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NAZARETH MAY SAVE TWO HISTORIC HOMES * THE SCHOOL BOARD AND CHAMBER WORK TOGETHER TO PRESERVE BUILDINGS THE DISTRICT NO LONGER NEEDS.

Morning Call - Allentown, Pa. Author: TRACY JORDAN, The Morning Call

Copyright Morning Call Apr 9, 1999

Nazareth Area School Board won't post for sale signs on the two historic buildings it owns on Center Square in Nazareth until after it gives residents a chance to offer suggestions on how to proceed.

A special meeting is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Thursday in the former high school auditorium.

"We as a board decided it would be a good thing to make the community a part of the decision-making process," said Director Carol Lee Fry, who chairs the Buildings and Grounds Committee. "This should alleviate any confusion and allow us to answer any questions from the get-go."

There's been no opposition to the sale of the buildings, which served as homes before the district acquired them in the 1970s for administrative offices, but at least one group has urged the district to ensure they are preserved.

The Nazareth Chamber of Commerce and its Historic Preservation Committee wrote to the district last June asking that the properties not be sold to the general public because of their historical and architectural importance.

"We're not against them selling them," said chamber President Colleen B. Lavdar. "We just want to make sure the historic value of those homes is preserved."

The district plans to vacate the buildings this summer and move the administration to the first floor of the former middle school, which is being renovated for high school classrooms and new offices.

Nancy Little, who chairs the chamber's Historic Preservation Committee, said the group plans to make a formal presentation to the board.

"I think anyone who has been a resident of Nazareth for a period of time would be concerned," Little said. "We want whoever would own the buildings to be the type of people who would take the historical heritage of these buildings seriously."

Susan M. Dreydoppel, executive director of the Moravian Historical Society and a board member of Nazareth Heritage Inc., said neither organization has taken a formal position in the matter.

"Selling them is not a concern," Dreydoppel said. "I could think of a bunch of wonderful things that could happen with them, but I could also think of a bunch of horrible things."

Dreydoppel said the sale of the buildings, one of which was built when Nazareth was a closed Moravian community in 1820 and the other a brick Victorian dating back to the late 1800s, probably has residents remembering the 1984 destruction of the borough's best example of a Victorian home at New and Center streets.

"I almost can't look at the (photographs) of it, because it's really, really painful if you're into historic preservation," Dreydoppel said. "I think probably what everyone is trying to avoid is the situation that occurred then."

Grace Bible Fellowship Church razed the home of industrialist Conrad Miller in 1890 for its new facility, but the ground on which the house sat remains a grassy area.

Both of the district's buildings are in the 50-square blocks of the borough that were placed on the National Register of Historic Places a decade ago, but the borough does not have preservation ordinances to ensure historical properties aren't inappropriately altered or destroyed.

Solicitor Annette P. Landes said the school district can sell the buildings through a public auction or by advertising for bids, but the board had decided to pursue a private sale to control who buys them.

However, any offer it accepts must be approved by Northampton County Court.

"Prior to that, it's up to the school board to set the terms under which they want to sell the property," Landes said. "The hearing is not required, but the board felt this would be the best way to get public input."

Proceeds from the sale must be used toward the district's $52 million construction project, which also included a new middle school and renovations to the three elementary schools and high school.

The state Department of Education also will receive a share because it has financially contributed to the building program.

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