I am all for it. Huntsville is finally coming back around in recent years to appreciate the great history that was made there by my dad and his colleagues. I grew up in one of those houses as son to Alfred Finzel. 1413 Dale Circle in Blossomwood. There were quite a few Germans around us in that subdivision. He and my mom built the house in 1958 so it is over 50 years old.
Charles Delano - 15 years ago
Homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places must be over 50 years old. Further, listing on the National Register does not limit any owners' freedom or rights to alter, renovate, or demolish their home. The Reisig House is in a protected historic district, the ONLY house owned by a German Scientist in a protected neighborhood.
Robert Martignoni - 15 years ago
As far as historic architectural value, the homes photographed certainly are of NO significance. Are they Greek Revival, Georgian, Italianate? As far as I know 60's tri-level is not of historical architectural significance so any argument on that front is without merit.
Should the historic commission essentially mount "takings" of private individual homes by restricting current owners from making modifications, removing or tearing down the homes to build something that would add aesthetic value and also increase their properties monetary value because someone THEY personally deem was a historic figure lived there? NO, unless they want to purchase the properties themselves.
I think a clear delineation needs to be made between INDIVIDUALS who were "historic" and their WORK being "historic". While I would say Werner Von Braun was a historic figure because of his leadership, vision and high profile which the general public has awareness of, if you stopped a hundred people on the street how many would have ever heard of Gerhard Resig, much less knew what he did? Is anything taught about the man in textbooks or classes children attend? No insult intended to him or his family, but because someone has a job as part of a team that as a whole contributed to significant technological advances it does NOT make them a historic figure. By that standard my late father who was part of a team working for the govenment in developing cutting edge laser technology and had numerous patents issued related to that should be declared a historic figure and the house I grew up in and where my mother still lives should be declared a historic home by this commission and then we would be prevented from making alterations to it.
This is a slippery slope as it allows individuals on this commission to define according to their personal biases and preferences who is historic. Again, just because someone is involved in WORK that may be deemed historic, does not make the INDIVIDUAL a historic figure.
The article says that "it doesn't mean the house can't be altered" and while technically that may be true, it sure as hell would make it a lot harder for the owners of these homes to make any modifications, much less remove the home. The owners of these homes that are being tracked down may be flattered to learn there is someone that thinks their home is of historical significance, but they should be aware what impact that designation could have on their personal property rights. Also, anyone who lives in a home that is over 30 years old may need to start doing deed research to make sure no one lived in the house that was part of a rocket team because Ms. Castellano and Mr. Petroff may have their home on their list of "takings".
And as far as the future, I guess since Huntsville is on the cutting edge in a number of technological disciplines if someone gets on the historic commission who thinks people working in those areas made historic contributions then anyone who worked in any of those areas could have their homes targeted for preservation also.
I am all for it. Huntsville is finally coming back around in recent years to appreciate the great history that was made there by my dad and his colleagues. I grew up in one of those houses as son to Alfred Finzel. 1413 Dale Circle in Blossomwood. There were quite a few Germans around us in that subdivision. He and my mom built the house in 1958 so it is over 50 years old.
Homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places must be over 50 years old. Further, listing on the National Register does not limit any owners' freedom or rights to alter, renovate, or demolish their home. The Reisig House is in a protected historic district, the ONLY house owned by a German Scientist in a protected neighborhood.
As far as historic architectural value, the homes photographed certainly are of NO significance. Are they Greek Revival, Georgian, Italianate? As far as I know 60's tri-level is not of historical architectural significance so any argument on that front is without merit.
Should the historic commission essentially mount "takings" of private individual homes by restricting current owners from making modifications, removing or tearing down the homes to build something that would add aesthetic value and also increase their properties monetary value because someone THEY personally deem was a historic figure lived there? NO, unless they want to purchase the properties themselves.
I think a clear delineation needs to be made between INDIVIDUALS who were "historic" and their WORK being "historic". While I would say Werner Von Braun was a historic figure because of his leadership, vision and high profile which the general public has awareness of, if you stopped a hundred people on the street how many would have ever heard of Gerhard Resig, much less knew what he did? Is anything taught about the man in textbooks or classes children attend? No insult intended to him or his family, but because someone has a job as part of a team that as a whole contributed to significant technological advances it does NOT make them a historic figure. By that standard my late father who was part of a team working for the govenment in developing cutting edge laser technology and had numerous patents issued related to that should be declared a historic figure and the house I grew up in and where my mother still lives should be declared a historic home by this commission and then we would be prevented from making alterations to it.
This is a slippery slope as it allows individuals on this commission to define according to their personal biases and preferences who is historic. Again, just because someone is involved in WORK that may be deemed historic, does not make the INDIVIDUAL a historic figure.
The article says that "it doesn't mean the house can't be altered" and while technically that may be true, it sure as hell would make it a lot harder for the owners of these homes to make any modifications, much less remove the home. The owners of these homes that are being tracked down may be flattered to learn there is someone that thinks their home is of historical significance, but they should be aware what impact that designation could have on their personal property rights. Also, anyone who lives in a home that is over 30 years old may need to start doing deed research to make sure no one lived in the house that was part of a rocket team because Ms. Castellano and Mr. Petroff may have their home on their list of "takings".
And as far as the future, I guess since Huntsville is on the cutting edge in a number of technological disciplines if someone gets on the historic commission who thinks people working in those areas made historic contributions then anyone who worked in any of those areas could have their homes targeted for preservation also.