A group is fighting to keep a rare 19th Century home in Phoenix from being demolished. The City of Phoenix has received a notice that the owner of that home wanted to demolish the structure and want to be transformed into a commercial building, the city put a 30-day hold on the request.

The city has discovered that the home is eligible for historic designation and after looking into it, they gave the owner the go ahead to tear it down. Preservation activists have filed an appeal, hoping to save this piece of history.

"With our current development boom in Phoenix, it looks like our history is actually evaporating right before our eyes," said Opal Wagner, Vice President of Phoenix Historic Neighborhood Coalition. "A building like this is irreplaceable, and once it's gone, you can't get it back.

"The owner submitted documentation stating that it's not usable in its current state, that it's in very poor condition," said Kevin Weight with City of Phoenix Planning and Development. "Structurally, it's very deficient and it would need about $400,000 worth of work. "The hardship test also makes us look at whether the hardship was self imposed. Did the owner do anything to create the hardship themselves, and we determined that they did not."

"It's in disheveled condition. Everybody knows that. But it is one of the now 50 houses from the 19th Century that survived," said Preservation Consultant Roger Brevoort.

"I think everyone who's interested in historic preservation, I think your heart breaks each time you see one of these buildings torn down," said Wagner. "Our historic building stock in Phoenix is dwindling very low."

By Premji