Leesburg officals appoint board to decide fate of house
Rex Taylor(City Manager)
The future of the Mote-Morris House may be settled soon, apparenlty to the pleasure of three groups: city officals,
preservationists, and Morrison United Methodist Church.If a settlement is reached, it may come with the help of an advisory board composed of people from each of those groups, all of which have different ideas on the destiny of the house.The board is directed to reach a compromisr on where to move the house and how to pay for the move.Its intended deadline is mid-September, when a state deadline for a preservation grant approaches.
The Leesburg Commission on Monday appointed Commissioner Sanna Henderson and City Manager Rex Taylor to serve on the board. Other members are expected to be appointed later. Monday's action ends serval months of pressure on church officals to preserve the house at its present site, next door to the church on West Main Street. Church officals won the support of city commissoners and a preservation group,which had orginally sought to have the house restored where it now stands.
But the City Commission and the preservation group also won a few concessions from church officals. The preservation group got a stronger pledge from the church not to destroy the house until the group can muster up enough funds to move and preserve it. Church officals made the pledge earlier, but said Monday there is no time frame for moving the house, as long as some progress is made toward moving it. The Leesburg Commission won certainly from a state agency that moving the house may not remove it from its place on the National Register of Historic Places or deny it from getting grants.
In the past, the commission had maintained that it would not support moving the house if it meant losing that status and the chances at state grants.Monday's action apparently left no one bitter." I think there is more understanding now," said Commissioner Joe Knowles after decision was reached.Knowles introduced a two-hour discussion on the fate of the house. Taking part were members of a packed audience of citizens that spilled out of the third-floor commission chambers in city hall.
Knowles asked comissioners to "establish a dialogue" among church officals, preservationists and the commission, which he said had been missing. The request toughed off a litany of short speeches on the house. Morrison Pastor Leslie Rabb reiterated the church's stance, saying it stood firm on moving it because of church plans to expand. He suggested, however, that the city purchase a piece of property across the street from the house or land on 12th Street and move the house. Division of Historical Resources
The Leesburg Commission on Monday appointed Commissioner Sanna Henderson and City Manager Rex Taylor to serve on the board. Other members are expected to be appointed later. Monday's action ends serval months of pressure on church officals to preserve the house at its present site, next door to the church on West Main Street. Church officals won the support of city commissoners and a preservation group,which had orginally sought to have the house restored where it now stands.
But the City Commission and the preservation group also won a few concessions from church officals. The preservation group got a stronger pledge from the church not to destroy the house until the group can muster up enough funds to move and preserve it. Church officals made the pledge earlier, but said Monday there is no time frame for moving the house, as long as some progress is made toward moving it. The Leesburg Commission won certainly from a state agency that moving the house may not remove it from its place on the National Register of Historic Places or deny it from getting grants.
In the past, the commission had maintained that it would not support moving the house if it meant losing that status and the chances at state grants.Monday's action apparently left no one bitter." I think there is more understanding now," said Commissioner Joe Knowles after decision was reached.Knowles introduced a two-hour discussion on the fate of the house. Taking part were members of a packed audience of citizens that spilled out of the third-floor commission chambers in city hall.
Knowles asked comissioners to "establish a dialogue" among church officals, preservationists and the commission, which he said had been missing. The request toughed off a litany of short speeches on the house. Morrison Pastor Leslie Rabb reiterated the church's stance, saying it stood firm on moving it because of church plans to expand. He suggested, however, that the city purchase a piece of property across the street from the house or land on 12th Street and move the house. Division of Historical Resources
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