POSSIBLE HOME OF COVINGTON'S FIRST MAYOR WON'T BE PARKING LOT YET

by Michael Monks 

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Rendering of parking lot next to Legacy Financial
where an old building stands now

Covington's first mayor may have lived in one of the buildings that are now designated 119-121 East Fourth Street, though maybe he didn't as an 1834 census merely suggests that Mortimer Benton lived on the block though perhaps not at that specific address. Other evidence lends credence to the belief that the structures date later than 1834, closer in fact to 1846. What is known for certain is that 119-121 is a very old building next to another very old building that after an expensive renovation is now home to a growing firm of financial advisers who want to turn its neighbor into an attractive parking lot. 
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Covington preservationist makes case for 119-121
East 4th Street

"It's pre-Civil War and that's pretty old and I knew that would be an issue, and I do take knocking down an historic building very seriously, but I don't think it's an economically viable property," said Bradd Zapp, registered principal of Legacy Financial, a six-year old company now located in a renovated antebellum structure at 117 East Fourth Street in what Zapp referenced as one of the oldest former churches in the Commonwealth. The same city that awarded Zapp and his team for their restoration of 117 rejected Monday afternoon his plans to demolish 119-121. 
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At an unusually lengthy ninety-minute meeting of Covington's urban design review board, the city's historic preservationist recommended against Legacy's desired parking lot that would feature landscaping or a brick wall or a wrought iron fence, whatever the UDRB was willing to approve. "While there are several adopted plans for this area none of the plans show a need for parking in the area," said Beth Johnson. "While there is a perceived need the actual numbers show that the on-street parking is heavily utilized but other parking, such as the Yoke parking lot a block away from the site in question is only sixty-five percent full during peak hours." 
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Brad Zapp of Legacy Financial

For both parties, however, the proposed demolition of 119-121 was about more than parking. Legacy thinks that with its smaller, older neighbor out of the way, the drivers headed west on 4th Street would see a more impressive Gateway into the city from Newport. "I believe the view of our building is more appealing than what is there now," Zapp argued, adding that right now drivers going west on 4th see the windowless brick walls of the long-neglected former law office next to his building. "We have eight very large windows on the side of our building. We want that to be the visual, and we want the curb cut, and we want to add value to a building we have millions in." 
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For the handful of preservation advocates at City Hall Monday afternoon, the debate was about the saving of a building that was the home of Rookwood decorative artist Mary Nourse from 1914 to the 1940s. Mary was the niece of the internationally known impressionist painter Elizabeth Nourse, a Cincinnati native. "Removal of this building would damage an historic streetscape in Covington," said Alma Puissegur, an attorney who lives in Mainstrasse. "We are not at a point in this community to tear down lovely old buildings just so someone can have curb cuts." 
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"When you start damaging streetscapes it has a detrimental effect on the whole area," said Everett Dameron of Licking Riverside. (Legacy's) building sat vacant for twenty-five years. (119-121) was there when they started their project, it should have been addressed then." Brad Zapp believes that the most recent owner of 119-121, an attorney who had an office there, died just four days after Legacy decided to move in next door in 2008. The property has been on and off the market ever since but Legacy has a $177,000 contract pending on it. A few lawyers rent three rooms inside currently.
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Zapp had originally sought to renovate the roughly one-hundred seventy-five year-old former townhouses that are dwarfed in height by the Legacy Financial building, but decided against it following an inspection that revealed mold, lead paint, asbestos, wood-eating insects, plumbing damage that may result in sewage, and outlets that show signs of a previous fire. A $335,000 bid by a contractor to lead the renovation solidified Zapp's change of heart on saving the building. "There is no other economical use for the property," Zapp said. 
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Those words were all too familiar to Gina Estes, a member of Progress With Preservation, who said that the same message was espoused a few years ago when plans emerged to raze the former John W. Stevenson house on Greenup, a building that is now renovated and serving as a commercial office for a business. "We don't want to diminish the work that Legacy has done (to 117), but (119-121) contributes to the block in size and scale," Estes said. "It would kind of be like missing a tooth. They are worth more when they are left standing."
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Another preservation advocate sided with Legacy. Barry Johnson, of Mainstrasse, visited 119-121 earlier Monday and described what he noticed as alterations to the original structures, including the roof and the brick, and said he supported another change: tearing the buildings down and allowing Legacy to build a parking lot, citing the company's strong statement by investing in Covington. "It would create a beautiful gateway," Johnson said. Look what's there now then look at their plans. It's better." 
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Because Legacy's plan did not meet any of the five criteria set forth by the city's historic preservationist, City Hall recommended against it and the urban design review board unanimously agreed. 119-121 was not ordered demolished by the City for health or safety reasons, it is not a noncontributing building, the proposed parking lot would not strengthen the viability of the area, the demolition would not be consistent with plans or policies adopted by the city commission, the city's staff suggested and the board ruled. 
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However, a ninety-day window was left open for the UDRB along with historic preservationist Beth Johnson and other city staff to create a redevelopment plan of its own for 119-121 as an attempt to prove that the structures do have economic vitality. That redevelopment plan will be presented at a public meeting but if the UDRB fails to prove the economic vitality of the structures, Legacy will be granted permission to build its parking lot. Members of the board expressed that the $335,000 bid by Legacy's contractor to renovate the building was high and that with historic tax credits and other cost measures, the building could be saved and redeveloped.