In October, the City of Durham demolished the oldest commercial structure in the city. Learn more about the building and its Five Points Neighbors and find out the status of other properties on Preservation Durham's Places in Peril watch list.

In January 2010, after several years of concern and ongoing research by Preservation Durham staff, the buildings at the intersection of North Mangum, West Corporation, and Cleveland Streets (known as Little Five Points) were included in Preservation Durham's first list of Places in Peril. Most of the buildings date from the 1920s and contain storefronts with tapestry brick facades, stepped parapets, and terracotta pent roofs. However, the front-gabled frame structure at the southwest corner of North Mangum and West Corporation Streets was likely the oldest remaining commercial structure in Durham, dating from the period before brick was widely used for urban commercial buildings.

(photo Preservation Durham)

Unfortunately, this past weekend (10/30/2010), the frame structure at the southwest corner (731 N. Mangum) was demolished by the City of Durham's Neighborhood Improvement Services, along with the adjacent one-story brick structure (729 N. Mangum). A residence-turned-commercial structure that fronts on West Corporation Street, located behind these two buildings, was also demolished.

The intersection remains endangered, with plans for this corner lot unknown. Little Five Points is important as a gateway to downtown from the Old North Durham and Duke Park neighborhoods, as well as for out-of-town visitors arriving via I-85 for events in Downtown Durham, the Durham Performing Arts Center, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, along with other venues in and around downtown. With the ongoing renovations downtown, in the Central Park area immediately to the west, and in the Cleveland-Holloway neighborhood to the southeast — as well as plans for the Durham Central Market less than a block away — the retention of this intersection as a pedestrian-scale commercial corridor is vital. It is important, as these buildings are rehabilitated and the surrounding land redeveloped, to retain the scale of a residential commercial district be maintained, as this will also help to provide business and employment opportunities for the Old Five Points, Central Park, and Old North Durham neighborhoods.

The status of the other properties listed to Preservation Durham's 2010 Places in Peril list is as follows:

• Lowe's Grove School - No plans have been released for the rehabilitation of the building or redevelopment of the site, which stands adjacent to the new Southwest Durham Regional Library.

• East Durham Commercial District - No plans have been released for the rehabilitation of the vacant storefronts or redevelopment of the land at the northeast corner of Angier and Alston Streets.

• McPherson Hospital - Developers have met with city staff to discuss their options for developing the site, including demolition of the historic structure, though no formal plans have been announced.

• Jackson Street Houses - With no opportunity to rehabilitate the houses in their original location, both houses were moved earlier this year to adjacent lots on the east side of Roxboro Street in Old North Durham and are currently being renovated for single-family occupancy.

• Hillside Park High School/Whitted Junior High School - No plans have been released for the rehabilitation of the building or redevelopment of the site, which stands on a ridge on the west end of Umstead Street with sweeping views of downtown and the American Tobacco Campus.

For more information on Places in Peril, visit www.PreservationDurham.org 

Heather Wagner is co-chair of Preservation Durham's Advocacy and Preservation Awards Committee and principal at hmwPreservation, a consulting firm providing architectural history and historic preservation services.