Leonard Wilson: Preserve Raleigh’s structures

I enjoyed your Aug. 2 front-page story “State undecided on historic mansion 30 years later” about the Heck-Andrews House, one of Raleigh’s few remaining 19th century glorious mansions.

I implore the city/state/private interests to save this magnificent structure, but I’m not putting much stock in the state’s further involvement considering the narrow-mindedness of our General Assembly and the administration for further funding.

As a lifelong resident of Raleigh and having often visited the beautifully restored Southern cities of Savannah, Ga., Charleston and Beaufort, S.C., and even Wilmington in our state, I can only feel shame at Raleigh’s efforts to preserve its history.

I remember some of the great structures on Blount Street and the Capital City’s greatest mistake ever in not maintaining the Mansion Park Hotel, formerly a college, also on Blount Street, converted to a government parking lot.

I also remember many of the beautiful structures on Hillsborough Street near the State Capitol, now a hodge-podge of largely junky-looking places. Very little remains of the once-beautiful Raleigh, a sad story of an otherwise hot-growth city that, without caution, may pay another price in history for its current condo mania.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Leonard Wilson: Preserve Raleigh’s structures."