The little brown garage in Naylor Court (1322 9th Street rear) beside Darryl Carter’s recently renovated, restored and refurbished stable is at risk of being razed by its owner. Naylor Court lost one of its oldest (1863) stables (1316 9th Street rear) several years ago through developer pressure. This must not happen again! 

·      The historic importance of the Naylor Court and Blagden Alley collection of heterogeneous alley buildings was recognized in 1990 when they became listed as a group (every building) on the National Register of Historic Places. Each building in its own unique way contributes to the history of the alleys.

·      The owner of 1322 9th Street has badly damaged his building and land through years of neglect and abuse. He now wants permission to “finish it off” and effectively bury the evidence of negligence and poor stewardship of a piece of the alley’s heritage. A blighted property such as this harms a neighborhood enormously.

·      The raze permit application has been put on hold by the DCRA pending the Historic Preservation Review Board hearing on January 24th 2013.

·      The ANC-2F commissioners have recently voted to block this raze permit to protect the building and are writing to the Historic Preservation Office.

·      Several capable individuals are interested in restoring this building.

·      The Historic Preservation Office has declared 1322 9th St. (rear) to be a “contributing” structure in Naylor Court.

·      While it may not look like much at the moment, creative adaptive reuse can easily transform it. I strongly believe that the collection of small historic buildings (including this one) in Naylor Court should be preserved for future generations so they can each tell their own stories – either humble or proud.

If you agree with opposing this raze permit, please sign this petition so that I can present a significant weight of community opinion, along with other testimony at the Historic Preservation Review Board meeting on January 24th 2013.         [441 4th Street NW, Room 220 South, 9:00 a.m.]

http://preservingdcstables.blogspot.com/

("Death Threat Received for Small Alley Building ..."  Dec 19th 2012)