Chi Phi eyes demolition

A University of Georgia fraternity has changed its mind regarding the preservation of a house on Milledge Avenue and, according to sources, has plans to demolish the structure located in a National Historic District.

Arnocroft, a house dating back more than 107 years on Milledge Avenue near Five Points, was once the home of Eugenia Arnold Bount, who donated the building, as well as a pool of funding for maintenance, to the Junior League of Athens in 1994. In 2006, the Junior League returned the structure to Bount's estate.

It was then sold to the Chi Phil fraternity, and the fraternity opted to locate its new house at the site. Chi Phi was one of three fraternities that declined the University of Georgia's offer for relocation when the latter opted to reclaim the property for campus expansion.

The fraternity had made it clear it would attempt to preserve the existing structure and utilize materials from its previous house in any new construction ...

Instead, they asked commissioners and a handful of area residents what they would like to see - and not see - in a design if the fraternity moves to Milledge Avenue.

According to District 7 Commissioner Kathy Hoard and District 10 Commissioner Elton Dodson, (Peter) Amann said fraternity officials have no plans to tear down Arnocroft.

Instead, they said, fraternity officials hope to move their own 80-year-old house from Lumpkin to Milledge - or at least the bricks, windows and columns, if moving the entire house proves too expensive.

"I am extremely impressed with the way they have gone about doing this," Dodson said. "That doesn't mean I'm gong to endorse what they come up with," because there's no real plan yet."

"Certainly the jury is out, we're so early in the process," Hoard said. But she's also optimistic about the group's plans.

Apparently, the plans have changed. According to sources familiar with the situation, Chi Phi has reversed its earlier position and has plans to tear down Arnocroft. In its place, will be a new structure that may or may not feature the materials from the original site.

Now, it should be noted that the house in question is not officially classified as a historic home. But, that corridor is deemed a National Historic District, and the community is currently in the process of crafting a local historic preservation district distinction for the corridor.

Currently, Athens-Clarke County has a moratorium on demolitions and certain types of construction in Milledge Avenue. It has been extended three times to allow for time to craft the appropriate ordinance.

If Milledge Avenue earned the local historic district distinction, the demolition of Arnocroft would become almost impossible to attain as the building would be classified as a contributing structure in a historical distict, thus requiring a special-use permit for such action to take place.

The national listing, however, contains no ability to prohibit demolition, but does feature language and provision aimed at 'discouraging' it ...

These provisions encourage the preservation of depreciable historic structures by allowing favorable tax treatments for rehabilitation, and discourage destruction of historic buildings by eliminating certain otherwise available Federal tax provisions both for demolition of historic structures and for new construction on the site of demolished historic buildings.