Tag Archives: Alfred Willis

Valdosta’s Penn Station to be torn down –Alfred Willis @ VCC 2014-10-23



Received as a response to

Outside corporation trumps Valdosta citizens about historical Nichols house? –Jim Parker @ VCC 2014-10-23. -jsq

The City Council’s deliberations on the 23rd had nothing to do with
any construction project, but rather focused on the sale of a parcel
— as

Councilman Carroll’s message of the 25th accurately
conveys. The Council’s vote was historic because it signified openly
the supremacy of certain private property interests (specifically,
those entailed in selling as a form of enjoyment) over civic
cultural interests, at least within the municipality of Valdosta. In
doing so it gave Valdosta’s citizens a peek behind a curtain that
had remained drawn over historic preservation here since 1980. The
construction of buildings, the demolition of buildings, the
remodeling or moving of buildings, the maintenance and preservation
of buildings, their sale and their purchase, their adaptive reuse
— all of those processes are historical processes that turn on
the resolution of conflicts among interests. Thus they all reveal
structures of power and the machinations of powerful individuals and
groups. How could they not?

The construction of the Nichols house in
the early 1950s showed with a degree of clarity that probably no
other Valdosta building of that time did, the identity, values,
attitudes, and mode of operation of Valdosta’s leadership. Its
demolition will Continue reading →

Outside corporation trumps Valdosta citizens about historical Nichols house? –Jim Parker @ VCC 2014-10-23

Received

27 October 2014
about

Whose rights come first? –Tim Carroll. -jsq

So because the owner of the property, which appeared to be a


national property owning corporation for the fraternity’s local
chapters, couldn’t, or more likely, didn’t want to see the cultural
and architectural significance of the Nichols’ House, and merely
wanted to unload the property as quick as possible, their property
rights trump all other citizens of Valdosta in regards to our
historical/cultural history and what we may wish to preserve? Do
private entities, which may not even live here, have carte blanche
to run roughshod and do whatever they please in our city
irregardless of the interests of the citizens that do?

If you think I have a “lack of true understanding Continue reading →

Whose rights come first? –Tim Carroll @ VCC 2014-10-23

Received 25 October 2014 on

Too bad about the Nichols House –Jim Parker @ VCC 2014-10-23. -jsq



I realize many may think none on council heard what Dr. Willis had
to say, but that was not the case. What I think was missed by many
in the audience was the fact that the owner of this property was not
the applicant of this request, but was adamantly opposed to it. Not
only did they have an offer on the table to sell, but it was pending
the outcome of the vote regarding historic designation. To take away
the rights of a property owner at the request of another is a very
tricky thing. Whose rights come first? This was a tough decision in
and unto itself. To suggest that only the monetary value of the
property for taxation purposes drove the decision demonstrates a
lack of true understanding of the all the pertinent facts of this
case.

-Tim Carroll



I think

the applicant’s frat alumnus attorney speaking for 15 minutes against probably tipped off most people about that first point. -jsq

Too bad about the Nichols House –Jim Parker @ VCC 2014-10-23

Received 23 October 2014 on

Alfred Willis comments at Valdosta Historic Preservation 2014-10-06.
I added the [vote correction] and the links. -jsq



I attended tonight’s City Council meeting, and heard
Dr Willis’ impassioned advocacy
of the Council approving the historical
preservation of the Nichols’ House. Our Historic Preservation
Commission

reviewed this and request recommended approval by a vote
of five to one. Dr Willis sold me on the merits. Unfortunately, the
Council must not have heard what I did, and unanimously
voted against
[actually
all but one against]
approving the designation. It looks to me, that as it
stands, demolition of the house could commence tomorrow, and the
replacement construction of the apartments for VSU students can
commence.

A huge number of apartment buildings have been built over the past
few years. First with the large complexes of Blanton Commons, The
Gardens, and The Grove, to the numerous buildings along West Mary,
Baytree Drive, Boone Drive and Oak Street, among others. Plans are
still on tap for the major development of the entire city block just
south of campus (one that I can actually appreciate). The question
was mentioned to me tonight whether Continue reading →

Valdosta’s Ultramodern Masterpiece: The Nichols House on Baytree —Alfred Willis Lecture 2014-10-01

Received yesterday in PDF.
This is the historic structure where Turner Brooks wants to build a subdivision.
-jsq


300x232 Talk Flyer, in Valdosta's Ultramodern Masterpiece: The Nichols House on Baytree, by Alfred Willis, 1 October 2014
7:00pm – Wednesday, October 1st, 2014
Valdosta State University
Bailey Science Center, Room 1011

This event is FREE and open to all.
Parking is also free in the Georgia Avenue Parking lots.
* For more information please contact Colleen McDonough,
229-333-5759 or cmcdonou@valdosta.edu

The Nichols house is a replete instance of the diffusion of Californian
on the Nichols House & Valdosta Architecture
design ideals in the postwar decade, the work that brought architect
Lloyd Greer’s career to its culmination, and the starting point for the
careers of several leading Valdosta architects of the next generation. Continue reading →