July 19, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            A number of people and groups, including Capital Area Preservation and the state Historic Preservation Office, are trying to preserve that house, built in 1838 as one of the three original buildings constructed for the new Wake Forest College, and now the second oldest building in town after the Calvin Jones House. It has been for sale for $700,000 for several months.

            “It’s a very important building in this town,” Jones said. She asked the board to “defer making a decision on giving the birthplace money until we can figure out what we can do to help preserve the South Brick House. Two or three months is not going to make a lot of difference in the birthplace plans, but it might make a world of difference for the South Brick House.”

            The house has been offered to both Wake Forest University and the Wake Forest College Birthplace Society. The university declined because of the cost of renovation, at least $250,000, and maintenance. The society, as President Susan Brinkley said, does not see it as useful for a museum or as part of its vision. “We are happy to try to partner with you,” she told the commissioners. “Our interest is in the building we have and the history of the town.”

            Commissioner Frank Drake asked if the South Brick House is under threat, and Jones said, “People are looking at it {who are saying} they would tear down the buildings in the back and sell off the back lot for another house. So the people who are looking at it are not particularly interested in preserving it.”

            Commissioners Stephen Barrington and David Camacho both said the museum annex and the South Brick House are two different issues, and Commissioner Velma Boyd-Lawson asked what would happen “if other people have historic properties they want to preserve?”

            Camacho said he would like the town “to see to it that house is preserved” without using any taxpayer money.

            It would ideally be continued to be used as a residence, Drake said.

            In the birthplace presentation, Executive Director Ed Morris said, “A museum in a community is a key piece in economic development. As I told you the last time I stood before you, tourism is the fastest growing industry in our state and heritage tourism is the largest part of that industry.” In June, museum visitors came from within the state, from five other states and from two foreign countries. They were attracted by the museum, Morris said, but “they eat, shop and otherwise spend their money in our town.

            The society wants to raise about $3 million for construction of the museum annex at the North Main Street site and its endowment. The building, now at just under 7,000 square feet, will cost about $2 million.

            The campaign to raise the $3 million will be kicked off next week with the help of the staff and resources at the university’s development office.

            “We are asking for a commitment” from the town that will be within the means of the town, Morris said. They can then take that commitment – and the promise from the university – to the bank for a construction loan. The society hopes for one-third of the construction cost from the town, one-third from the university, and one-third from alumni and other contributors.

            The university already has committed what amounts to the interest from a $1 million endowment for the maintenance of the Calvin Jones House and Morris’ salary and benefits.

            Morris said the annex will allow the society to change the house into a true house museum with perhaps a doctor’s office in one room, the first president’s office, the first college dining hall, and even the first Wake Forest post office. “It is not just a house that holds a museum. It is the beginnings of the college and town,” he said. As the museum it now is, the Calvin Jones House is both too small for all the artifacts the society has and inaccessible for handicapped people and many elderly because of the steep stairways and high entrance porch.

            “How ironic it is that the town of Wake Forest even exists,” Sherrill Brinkley, Susan Brinkley’s husband and a long-time supporter of the society, said. It was just a stroke of fate that, when the leaders of the new Baptist State Convention decided to build a school to educate young people, they found Calvin Jones, who sold his 600 acres and plantation buildings for less than $3,000.

            What if the site had been in Bladen County, Brinkley said. Instead, it is in the fastest growing area in North Carolina. “Our town has problems but believe me, dozens of towns would trade for our growth problems. It is indeed a unique town and we need to celebrate that town. Our identity is always going to be locked in the past. We need to preserve that, we need to advertise that, we need to educate people about that.”

            Brinkley said the town board had done what is right in purchasing the Joyner farm for a park. “The museum is of the same caliber of Joyner Park. You will be remembered for it. It’s time to be courageous. Let’s do it.”

            A sidelight was a short discussion about the deed for the four acres and house on North Main Street. If the property is no longer used as a museum, it would revert back to the university, Morris said. The university would likely not want to continue to maintain the property and could offer it for sale.

            Susan Brinkley said attorney Murray Greason, one of the university’s trustees and a Wake Forest native, had told her the university is interested in what the society is doing and does not plan to take back the property as long as it remains a museum.