State historical society questions structures set for removal
Published 11:00 pm Thursday, December 20, 2012
The City of Brundidge has received a Community Development Block Grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs that will include the removal of several delapidated structures within the city limits.
However, three of those structures have been called into question by the Alabama Historical Commission.
Britt Thomas, city mamager, said anytime such a grant is submitted the structures must be approved by the Alabama Historical Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers and others.
“The state historical commission has asked for additional information on three structures included in the grant application,” Thomas said. “We don’t know what the historical commission’s interest is and we have not responded yet. We were given 75 days to respond and we’ll hit this hard in January.”
Two of the structures are houses that are abandoned and delapidated. The other is a block structure on Veterans Blvd. that has been vacated for a long period of time and is disrepair.
Thomas said the block building was, at one time, a grocery store that served a large segment of the community and probably dates back to the 1930s.
Hattie Flowers, a local nonagenarian, said that her family moved from out on Shiloh Road to Brundidge in 1935.
“And, I can’t say for sure but I believe that the store was there,” she said. “So, it’s been there a mighty long time. I can remember back in the 1960s when Will J. Flowers ran a little ol’ grocery store there. A lot of people bought their groceries there because he sold on time. You could still eat if you didn’t have the money to pay right then. Mr. Tom Conner had the same kind of grocery store down on the railroad track behind the Caldwell cotton gin. You don’t see those kinds of grocery stores around much anymore, especially in town.”
Thomas said the historical significance of the block store could be that it is a holdover from the past. However, he said the signifiance of the houses could possibly be in the type of materials used, including slate roofing.