艾里山（Mount Airy）历史悠久的扁铁大楼的未来将在周二研讨会上讨论

Town officials will continue to discuss the fate of the historic Flat Iron Building in Mount Airy during a joint workshop between Town Council and a task force looking for ways to preserve the building.

The workshop will be held at 5 p.m., Tuesday, at the Mount Airy Town Hall, 110 South Main St., in the council chambers. The meeting is open to residents, however, no public comment will be allowed. Mount Airy Mayor Larry Hushour said the workshop discussion will focus on “plausible ways to either restore the building in place, or move the building slightly south and east to a new footprint.” There is no vote planned.

十多年来，该镇一直试图决定这座历史建筑的命运。艾尔山（Mount Airy）城镇经理戴维·沃灵顿（David Warrington）表示，正在考虑三个建议 - 拆除它，将其保持在同一地点，并尽一切努力使其安全或拆除当前的建筑物并在附近重建。

5月，由于安全问题，镇议会以3比2投票通过拆除该结构。当月晚些时候，豪豪（Hushour）说，他正在探索保存历史建筑的选择。

“I am willing to say, with absolutely no uncertainty, that the concerned citizens of this town deserve the right to restore this building with their own volunteer task force established by me,” Hushour said in May. “I am offering to take responsibility for this building, for better or worse.”

Over the years, several groups of volunteers have rallied to save the building.

Most recently, Larry Valett, a volunteer with the Historical Society of Carroll County, and town residents Charles Beck and Jim Molesworth, spearheaded an effort to explore preservation options that could be funded by state and federal grant money.

The building is significant because it was rebuilt out of brick after the Fire of 1903 burned all of South Main Street, according to Valett. William Smith, a harness maker, owned the structure at the time. Since 1903, it has stood in various configurations and had many uses, including as the town hall, a museum and the first American Legion Post in town after World War II.

现有的建筑物有三层楼，占地约1,000平方英尺。该结构是承载的混凝土或砖墙，有两个木框地板，上层最高水平的木框天花板和一个木框屋顶。

In 1950, the town purchased the building with an intent to demolish it and widen Main Street, but in 1959, the Town Council voted to keep the building intact, Valett said.

2022年1月，镇议会授予了一份40,000美元的合同，用于设计集体（一家建筑公司），以探索扁铁建筑地点的开发选择。该镇最近支付了24,000美元建筑物的结构评估，由Albrecht Engineering，Inc。进行，其报告于1月3日发布。

According to the report, the engineering firm estimates a cost of about $541,000 to rehab the main structure, complete site work and construct a tunnel that would replace a narrow portion of sidewalk along the current building and create a tunnel walkway along Main Street for pedestrians. The report noted the estimate was for structural improvement costs only, and there would be architectural, site/utility and other costs not covered in the report.

Hushour一直在前线奋斗，以节省他所谓的标志性城镇建筑。他在八月份组建了一个居民的工作队，以研究拯救建筑物免于被拆除所需的结构和工程改进。该工作队有九名成员，包括豪绍（Hushour）和镇议员林恩·加莱蒂（Lynne Galletti），担任理事会联络人。

“I look forward to having the task force work with the council to see if some common ground may be reached leading to the restoration of the building,” Hushour said. “The task force has been very motivated since its inception.

“The building was decorated by volunteers and was quite an attraction throughout the holiday season. Through the Historical Society many fundraising activities have been held in an effort to defray the costs of the structural assessment.”

In the town’s 2020 Community Survey, in answer to a question on how residents would like to see their tax dollars used on the Flat Iron Building, about 75% of respondents indicated they wanted the building removed and replaced with another option, such as a park, plaza or new building. Just 7% chose to refurbish the building.