Wilson Historic Preservation Commission to Host Public Meeting in Support of Wilson Architectural Survey Update
RALEIGH, N.C – Wilson has been chosen as the subject of a historic architectural survey update. The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) in-house Environmental Analysis Unit has hired SWCA Environmental Consultants to conduct an architectural survey and prepare a comprehensive architectural history inventory of the city. This is one of several phases of mitigation measures to document the existing architectural heritage of Edgecombe, Nash, and Wilson counties prior to being impacted by the construction and operational launch of the CCX intermodal terminal. NCDOT funding will be used for all phases of the mitigation.
The Wilson Historic Preservation Commission will host a public meeting in support of the survey on Wednesday, June 1 at 6:00pm at City Hall, 112 Goldsboro Street E. April Montgomery, Principal Investigator for the survey, will give a brief presentation and solicit input from attendees about important historic places in Wilson. Ms. Montgomery is employed by the Cary, N.C.-based cultural resources consulting firm, SWCA Environmental Consultants, which is under contract to complete the project. This meeting will allow the public to provide critical input about the buildings and neighborhoods included in the survey.
Architectural survey entails documentation of buildings and landscapes that are at least 50 years old. Fieldworkers take photographs, draw site plans, and collect oral history from people they meet on site. They conduct a limited amount of archival research to establish countywide patterns of historical development. SWCA will also identify properties that appear to be potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as historic districts. National Register properties are potentially eligible for state and federal tax credits for certified historic rehabilitation. The Wilson Architectural Survey Update will culminate in a final report that analyzes the history of the county through the lens of its historic architecture.
At the conclusion of the survey, the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) will retain all materials from the survey as part of the statewide architectural record. Public access to the information will be available through HPOWEB, the HPO’s geographic information system, which is accessible online at http://gis.ncdcr.gov/hpoweb/. The survey material will facilitate the environmental review necessary for state and federal undertakings and will aid in planning for future economic and community development projects. Survey products also will be useful for the continued development of heritage tourism programs in Wilson.
For more information on the Wilson Architectural Survey Update, contact Mary Pope Furr, Historic Architecture Supervisor for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, at mpfurr@ncdot.gov or 919-707-6068, or April Montgomery at April.Montgomery@swca.com.
