BLYTHEWOOD – An executive session item on the Jan. 20 agenda for the Blythewood Board of Architectural Review caught the eye of a number of Blythewood old-timers.
The meeting agenda item stated: “Receipt of legal advice for matters covered by the attorney-client privilege (300 Main Street application for certificate of appropriateness for demolition.)”
That discussion would not be in public and there was nothing else on the agenda about the building at 300 Main Street. Still, the word demolition piqued interest around town.
The building that sits at 300 Main Street is the historic former Wilson’s store building.
According to the Blythewood Historical Society website, the building was constructed in 1914 for a grocery/dry goods store.
“This has been an important local landmark for Blythewood for over a century,” according to the Society’s website. “It has been a store, post office, barber shop, and is now a church.”
According to the Blythewood Scrapbook, Roger Wilson purchased the store in 1939 for between $1,200 and $1,500, and ran it as a successful business until he closed it in 1984.
Prior to BAR members going into executive session to discuss the matter, two members of the audience addressed the issue during public comment.
“It saddens me to think that they would tear down the Wilson grocery store,” said lifelong Blythewood resident Missy Clementi, 54. “Not only do I have memories of the store, but it’s part of our history in our town. We don’t have many buildings left. The Wilson’s store does have a lot of history, and our history in Blythewood is dwindling away. The Wilson’s store is one of the buildings that we do cherish and, you know, it’d be nice to see a thriving business in there. I’d like to see it cherished and valued,” she said. “Please don’t tear it down.”
Sixth-generation Blythewoodian Martha McCoy, also 54, and a former kindergarten classmate of Clementi’s, now serves as president of the Blythewood Historical Society. She addressed the Board.
“I oppose the demolition of the Wilson store at 300 Main Street and I would like to work with you (BAR members) and let you know the vast history of that building and of all the old buildings in the town,” McCoy said. “If you need any historical background to fight it, I’m here for you. Do not destroy that one,” she pleaded.
The issue has not come before the Board other than as an executive session item.
Current building owner Matthew Graham, who grew up in Blythewood, says he purchased it last fall as a storefront for his renovation business. After finding severe deterioration under the building, Graham says he realized he would have to demolish it and build a new building.
“I would like to work with the Town and save the building,” he said, “but I would need to add a coffee shop with a drive-thru to make the repairs underneath the building financially feasible.”
To do that, Graham says he would need a driveway around the building that exits onto the right on Hwy 21.
According to the Town’s zoning ordinance, because the building is a Class II historic building, the Town has the right to negotiate for up to 60 days, seeking a way to reserve the site.
“That 60 days will be up in early March,” Graham said. “I hope we can work something out.”