Recycling Historic Commercial Buildings

by Bim Oliver, Utah Department of Community and Economic Development

"Recycling."

For most of us, it's a term associated with the "Aluminum Cans Only" bin in the office, or the illegible coding on the bottom of plastic bottles, or the pan of used motor oil in the back of the garage.  "Recycling" is probably not a term that we would associate with community planning, design, or development.  After all, past efforts at "reclaiming" or "recycling" places in communities have generally been unsuccessful and have been relegated to that most dismal of topics: "urban renewal."

But recycling can and should be an integral part of any long-term strategy for community development.  It is, in fact, the key principle behind the downtown revitalization process known as "Main Street."  The overriding objective of the Main Street Program is to "recycle" downtown by capitalizing on its emerging value in a changing marketplace.  This new worth is directly attributable to the increasing value of downtown's historic buildings, which contain distinctive, high-quality office and retail space.

Unfortunately, most elected officials, residents, and (surprisingly) downtown landlords and merchants don't share this perspective.  Their generally negative assessment of downtown real estate is based on what they see: neglected, deteriorating structures that are vacant or underutilized.  Beyond the immediate visual impression, their take on the value of downtown's historic buildings is often distorted by a number of fallacies that must be addressed if a community is to successfully "recycle" downtown.

Fallacy #1: "Those buildings aren't historic.  They're just old.  And they look like hell.  In fact, they're all about to fall down anyway."

This perspective is at least partially correct: Most downtown buildings in most communities look BAD.  But you would, too, if you'd been subjected to the same kind of neglect, abuse, and misguided cosmetic surgery.  The simple fact is that most historic commercial buildings are structurally in good shape and can be, with minor rehabilitation, "recycled" into prime commercial space.

Fallacy #2: "A new building would be much more energy-efficient than that old one."

Historically buildings incorporated energy-efficiency out of necessity: the building owner had to exploit scarce natural sources of heat, light, and ventilation. The Energy Research and Development Administration has found that buildings constructed before 1940 are actually more energy-efficient than those built between 1940 and 1975.  Unfortunately, many historic commercial buildings have been neglected or modified so as to compromise the efficiencies engineered into them.

Fallacy #3: "It'll cost too much to restore that old eyesore.  Be cheaper just to tear it down and build a new building."

In mulling over this fallacy, it's important to keep in mind one key fact: That "eyesore" is old.  Its age speaks directly to the quality of its construction, especially given the manner in which it has been treated.  (Imagine its condition if it had been well maintained.)  The other key fact to keep in mind is that the cost of rehabilitation is generally less than that of comparable new construction.  (And don't forget to add the cost of demolition to the cost of new construction.)

Fallacy #4: "New is better."

Not necessarily.  Since World War II, commercial construction has placed a premium on cost‑not quality.  A Salt Lake Tribune article of the early '60s, for example, hailed the recently constructed Cottonwood Mall as a model of the new approach to cheap, expedient commercial construction.  Somewhat ironically, as construction technology has become more sophisticated, the quality of materials (e.g., vinyl, synthetic stucco) now used in commercial construction has declined.  New buildings are, in fact, not better than old ones, because they're not as well constructed.

Unfortunately, these aren't the only misperceptions about the value of historic commercial buildings; they're a representative sampling.  Effectively revitalizing downtown begins with addressing these concerns by encouraging downtown property owners to refrain from "disposing" with their historic commercial buildings and helping them to understand the value of "recycling."