Moeser: West House Can't Stay Where is It

Posted on Sept. 1, 2004

“There is absolutely no chance” West House can remain at its original location in the center of a planned campus arts district, Chancellor James Moeser wrote to state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird ’73 (MMUS) in August.

And advocates for preservation of West House have encountered another obstacle with the release of a relocation study that estimates it would cost more than $500,000 to move the structure.

The estimates range from $517,909 to $731,419, depending on the destination of the move and whether the original floor slab were included. The administration says it is willing to accommodate moving the house if private funds are raised.

Businessman Kenneth S. Tanner ’11 built the house in 1935 for use by his son and other family members during their time at the University. Situated behind Hill and Swain halls, it housed the computer sciences department in the 1960s and later was home to the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. Currently it is houses the Carolina Asia Center.

Construction is scheduled to begin on the Arts Common in 2006. Moeser explained to Kinnaird, a Carrboro resident whose support was sought by the group trying to preserve the building, that planning for the Arts Common over three years included seven different layouts, none of which would accommodate West House. He said the building “sits atop the site where the (planned) underground parking deck meets the utility lines.”

Kinnaird represented the Save West House Coalition at an Aug. 11 meeting with Paul Kapp, campus historic preservation manager, and the authors of the relocation study. A former music librarian at the University, she said she supports the Arts Common, but wants the administration to examine all options for preserving the small building.

University officials commissioned the study in January to examine the feasibility and cost of relocating the house from its current place to three alternative locations. Site one is 130 yards from the current location, at the edge of the Arts Common. Site two is on East Cameron Avenue, across from Coker Arboretum. Site three is behind Forest Theatre. The cost estimates include labor, reconstruction and insurance.

Chapel Hill architect John Hawkins and a structural engineer from Cary, David Fischetti, conducted the study. Hawkins has extensive experience with the town of Chapel Hill, and Fischetti is noted for moving the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

Jeffery Beam, founder of the Save West House Coalition and a science librarian on campus, said he supports the Arts Common but wants administrators to consider incorporating West House into the overall design.

“We don’t feel like it’s over with, and we’re hoping the debate intensifies as a result of the study,” Beam said.

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