Demolition Tabled on Shaw Property Structures

The Oxford Historic Preservation Commission tabled a motion to approve demolition of five structures on the Shaw House property Thursday night, and voted to allow repairs to the house’s porch. Both votes were unanimous.
The commission wants to wait for the state Department of Archives and History to weigh in on how demolition work on the site will affect the developer’s historic tax credit applications. Because of the property’s size, any changes to contributing structures may be seen as a gray area. The five structures slated for demolition are a barn, an unoccupied caretaker’s shack, an occupied single-family home, an occupied duplex and a concrete slab.
The future of the Shaw House and its associated property at 1701 E. Jackson Ave. is at the center of some contention. The historical home was build in 1860 and sat on a downtown farm. Brian Development, a company based in Baton Rouge, La., has been entrusted with overseeing the process of restoring the house and building a housing subdivision on the remainder of the property.
A site map has not yet been approved on the total project, a step that normally takes place before any requests for any changes come before the historic preservation commission.

At least eight concerned neighbors attended to voice their concerns about issues they fear will be created by the project: parking and traffic problems, a heavy burden on the water and sewer systems, and premature tree destruction.
Commission Chairman Brian Hyneman explained that those concerns should go before commissions dealing with those issues. Several neighbors mentioned that the current owner’s mother, Eleanor Shaw, was adamant that the entire property be preserved.
The porch repairs were approved with amendments, to ensure that any repairs are true to the original structure’s design and materials.
The developers insist that any new homes planned for the site will be individually designed by architects and approved by the commission.
– Gretchen Stone, associate editor, HottyToddy.com, gretchen.stone@hottytoddy.com