People claim there’s a building falling down in Downtown Johnstown. But it is not your typical downtown building.
The Conrad Building is roughly triangular in shape and fills a cornerlot formed by the conjunction of Franklin and Vine streets and the Stonycreek River which flows immediately behind it.
Built in 1908, this commercial building stands taller than its four stories with generous brick-arched doorways and window casements, limestone lintels and accents and an impressive cornice that juts from the roof much like a parson’s flat-brimmed hat.
A symbol of Johnstown’s prosperous times, when Cambria Steel was the third-largest steelmaker in the United States and trains steadily brought European immigrants who were urgently needed to fill ever-increasing numbers of mine and mine jobs, the Conrad Building cut a jaunty figure in the downtown skyline.
However, the local attorneys and other professionals who’d long occupied its spacious offices left years ago. Today the limestone accents are soot-covered, and sizable sections of the wide cornice have dropped to the street on one side and into the Stonycreek on another.
So the Conrad Building is falling down. Or is it?
Not that many years ago, another downtown landmark building was said to be falling down, so city officials decided to demolish it to create new commercial space. The core of that building was built so solidly that its demolition required a significant amount of extra time and money to accomplish.
When does a building reach a point where it is beyond repair? I suppose the simple answer is when the cost to repair the structure exceeds its worth.
Now we arrive at the real question: What is an old building worth? And the answer to that question is not as simple.
During a recent series of public workshops, staff members of Pennsylvania’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) asked that question and got an interesting variety of answers. Participants in Johnstown responded that by preserving old buildings we are saving our history, presenting our heritage, bolstering tourism, establishing monuments, telling stories and enhancing our future.
Because of its one-way nature (once a building is gone, it can’t be brought back) historic preservation – orthe lack of it – alsoreflects our values as to what is important.A preservation ethic is part of what separates communities of distinction fromnondescript towns thatoffer only standard contemporary buildings andvacant lots.
Interestingly, within our region, community surveys revealed that just over 27 percent of us generally feel our vintage buildings tend to be well-maintained, while 24 percent believe just the opposite. The differing perspectives probably can be explained by the neighborhoods the respondents had in mind.
Surveys also showed that the largest number of people are concerned about the loss of commercial downtown buildings. Here within the Alleghenies, our downtowns still reveal much about what we once were – and contain the potential for what we might become in the future.
While challenges to historic preservation include the lack of funding, building neglect or abandonment and the region’s loss of population, a consensus seemed to form around what may be the biggest challenge: People don’t tend to appreciate the value of historic preservation.
In the case of the Conrad Building, some Johnstowners are calling for its demolition. But others are trying to put this distinctive and spacious commercial building to interesting new uses.
Acentral business district group has lined up some funding to rehabilitate the structure and is attempting to assemble a business partnership that will fill the place with a mixture of educational classrooms, offices and a restaurant.This group understands that a cornice can be rebuilt and believes that the Conrad Building’s value far exceeds the cost of its repair.
It’s my hope that this group succeeds and that other groups in communities around the region follow their example.We already have more than enough vacant lots.