Preservationists fight plan to raze historic home

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Depending on whom you talk to, the vacant house at 104 Wallace Ave. is either a historic treasure or a blighted ruin.

To the members of the Lawrence County Historical Society, who gathered on the sidewalk in front of the house Friday morning, the house is a valuable asset to the city, along with the other large old homes scattered throughout the North Hill.

To Mary Parchman, whose husband, Clarence, has a contract to tear the house down, it’s “deplorable,” and it should be demolished.

The house’s owner is the foundation that runs the Scottish Rite Cathedral. To the foundation, the house is an obstacle in the way of a new parking lot. A second house the foundation owned, at the corner of Blaine Street and Wallace, was torn down last year. Another, at the corner of Mercer Street and Lincoln Avenue, was razed last weekend. For 104 Wallace, it’s going to be any day now.

James Kunselman, president of the foundation’s board, said the necessary permits for the demolitions were obtained from the city.

He defended the decision to demolish the houses, saying that the cathedral is an important part of the community, and it needs to have parking available.

The cathedral, built for the Masons as a meeting place, has a concert hall that hosts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, ballets and gospel concerts. It was designated a historic landmark in March.

The 2.9 million-square-foot behemoth that takes up at least two city blocks on nearby Lincoln Avenue also hosts community events, parties and weddings.

“It’s really a jewel in New Castle,” Kunselman said.

As for 104 Wallace? “I was in that house,” he said. “It’s not livable. It sat abandoned for years. It couldn’t be refurbished.”

That’s the last word on it, because the city, despite having the third largest historic district in Pennsylvania, has no say in what happens to the houses there.

The North Hill has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000.

But being on the register does not protect buildings in a historic district, said Andrea Przybylski, who with her sister Audrey is involved with the historical society’s efforts to save the houses on the hill.

“Most people think it does — it doesn’t,” she said. “The only thing that protects them is a local ordinance.”

Those who gathered in front of 104 Wallace Friday are looking forward to the adoption of just such an ordinance in November.

It’s not clear whether that will happen, with a city council member and the city’s mayor giving opposite versions of what has happened to the effort to get the ordinance approved.

Christine Sands, a city council member who has been pushing for its passage, said the ordinance is part of an update of city zoning laws that will be discussed at a public hearing in the municipal building Oct. 27. The updated zoning laws are expected to be passed in November. They should include the overlay, meaning extra restrictions, and a review board for making changes to buildings in the historic district, she said.

Anthony Mastrangelo, New Castle’s mayor, said Friday that the historic district ordinance has been pulled from the package of zoning updates on the advice of the city’s attorney.

He said the lack of a review board is the reason why.

“We don’t have that in place, so that won’t be discussed,” said Mastrangelo. “But that doesn’t mean it will be abandoned,” he said, adding that he supports having a historic ordinance.

Mastrangelo said he doesn’t know when an ordinance for the historic district will be adopted.

It’s almost certainly too late for 104 Wallace.

But the group gathered before it still hopes it can protect other houses from being demolished for a new parking lot. The Cathedral Foundation owns 13 other homes in the area.

On the porch at the Wallace Avenue house, Mary Parchman said she and her husband, who owns Parchman Hauling and Excavating, love the North Hill.

“We got married in this neighborhood,” she said.

But there isn’t money in the community for people to restore the houses, which have fallen to ruin, and rodents and burglars steal their copper pipes, she said.

The best course of action, she asserts, is to tear down the vacant houses.

Lorraine Petrus, a member of the historical society, sees it differently. She envisions a program where houses are bought for a dollar and restored. Andrea Przybylski envisions a thriving historic district the city can use as an asset to lift itself out of its distressed financial status.

“These houses are irreplaceable,” said Andrea.

“And the older they get, the more precious they become,” said Audrey.