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NAZARETH RESIDENTS TRY TO PRESERVE HISTORY * GROUP WANTS TO BUY TWO CENTER SQUARE PROPERTIES FOR MORAVIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

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

Copyright Morning Call May 29, 1999

Nazareth residents hope to preserve two historical buildings Nazareth Area School District plans to sell by raising enough money to buy them for The Moravian Historical Society.

Florist Nancy Little, attorney James Zulick and civic leader Evelyn Huth are forming a committee to explore the possibility of a fund drive to purchase the Center Square properties housing the school district's administrative and business offices.

"If the historical society would take over the buildings, they're certainly very well equipped to do what's best as far as restoration and authenticity," Little said. "It's not going to be a small undertaking. I give them a lot of credit, because the buildings do need a great deal of work and attention."

Little and Moravian Historical Society Executive Director Susan M. Dreydoppel presented the proposal to the school board, which is in the process of having the properties appraised as a first step toward putting them on the market.

"I kept hearing, occasionally, people around town saying, 'it's too bad the historical society couldn't buy them and use them,'" Dreydoppel said. "And we started saying, 'well, if someone wanted to buy them we would certainly consider taking them.'"

School board members also have expressed a desire to have the new owners preserve the buildings, which the district will abandon this summer when it moves to its new administrative offices in the former middle school.

The school board held a public hearing in April to receive suggestions from residents on how to liquidate the properties while maintaining their historical integrity. Several of the two dozen residents who attended spoke passionately about the historical and architectural significance of the structures.

The red brick Victorian-style building at 8 Center Square, the district's administration building named in honor of former Superintendent Herbert F. Cobley, was built in the late 1800s.

The gray, stone building dates to 1820 and was built by Andrew G. Kern, an employee of Peter S. Trumbower who in 1916 purchased the Trumbower Co. and became president.

Dreydoppel said the historical society can't formulate a plan for the use of the buildings until after the district moves out and they can be thoroughly inspected.

However, if the historical society becomes the eventual owner, Dreydoppel said, it's likely portions would have to be rented to pay for the buildings' upkeep and operation.

"We sort of kicked around some ideas for their uses, but at this point it's still a little bit in the dreaming stage so we're not making any firm plans," Dreydoppel said. "Realistically, we're going to have to get some income out of them."

The committee has not begun any formal fund-raising because it's waiting for the school district to obtain appraisals. Once the committee has an idea of their worth, then it can decide whether it's a realistic goal to purchase them, Little said.

Under state law, the school district can donate the properties to a nonprofit historical group such as The Moravian Historical Society. However, Little said she and the other committee members recognize the district is financially strapped because of its $52 million building program.

"We have no intention of having them do that under the circumstances," Little said. "It is possible, though, that the school board would excuse some of the moneys. They have to search their souls to know what's right."

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