What's New for NOMA - April 2015

Hello Friends & Neighbors!  Have we got NOMA NEWS for you!  Where should we start?!

The Salisbury Sculpture Show

If you've been driving around Salisbury, you might have noticed the new sculptures around town!  These are part of the annual Salisbury Sculpture Show!  The show changes every March when the new round of art is installed.  The 2015 show includes 19 works of art, including installations at all four colleges:  Catawba College, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Hood Theological Seminary, and Livingstone College.

We learned, through our NOMA representative on the Salisbury Public Art Committee, that if neighborhood residents could pool resources to be able to pay for the installation, NOMA can be on the 2016 Salisbury Sculpture Show map with an beautiful sculpture of our own.

One of the recommended initiatives in the North Main Small Area Improvement Plan (approved by City Council July 2007), was to use public art to create a sense of arrival or sense of place at the NOMA neighborhood gateways.  We think the Salisbury Sculpture Show would be just the ticket to begin this initiative!  The neighborhood would have to raise roughly $1500 to be able to participate.

New Proposed Ordinance for Neglected Housing

Homes and buildings that are being allowed to deteriorate is called Demolition by Neglect, and it is a problem in many more places than just Salisbury. Currently, the only alternative for a neglected home in Salisbury is demolition, which may not always be the best choice!

At City Council Retreat this past February, members of the Salisbury Code Enforcement Division and the new Housing Advocacy Commission presented a plan for a new ordinance that will help us resolve this to a degree. 

If you support this ordinance, that would allow the City to repair and stabilize homes, please speak to your City Council on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at City Council Meeting / 4:00PM ~ or write a letter or email to City Council saying you support the implementation of the Stabilizing Neglected Housing ordinance.




New Salisbury Rowan Central School Office

The groundbreaking for the much discussed and long-awaited Central School Office was April 19th!  If you've been traveling the North Main Corridor, you might have noticed the demolition of the old Schulenburger Surveying Company building at 516 N Main, and unfortunately the home that we unsuccessfully  tried to have preserved and moved to one of our empty lots.  These demolitions cleared the way for the new school office!  This will be an important addition to our neighborhood gateway at the south end!  Hurrah!

Free Little Library™

NOMA is exploring the potential to install Free Little Libraries throughout the neighborhood!

What is a Little Free Library™? It’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.

There is a great resource for these programs at  http://littlefreelibrary.org/.  Before installing, we must be mindful of City of Salisbury line-of-sight restrictions....in other words we can't block the view of drivers...and along N. Main Street, we must be mindful of DOT sight-line restrictions.  But Catherine Garner/City of Salisbury looked into this for us so we can plan accordingly.  The Little Free Library website offers both completed library boxes and/or plans to construct one, but we bet we know talented craftspeople who could build these for us!

Historic House Plaques

The first round of Historic House Plaques are in!  You might see some installed already if you're out and about in the neighborhood!

If you are interested in obtaining one, please email themainneighborhood@gmail.com for an order form.




Historic Salisbury Foundation Homes on North Main

Historic Salisbury Foundation reports that the work on 1428 N Main is winding down, and that work crews will be moving soon to 1600 N Main Street.  Historic Salisbury Foundation is working to stabilize these homes so that we can avoid more 'holes' in the character of our neighborhood.  If you would like to volunteer to work on these houses, contact HSF at (704) 636-0103  or drop by 1428 N Main weekdays and see what can be done to help!  You can always donated to HSF's revolving fund that allows this important work to continue:  http://www.gofundme.com/heq7tg
 
Old North Salisbury Association

The next Old North Salisbury Association, the neighborhood association for NOMA, is May .  Contact ONSA president Glen Upp at
themainneighborhood@gmail.com for more info.  The association is sponsoring a YARD SALE on May 9th.  Email the association for information on how to be involved!

And speaking of Upcoming Meetings:

The next SNAG (Salisbury Neighborhood Action Group) is scheduled for Wednesday May 6th.   The Salisbury Police Department hosts a monthly SNAG meeting where you'll hear updates concerning drug investigations, criminal investigations, and code enforcement issues on the first Wednesday of each month. You also have the opportunity to voice your concerns regarding specific activities in your neighborhood!  The monthly SNAG meetings are open to the public! You are welcome and encouraged to attend! We love seeing our NOMA neighbors at these meetings!   Join SNAG at:

Salisbury Police Department
130 E Liberty Street
Salisbury NC 28144

And the next Salisbury City Council meeting with Open Public Forum is Tuesday May 19th at 4:00PM at City Hall (217 S Main Street). This is another great opportunity to keep abreast of happenings in the City and to be able to voice your thoughts to City Council members and City Manager!






 

See you around the neighborhood!

Preservation Opportunity in the North Main Neighborhood ~ For Free!

826 N. Main Street - For Sale - $65,000

The North Main Historic District of Salisbury is known for its inventory of wonderful vintage homes from the early 1900's.  But this kind of unique preservation  opportunity ~ and the chance to own a circa 1900 home doesn't come along every day!



Preservation Opportunity:

 

It's one heck of a real estate deal! 

A buyer can get a piece of property in a great location, not for a low price, but for no price. 

The Historic Salisbury Foundation owns the lot at 717 N. Main Street, and while the sign in the yard says “For Sale,” they will actually give it away . . FOR FREE.  

Free. . . if the buyer agrees to buy a house at 516 N. Main Street (currently Shulenburger Surveying) and move it two blocks to that lot.  The circa 1900 two-story building at 516 North Main will need to be moved soon or demolished, to make way for construction of the Salisbury-Rowan Central School Board Office. 

Architectural Rendering of the New Rowan-Salisbury School System Office at 516 N Main Street

 
Historic Salisbury Foundation will convey its vacant lot at 717 North Main Street to anyone who commits to relocating and rehabilitating the original 2-story home portion of the former circa 1900 home at 516 North Main Street, but it must be done very soon to avoid any delay to construction of the Rowan-Salisbury School System new central office building. The Foundation will donate the vacant lot if someone will pay the costs of moving 516 N. Main to the lot and rehabilitate it.  

The grass covered lot at 717 N. Main Street in the North Main Historic District, is just steps from downtown, it's level with a few nice trees, a sidewalk, city garbage and recycling, and of course, it's free for the asking . . .  if someone will pay the costs of moving the original two-story portion of the circa-1900 house at 516 N. Main St. to the lot and rehabilitate it.

The house at 516 N Main, and the structure next door that used to be the home of J & M Flowers, must make way for the new central office for the school system.  They could tear them both down, but Brian Davis, Executive Director of the Historic Salisbury Foundation, and the City of Salisbury, came up with something creative.  The City's Historic Preservation Committee approved demolition with the encouragement that they collaborate with the Historic Salisbury Foundation and work together to try and find an alternative . . . and it's worth a try.  The home, once moved, would be part of the NOMA (North Main) Neighborhood and be located within the North Main Historic District.

Challenge #1:

The house is only about two blocks from the lot, but a railroad crossing means moving the house will also take some creative thinking. Moving the home from A to B and putting it on a new foundation including site work, may cost in the neighborhood of $50,000-$60,000.  However, the new owner would be getting a two story house built about 1900 and a lot for that investment of $50,000-$60,000.

Challenge #2: 

Someone would have to step up in the next 2-3 weeks and say, "We want this house, we're going to take the lot, we're going to commit to making this happen.” Anyone interested needs to step up soon, like within the next 2-3 weeks, otherwise the house will have a date with the wrecking ball. The Rowan School System hopes to have the new Salisbury-Rowan Central School Board Office built and occupied by December 2015/January 2016 so plans are moving full-speed-ahead. 

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from 1913, when the house was occupied by Martha & Joseph T. Carson.

Boston's Alley was an African-American neighborhood where several laborers and their families lived.

Benefits:

• If the house can be saved, it would be good for environment in that it would keep construction materials out of the landfill.  
• It actually could save the school board some money to have a two story demolition that is not in a land fill with land fill use fees.
• It's one heck of a real estate deal!

Anyone interested in the house and lot package or just wants to learn more, can call the Historic Salisbury Foundation at 704-636-0103.

Picture of 516 North Main from the 1940s. We're working to find someone to move the house before it would be demolished to make way for the new Salisbury-Rowan County Central School Board Office.

To see other homes for sale in the North Main Historic District of Salisbury, North Carolina, contact Greg Rapp of Wallace Realty.  Greg is known for his knowledge of historic homes and has sold many homes in the North Main district!  Call Greg today at 704.213.6846 or visit www.realestatesalisbury.net


This article was adapted from David Whisenat's January 15, 2015 article,  "Foundation willing to give lot away for free, but there is one catch", from wbtv.com.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/27861118/foundation-willing-to-give-lot-away-for-free-but-there-is-one-catch






The North Main Neighborhood
northmainneighborhood@gmail.com