.jpg)
The fate of the Sheridan House at 201 N. Randolph Street is once again coming before the Lexington Architecture Review Board, as it previously did nearly seven years ago.
The Architecture Review Board will consider an application for a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of the house by owner Chy Clark at its meeting on Thursday, Aug. 3. This marks the second time that this kind of application has come before the board in regards to the Sheridan House. In September of 2016, then-owner Russ Orrison submitted a similar application after the house was damaged in a fire in February of that year. The certificate was denied and Orrison sold the property a year later to Jian Wen “Jay” Lu with Gingchu Huang of Vienna. An attempt by the new owners to demolish what was left of the roof was halted when the contractor hired to do the work pulled their bid. No additional effort was taken to either improve the condition of the house or remove the damaged roof and the house was ultimately sold again in 2021, with Clark purchasing it at auction.
The house has remained in its damaged condition since the fire, and earlier this year, neighbors who lived nearby had finally had enough of it, putting together a petition to request the city take some kind of action to address the state of the house. The petition garnered more than 100 signatures and was presented to the city council at its April 20 meeting. Several neighbors also addressed the council directly during the public comments portion of the meeting to express their concerns. City Manager Jim Halasz then met with Clark to inform her that the city would be taking action under the nuisance property ordinance and that she had 60 days to submit a plan for some kind of action to improve the property. That deadline was July 27, which is when Clark submitted the application for the certificate of appropriateness to the ARB.
Following Clark’s application last week, Historic Lexington Foundation Board President Dee Joyce-Hayes sent a letter to the ARB on July 28 on behalf of the board and HLF members, expressing “our profound sadness and regret” that the board was again being asked to approve the demolition of the house. She went on to say that the HLF “cannot in good faith oppose the proposed demolition, even though this is a very difficult position for our organization to take.”
She noted that, when Orrison applied for his certificate of appropriateness in 2016, the HLF called for the ARB to deny the certificate, which the board ultimately did. The HLF also urged the city council to uphold the decision when there was a possibility that Orrison would appeal the decision to them, though he ultimately did not appeal the decision. Joyce-Hayes noted that with each new owner, the organization was hopeful that the house would be restored.
“HLF believed then, and still believes, that the Diamond Hill neighborhood deserves to have buildings of this quality preserved,” she wrote. “Even after the fire, the house was considered to be a contributing structure for the Lexington Historic District.” A structural engineer recently examined the building at the foundation’s request, and found that the exterior, chimneys and foundation structures of the building “are still solid and salvageable.” The HLF, she added, does not have the resources to save the house on its own, “but we stand ready to support any such effort to the extent of our ability.”
Joyce-Hayes concluded her letter by noting that those living near the house “have waited patiently for something to be done,” and, while agreeing that “the house cannot continue to stand in its current shameful condition … it does not deserve its imminent destruction.”
“For a short period of time, the possibility still remains that a person or group with the means and the vision to preserve this important historic house could step forward to work with us to do so,” she wrote.
The house was built in 1893 and was home to John Sheridan, a prominent businessman who founded the Sheridan Livery on Main Street and played a major role in both the founding of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and the construction of a church on Henry Street, which is now home to the Gospel Way Church of God in Christ.
