Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
The downtown courthouse square in Macomb has fallen on some hard times.
In addition to a recent fire on the the south side that destroyed two businesses, several stores have closed and still sit empty. And, (while this is just my opinion and preference as a consumer), stuff that IS moving in seems less-than-friendly to college students, their parents and professors in a university town, such as a shop selling items related to …being Catholic (?). (Um, yeah.)
The Randolph House on the east side–which was once part of a grand hotel where Abraham Lincoln spent the night and gave a speech–appears to be somewhat neglected. Lately I’ve been wondering: who owns the building? Are there any plans for restoring it? Does it fall under the historic preservation protection?
I haven’t done much digging around for the answer, but thought I’d throw it out here and see if anyone might know the score.
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, landmarks, local_history, MacombSquare
Triad Equity Group.
No.
Any changes to the building (unlikely) would fall under HP guidelines but there appears to be no interest on the part of the owners.
@Dave, thanks for your response. What is the “HP” in guidelines? Historical Preservation? Do you think the hesitation on owners’ part has to do w/ strict rules set forth by the preservation committee? If it is something a historic preservation committee has under its purview, why aren’t they concerned about lack of upkeep? Just curious. Thanks for info!
Sorry, yes, HP does stand for Historic Preservation. The full ordinance can be found here-
http://www.cityofmacomb.com/historic_ordinance.html
The Randolph House has been detiorating far longer than Macomb has had this ordinance on the books. The rules aren’t all that strict… if you update it, make it reflect the historic character of the building. Nothing to do with anything but the facade.
The Commission is concerned… but have no authority to compel investment in the building. Should someone choose to do so, they would have design input. The bigger problem is that the building has deteriorated to the point that upgrade will be tremendously expensive. As it stands, Triad just rents out the apartments and a storefront.