ORANGE : Building on the Past in Old Towne
The city’s downtown may get a face lift in hopes of adding--not subtracting--years to its appearance.
A group of local architects have unveiled a proposal to preserve the downtown’s historic character and help stimulate commercial growth in the plaza area.
The result of more than 2,500 volunteer hours from 10 architects over a two-year period, the proposal calls for redesigning more than 75 building facades near the downtown circle.
The same buildings are already slated for a $3.3-million seismic retrofitting project, approximately half of which the city will pay. Architects are encouraging downtown property owners to incorporate their voluntary design proposals for their facades as work on the retrofitting project gets underway over the next several years.
“If you step back and look at it from an aesthetic point of view, the circle and Old Towne are what Orange is really known for and we feel it’s important that it be preserved and hopefully improved,” said Leason Pomeroy, who owns a downtown building and heads the group of volunteer architects. “Also, if the facades are improved, sales and rents are likely to go up, which would mean the city will get more taxes.”
Jack McGee, director of community development, agrees the design proposal would enhance the plaza district.
“It shows people’s roots,” McGee said. “It shows where the city started. There is a great importance placed on those things here and we want to preserve it.”
The facade designs were taken from historical photos of the plaza district, which was founded before the turn of the century. If photos weren’t available, architects chose a style indicative of the time period of nearby buildings, Pomeroy said.
But not everybody is so enthusiastic. Some property owners, who viewed the proposal about three weeks ago, think it’s premature to talk about the facades since the details of the retrofitting project have yet to be spelled out.
“Well, we all think it looks real pretty,” said Mike Alvarez, head of the the downtown district’s property owners group. “But our real concern is paying for seismic right now.”
Even so, the architects’ proposal already has the endorsement of the City Council and is on display at City Hall. Because of the council approvals, property owners who follow the design can shave weeks off the customary permit process, say city officials.
Some facades might require up to $50,000 while others would need only minimal work, said Pomeroy.
“It’s unusual to have architects work together,” said Pomeroy, who is submitting the proposal to a number of national and state design contests. “Architects are usually very independent, but here there was a wonderful collaborative spirit and people took criticism well and we ended up with a good product.”
