Published: November 19, 2008 08:02 pm      

Officials eye brownstone site’s future year after collapse

BLUEFIELD — Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the collapse of one of the city of Bluefield’s most recognizable buildings — the historic brownstone Pedigo Building on Princeton Avenue and Bland Street.

The 1895 brownstone was home to First National Bank in its early years, and served other businesses through the decades, but had been vacant for several years prior to its collapse on Nov. 19, 2007. In the weeks before the walls came down, city crews had been working to cover the roof to protect the structure from another winter of damage.

“It’s still sad,” Bluefield Mayor Linda Whalen said. “Every time I drive by the lot where that beautiful brownstone building stood, my heart gets a little twitter. It was an enduring image of the historic downtown.”

When the city acquired the Pedigo Building and the structure next door that housed a used office supply business prior to its closing, it also acquired the old Southern Office Supply and Southern Printing Company business that is still standing. “We recently walked through the old Southern Office building with a group of people and found it to be left in good shape,” Whalen said.

“The roof of that building would make an excellent railroad overlook, and the rest of the building would make a wonderful museum,” Whalen said. “If we can’t develop it ourselves, we could work with the group that visited it with us to develop it.

“Although that beautiful old brownstone fell, we still feel as though we’re going forward in the city,” Whalen said. “With what we have been able to do with the former Bluefield Daily Telegraph Building, I think we have been successful in making it look good as well as being on the way to getting it stabilized. I can tell you, that saving historic buildings can be an expensive undertaking when you consider the level of damage and that most old buildings have asbestos in them. That has to be dealt with properly.”

Whalen said the footprint left vacant when the Pedigo and neighboring buildings were razed “would make a wonderful green spot and a place for an informational board with a design of the Bluefield railroad yard,” she said. She said the city is working on an even bigger plan for Princeton Avenue.

City Manager Mark Henne said that after the buildings were razed, city workmen started working on a cosmetic treatment of the Southern Office Building exterior wall. “We have a lot of work already done on that,” Henne said. “We should be able to finish when the weather breaks.”

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com