7924 Panola St.

District: Carrollton - Partial Control

Owner: Joseph Isarel J Jr

HDLC Staff: Jesse Stephenson

Rating: Contributing - Altered

Applicant: Alexander Adamick

Permit #: 24-25943-HDLC

HDLC Guidelines: 

Section 12, Pages 23-24 of the Guidelines for New Construction, Additions and Demolition states that the demolition of all or portions of historic resources within a local Historic District or Landmark site are considered drastic actions, since they alter the character of the area. Once historic resources or buildings that contribute to the heritage of the community are destroyed, it is generally impossible to reproduce their design, texture, materials, details and their special character and interest in the neighborhood. When reviewing demolition applications at properties located within a Historic District or at a Landmark site, the HDLC uses the following criteria in its evaluations:

• The historic or architectural significance of the building or structure as designated by its “rating”: Contributing (Altered)

• The alternatives to demolition that have been explored by the applicant: New Construction of a building with the same massing and footprint.

• The difficulty or impossibility of reproducing such a building or structure because of its design, texture, material or detail: The building has had many of it's architectural features removed with additions of historically unsympathetic building materials. The building could be easily reproduced but it is highly unlikely to be done with the same materiality.

• The special character and aesthetic interest that the building or structure adds to the local Historic District:  None

• The condition of the building or structure: 

An exterior and interior inspection was conducted on August 30, 2024. The single-story building is constructed on barge board framing and rests above grade on a pier and beam foundation. The exterior walls were clad in a mix of weatherboards, vinyl siding, and a brick veneer at the primary façade.  The roof was covered in asphalt shingles and contained terracotta ridge tiles.

The exterior weatherboards, aluminum windows, soffits and trim appeared to be in mostly good condition. The roof was in fair condition and didn't show any significant signs of deterioration. However the front porch had settled making it slope toward the front façade of the building causing water to saturate the front wall. The exterior side walls showed signs of sagging and were not straight suggesting that the barge board in the wall cavity had suffered termite damage at the sills and top plate. The foundation piers were very deteriorated with brick and/or mortar loss in the majority. Many of the piers were dramatically out of plumb. At the points where the the piers should meet the flooring members they did not creating a very poor foundation system. There were signs of attempts to shim these locations in lieu of leveling the floor system and stopping the settlement but it appeared to only exacerbate the problem.

The interior of the building was mostly dry despite the heavy rain conditions on the day of the inspection. The floors were out of level again showing a substandard foundation system that would require substantial restructuring.  In locations where the plaster had been removed at the top and bottom of the walls significant rot where the barge board meets the sill and top plate.  The remediation of this condition would in effect necessitate completely reframing the exterior walls with this condition.

Staff Recommendations: 

The building's current state would require a significant amount of foundation work, shoring, and reframing. The building has also lost many of it's character defining features such as original openings, decorative architectural elements, windows, and  columns. In cases like this it is extremely difficult to shore the house as the barge board has nothing to sit on for the shoring process. A renovation to a building like this would be extremely cost prohibitive financially and would essentially be a new building. While the HDLC does not have jurisdiction over new construction Staff would like to note that the redevelopment plan seeks to build  a new construction with the same style, massing and footprint. For the aforementioned reasons Staff has no objection to the demolition to grade.

• Staff Recommendation: No Objection