Saving the past : Love of history leads to passion for preservation
Posted on Sunday, July 20, 2008
Jonathan Story would do just about anything to keep a historic home from being bulldozed, even if it means putting the house on a truck and hauling it to a new location.
Story, who plays the organ at Central United Methodist Church on Dickson Street, said he found out in 2006 that the church's new youth building and parking deck would have to mean the removal of an old home, a home that he'd admired since he was a child. He put in an offer of $ 1 for the house on the condition that he would pay for the relocation.
It was sort of a win-win for the church. They wouldn't have to pay to have the house demolished, and they would be contributing to its preservation.
The home was originally built in 1906 for Mary Clancy, a school teacher at Washington Elementary and the wife of a Union Civil War veteran.
Her father, Alexander Hendry, was the supervising architect for Old Main, which is coincidentally the first building that Story developed a fascination for.
"When I was a kid it was falling in. It was then restored, but I can remember when it had a fence around it because it was unsafe," he said.
In 1994, at the age of 12, Story helped save the Ozark Theater from being demolished.
The theater was an opera house, built in 1904, he said, and had a lot of history behind it. The city was going to demolish it for a parking lot. Story gathered signatures for a petition and also spoke at City Council meetings.
Eventually they backed off, he said, and the building is now used for offices.
At 14, Story teamed up with local preservationist Paula Marinoni to form a committee to save Carnal Hall on the University of Arkansas campus.
"Back then it was falling down, and the University was about to tear it down," he said.
Again, Story gathered signatures and even got former Gov. Mike Huckabee to sign the petition at a football game.
Story then got busy doing what most high school kids do and his preservation efforts slowed down. And then the yellow house was threatened.
"I had my eye on this house for a while," he said. "I couldn't get it off my mind.
"Finally, I went to the church and made an offer. They accepted, and here we are."
Now Story sits proudly in the living room of the 2, 100-square-foot home. The walls are adorned with photographs of historic buildings, the bookshelf lined with history books and biographies.
Story shows off some of the renovation work he paid for with his money earned working at the church and doing a graduate assistantship.
It wasn't easy, he admits.
"At times, I was so strapped I couldn't afford basic amenities," he said.
The project went 50 percent over budget, and Story had to seek help now and then from his parents. He also credits David Russell, president of First Security Bank in Fayetteville, who helped him get a construction loan.
After all that, it wasn't easy for Story to put the house on the market.
"I'm kind of torn," he said. "The house has really grown on me. I hate to give it up."
But Story has already fallen in love with another home in the Washington Willow Historic District.
"It's older than this one and needs help even more," he said.
Story has always had a passion for local history. Besides wanting to be a concert pianist, he plans to continue his hobby of renovating old homes and supporting preservation projects.
"My mom grew up in Fayetteville, and I always heard about the history of the town," he said.
That passion got him involved with the St. James United Methodist Church on Willow Avenue, which Story said is the oldest continuously serving Methodist church building north of the Arkansas River.
"The building goes back to right after the Civil War," he said. "It was originally a house and was converted to a church. It's built with brick that was left over from the construction of Old Main."
Fayetteville was the first town south of the Mason-Dixon line to integrate its schools, Story said, and the church was the driving force for that. The church was the center of the Civil Rights movement in Fayetteville and was twice attacked by the Ku Klux Klan, he said.
The building is in need of some renovation work, which the church has been doing when money allows. Story decided to help out by doing benefit organ and piano concerts for the church.
"I've raised $ 7, 500 so far," he said. "I'm going to keep going as long as they need the money."
Pastor Gary Lunsford said Story approached him one day and offered his help.
"It was perfect timing for us because we'd just finished the sanctuary ceiling, and we'd thought our roof was in good shape, but with the heavy rains we had this spring, we had three leaks in a new ceiling. We needed a new roof, and there was no money," he said. "Jonathan said'Why don't I see if I can do a series of concerts for you ?'"
He did one at Pulaski Heights Methodist Church in Little Rock and one at Central.
The money he raised put the church more than halfway toward raising $ 14, 000 for a new roof. Lunsford said the Methodist Foundation in Little Rock also gave the church some money, and the new roof will be put on this week.
"Without Jonathan's help, we'd still be struggling," he said.
The church started the renovation project seven years ago, Lunsford said, using only money acquired through fundraising and donations, and Story has been a big supporter.
"It's not just the concerts, but he's always promoted our restoration project. He's supported it and backed it," he said. "He's a great guy with a great heart. I wish there were more like him."
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