Private Property; L. Ownby

305 Private Property: In Need of Ristoric Preservation by Lee Ownby A lmost everyone is saddened by the de molition of an old, historic building. But sometimes an old structure be comes the focus of a heated conflict between preservationists and those who wish to exercise their property rights. What is frightening in such a case is that many people fail to appreci ate the importance of private property. This was clearly evident in my community when various groups were galvanized toward saving the Baker-Peters House, an antebellum home that had served as a popular restaurant. The restaurant owners possessed a leasehold interest in the real estate coupled with an op tion to buy. They were under financial pressure to sell their interest rather than continue oper ating a restaurant in that location. Their real tors negotiated a deal with a national oil com pany to buy them out and construct a gas station-requiring the demolition of the old house and removal of two trees believed to be 200 years old. The major historical event that warranted the preservation of the old house-outside of its pre-Civil War architec ture-was that it was where its owner, a doctor, had been killed by Union soldiers.

When the prospective sale was discovered, Mr. Ownby is an attorney in Knoxville, Tennessee. the public outcry was immediate; both the restaurant owners and the oil company were castigated for proposing a use contrary to the public will. Outraged citizens asked: Why wasn't there a municipal department charged with alerting the public any time a dwelling such as this was endangered? How could our public officials have failed to protect this im portant landmark from corporate greed? Let ters to the editor, television interviews, and ed itorials were overwhelmingly uniform in their virulent condemnation of the consummation of a private contract. Very few spoke in defense of the property owners' right to dispose of their interest under terms acceptable to them. Several proposals were put forward to preserve the landmark. The oil company could donate the house and land in its natural state and register it as an historic site. The company could rearrange its construction plans so as to avoid destroying the house and the trees. A third idea was to relocate the house on the same land or an adjoining tract, with the oil company providing most of the money for the move. Other suggestions included legislation restricting the property as an historical zone, and/or having the owners renounce their prop erty interest and capital investment for the W6 THEFREEMAN·AUGUSTl~9 The Baker-Peters House public benefit. Finally, the city passed an ordi nance requiring a permit prior to the destruc tion of any old trees within 150 feet of an ante bellum home.