By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Greenwood's first general store opened in 1846 at the crossroads of the old Madison Road and the old Shelbyville Road.
More stores, a saw mill and an iron foundry soon came to the crossroads, now Madison Avenue and Main Street, the center of a burgeoning town that was settled two decades earlier.
The Van Valer law office building was built at the bustling intersection in 1860, and masons put up many of the neighboring brick facades after the turn of the century as the interurban electric railway allowed more people to live in Greenwood.
Five of the Main Street buildings that would be destroyed as part of Greenwood's Old Town revitalization plans are from that era and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but Mayor Charles Henderson said that wouldn't prevent their demolition.
Being listed on the register confers prestige to properties but does not offer protection, said Amy Walker, Department of Natural Resources historian.
The city's plans for sparking new life into the commercial district include tearing down the buildings on the southeast corner of the Main Street-Madison Avenue intersection to widen Main Street. Preservation groups said the two-story brick buildings are a part of Greenwood's history that cannot be replaced.
Preservation groups hope to work with the city on its revitalization plans to try to preserve the structures.
Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and Franklin Heritage Inc. want to talk with the mayor about the historical significance of the buildings and options for revitalizing the downtown while preserving the city's heritage, such as by pursuing grant funding to spruce up the facades.
Henderson has not met or talked with the groups.
He said he's always cared deeply about Greenwood since growing up in the downtown area but says he takes no personal interest in historical preservation in this case. He's been saddened to see Old Town lose the vibrancy it once had and said there would be no way to restore it except by drastic measures, such as demolition.
"Greenwood has the prerogative of doing whatever it wants for revitalization," said Rob Shilts, director of Franklin Heritage. "But it would be unfortunate if the city were to lose part of its heritage - what makes Greenwood uniquely Greenwood - and replace it with a strip center you could find anywhere.
"If you were to close your eyes and get dropped off anywhere in most of central Indiana, you'd be in the United States of Generica, just one shopping center after another."
Old Town is the heart of Greenwood, but it needs a transplant, Henderson said.
Greenwood Park Mall long ago eclipsed Old Town as the city's center of commerce, and a major overhaul would be needed to make Old Town a popular destination again, he said.
"Revitalization is not going to happen unless some of the buildings come down," Henderson said. "That might be an issue to some, but it's the only way to make this thing work."
The U.S. Department of the Interior's register recognizes Greenwood's downtown as a historically significant district. The district contains 25 historically noteworthy buildings, almost all of which are brick and have Italianate, Romanesque revival and classical revival architectural influences.
The Old Town commercial district is Greenwood's only listing on the federal historic register.
To be listed, registered properties must be at least 50 years old and notable because of architectural style or associations with a time and place, with a broader pattern of history or with a significant person, Walker said. For instance, a courthouse might be recognized as the center of government.
Owners of recognized historic property can get tax credits or grants for approved renovation projects. But no restrictions are placed on registered property unless federal dollars have gone into it.
"The owner can do whatever they want to do with their property," Walker said. "We don't monitor, we just recognize."
Owners of historical properties are responsible for setting out the markers that often commemorate the sites, she said.
In 1990, the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce and the Greenwood Economic Development Commission paid a Bloomington-based architectural firm $3,600 to get the Old Town commercial area on the historic register. After a review period, the federal government approved the application a year later.
"This compact remnant of late 19th and early 20th century Greenwood stands in direct contrast to the surrounding suburban, residential and modern commercial architecture, which so strongly identifies Greenwood," architect Cynthia Brubaker wrote while making the city's application to get the district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"The district presents a solid collection of buildings rendered in a functional design with many handsome details whose survival attests to the quality of workmanship employed in their construction."
The federal government does not recognize two of the buildings on the north side of Main Street just east of Madison Avenue as historically significant because they don't share the same period architecture.
The commercial district is one of 14 recognized sites in Johnson County, most of which are in Franklin. Statewide, about 1,600 sites are listed, Walker said.
Once listed, buildings are rarely torn down, but it does happen, usually when the owner dies or sells the property to a developer, Walker said.
She could not recall another instance of a municipal government proposing to tear down historic buildings.
In the case of Old Town, the area has faded for long enough, and something has to be done, Henderson said.
Engineers and developers have said backed-up traffic would stifle any new investment in the area unless something was done to widen Main Street. The idea of widening the streets has been discussed for decades, Henderson said.
Tearing down the buildings on the south side of Main Street makes the most sense because the city already owns the property along Machledt Drive to the south, which would make it easier to redevelop the area, Henderson said.
The proposal is to replace those buildings with multi-use buildings with some retail that would share the architectural style of the area.
Greenwood would not have to tear down the buildings to achieve its goal of revitalizing the area, Shilts said.
Having traffic moving slowly past the intersection increases the chances motorists just won't drive by, he said. Unique and historical buildings can be a draw both for businesses and customers, Shilts said.
The renovated Artcraft Theatre in downtown Franklin is a good example of how an attraction can be created while preserving history, he said. Since its renovation, the Artcraft brings 10,000 people to downtown every year.
Those movie-goers spend time downtown and patronize downtown shops, eat at downtown restaurants and drink at downtown bars, he said.
"I do not in any way want to criticize what Greenwood wants to do, but they should realize that its history can be preserved," Shilts said. "If you take down a third of the Old Town, it would just be a simulacra Old Town and not the real thing."
Once torn down, those buildings never can be rebuilt, said Rebecca Smith, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana community preservation specialist.
"Greenwood would lose more than just a vital connection to its past," Smith said. "Greenwood would lose what makes it unique, what makes it Greenwood."