district lies within the National Park Service's designated Coal Heritage Area, the NRHP nomination noted.

In February 2023, the Mount Hope Housing Authority advertised for retainer wall replacement using engineered SRW gravity block. Some or all of the construction project is in the historic district.

"The (Mount Hope Housing Authority) director, Stormy Parsons, stated that the wall was going to be repaired, at the last city council meeting, and she was asked if the stone was going to be preserved or what was going to happen to the stone and she didn't respond," resident Thomas Brown said Thursday.

"And then, the following week, when they started doing the replacement with this generic cement wall, I raised concerns with the historic preservation and I said all of Mount Hope is surrounded and filled with this historic stone from the 1930s from the WPA and the New Deal."

Brown said he was "just concerned that we're losing our history here and it's being replaced by a wall that won't last five or 10 years, and so I just wanted to reach out to (preservation consultant David Sibray) and complain."

Parsons, the MHHA executive director, said via email Thursday replacing the walls boiled down to a safety issue.

"The (project) bid is to replace the retaining walls at Stadium Terrace," she said. "While performing this work, the parking lots will be expanded to allow for more parking. Because of the expansion, the sidewalks and stairs needed to be reconfigured. Once completed, the parking lots will be paved.

"The retaining walls were starting to buckle," Parsons explained. "It was noted as a serious defect during a HUD inspection due to areas collapsing. It was becoming a serious safety hazard."

Capital Fund money in the amount of $998,000 is being used for the project, according to Parsons, who said Carpenter Reclamation was the winning bidder.

A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesperson said in an email Friday the housing authority is moving ahead with the construction work with HUD's blessing.

"HUD is aware of the Mt. Hope Housing Authority's planned demolition and replacement of the retaining/support walls that hold the hill back from the parking lot at Stadium Terrace using public housing program funds," the email read. "The condition of the retaining walls was cited as a physical deficiency by HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) during an inspection of the property this year; REAC required the Authority to resolve this issue.

"The City of Mount Hope's attorney conducted an analysis and provided an opinion to the PHA, which noted that the retaining wall is within the historic district; however, it is not identified as a historic object in the 1999 historic research survey or as a historic structure in the historic preservation section of the 2013 comprehensive plan. Only designated historic properties are protected by a preservation ordinance.

"Section 106 of NHPA applies when a federal project has the potential to impact a historic property. The City notes the wall is not designated as a historic property; thus, Section 106 would not apply."

Sibray, a Preservation Alliance of West Virginia board member representing southern West Virginia, said Thursday he and others see several issues with the construction. He said in an earlier email that, according to the National Historic Preservation Act, state and federal agencies "must assess the effects that their actions may have on designated historic properties and consider public concerns when making project decisions."

Sibray said he has had communication with five individuals, including Brown, who expressed concerns about the project.

"It had been brought to my attention in an email correspondence that the housing authority was looking into repairing the wall and that I was recommended as a preservation consultant who could help secure the grants or tax credits required to do the reparations," Sibray said while onsite Thursday. "That correspondence had never gone anywhere; nobody had ever consulted me after that."

"We have three concerns," he continued. "One is that this wall was under federal protection and something went wrong there.

"Two, this wall was under protection by the Mount Hope Historic Landmarks Commission, which has established architectural review, so anything that has happened should have gone through that commission which oversees the architectural development of the Historic District.

"Three ... and I can tell you as a Realtor, there is an economic harm in taking down a fine hand-cut stone wall and replacing it with this concrete manufactured stone."

"There is no excuse in a National Historic District to tear anything down," Sibray stressed. "There never is.

"That's why grants and tax credits are provided to help cities operate and fix these things. This is sacrilege as far as the federal government is concerned, the Department of the Interior. Once something goes on the National Register, the federal government says it should stand forever and they are willing to give whatever funds are needed to make that happen."

Rather than an investigator of the scenario, Sibray said he's simply an advocate.

"The State Historic Preservation Office, which is required to review anything like this in which public, state or federal funds are used, they have to review this."

Brown said that "all the way from Pax Avenue to North Maryland Avenue is in the Historic District."

"The old stone wall needed repairs," he continued. "It didn't need replaced, so at this point, we're concerned with what happened to the stones, and the stones should be returned to the City of Mount Hope.

"I'd like to see them put back where they were, but I don't know at this point what they can do, but I do want to stop it from further destruction, which is what's going on, and there's another section down this road and their plans are to tear it out, too.

"We have no idea where the stones are."

Brown said the local Baptist Temple had a similar situation and "they restored their wall, so it can be restored. They used the same stone, they restored it back the way it was and it's beautiful now."

"There are certainly funds to create parking lots in a situation like this and there are many ways to manage this without damaging the historical integrity," Sibray said. "You could put them back the way they were. Everything can be put back together."

Sibray said the state Landmarks Commission voted in 2021 to create architectural review in such projects, and he said the local landmark commission should have been involved with the project.

In her email, Parsons didn't address whether the housing authority had to undergo any special notification/approval steps before commencing the project. She did say that "nobody from the public has lodged a complaint with me."

Further, she said, "An annual community hearing is conducted to discuss items on the 5-year plan. In addition, monthly stated board meetings are held. All are open to the public."

The Mount Hope Housing Authority, which serves 135 families, "is committed to maintaining safe, clean and attractive housing for the Mount Hope community," Parsons said.

Representatives of the Mount Hope Historical Landmark Commission and the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office could not be reached.

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