If it's old and doesn't fit, tear it down!
Commentary by WaWrnaerrn@eTrh eMC.oMlMumonbitagSotamr.ceormy

Ben Arnold Jr., a brash young developer, bought a 78- year- old craftsman farmhouse on 2.37 acres in Heathwood from David Ellison Jr. for $2.2 million. The 3,250- square foot house had been lived in comfortably by the Ellisons for 35 years.

Knowing the house was historically important, Arnold told the neighborhood association and the Historic Columbia Foundation he planned to save the house and build around it. Everyone relaxed. Then, he sidestepped his way through city zoning regulations and in the shadows of early morning, July 25, he demolished the house.

The StAartne old was quoted in as saying, "I don't know why people are making such a big deal over that house. It's nothing special. It's a farmhouse in the middle of town that's out of place." In developer Speak, this means, "If I think it's old and doesn't fit, I'm gonna tear it down."

Mayor Bob Coble, a sometimes preservationist, declared mild outrage and promised to tighten the ordinances. City Councilman Kirkman Finlay, in whose district the house stood, walked the knife blade between preservation and property rights promising nothing.

Columbia is still suffering the demolition of historic places during the 1940s and 1950s when most homes and buildings that survived Sherman fell to so- called "economic development." In their place, rose insignificant structures that are now facing their own replacement by glass and steel. The result has been a lessening of the importance of Columbia's history and a curse on potential tourist attraction.

Ben Arnold knows better. His family has been a part of Columbia's growth for a century. He preserved Schneider School and other historic buildings for posterity. But in this case, he deserves more than a public condemnation. Surely, his pocketbook can be hit in some legal way.