The Town of Southern Pines and HMW Preservation presented updates on survey efforts for documenting historical buildings and stories in West Southern Pines on April 24 at the ES Douglass Community Center.
Heather Slane with HMW Preservation said the Underrepresented Community Grant from the National Park Service in 2023 had stalled, and now the funds seemed to be available again, so they were continuing the survey.
Trinity AME Zion Church and the Amos Broadway Theater will be reviewed by state architectural committees in June for possible listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Our Lady of Victory Catholic School is still under review and may go to the committee in October.
The next step is to identify other buildings, of which there are about 200, according to Slane.
“This is not new territory. We take photos, seek information on owners, and want to hear their stories. We have some older maps and will be out for a few days on the south side of Pennsylvania collecting general history of what it was like to live here in the sixties and beyond,” Slane said to the audience of about 20.
The building survey began about a year and a half ago, and they still need people to interview.
Town Planner Mason Mattox is scheduling a time for the preservationists to interview citizens at the ES Douglass Community Center, where they plan to have a scanner to digitize images and articles.
Due to needed roof repairs and limited funds, the future of the Amos Broadway Theater is uncertain, despite the owner’s pursuit of grant funding.
“But it is in a lot of ways a wasted effort if the building falls in,” Slane said about trying to preserve the theater.
Properties on the National Register of Historic Places are more likely to receive grants, and registered homes receive a 15% state income tax credit.
Another benefit of registered properties is that the files remain in the archives, and when state departments, such as the North Carolina Department of Transportation, want to change roadways, they must research properties and be sensitive to historic properties.
“A lot of West Southern Pines is not a cohesive streetscape, so it’s hard to say what would be in a historical district,” Slane said.
According to Mattox, the community is divided over the idea of being designated as a historical district because it would mean having more government influence, such as restricting the types of structures.
Eligible categories for consideration on the National Register of Historic Places include:
Architectural
Important Person
Broad event during history
Social history
Commerce
Education
“We do not tell the stories of vacant sites,” Slane said. “But we still want to hear about them.”
The community is invited to contact Mattox at [email protected] with suggested dates for the interview day.
Contact Heather Slane at [email protected], or Cheri Szodronski at [email protected] to arrange an interview.
Feature photo: Our Lady of Victory Catholic School is under consideration for listing on the National Register of Historical Places April 24, 2025.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of When the Yellow Slugs Sing, Sky’s River Stone, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, Amagi, Amagi Study Guide, and EZ Essay Study Guide for Holocaust: A History.
