Calls for accountability — and pushes for preservation — are surfacing after a 150-year-old home was crushed to the ground in Banks.
With tensions palpable just four days after the historic Wilkes House was razed , some councilors asserted during a Tuesday, July 9, meeting that there was little they could have done to prevent the demise, despite recent outcries from the Banks Historical Society.
Originally docketed as a conversation around efforts to preserve the home, city leaders instead held a moment of silence for the destroyed property, which was built by the area’s first permanent Euro-American settlers in the 1870s. On the other side of the dais, community members raised photos of the historic house throughout the meeting, paying tribute to the history that now sits as a pile of shattered timber.
Mayor Stephanie Jones shared a prepared statement regarding the house, saying that plans from community advocates were unclear and blaming the destruction, at least in part, on funding issues.
“The presentation at the June city council meeting was a mix of history, questions and accusations which we had no advanced knowledge of to be able to respond to,” Jones said. “The biggest takeaway was that the historical society was not going to move the house, and they wanted the full property preserved. This was a large contrast from the presentation in October of 2023, which had them moving the house and talking to the property owners.”
“The city did some research and found that moving the house would cost at least $1 million,” she continued. “This was not a budgeted expense; we were counting on the historical society to be the fund-raisers.”
But other councilors called the city's role in the demolition into question.
“I just want to say that I was extremely disappointed in the way that all went down. I felt like we got really ripped off by the house coming down when it did, before we could have this meeting tonight to be able to talk about it,” Councilor Marilyn McCalister said. “I find it really hard to believe that there isn't anyone in this room that can pick up the phone and ask (the property owner) to please wait.”
Are community organizations to blame?
City Attorney Dan Kearns, in his remarks, explained that he believed the onus to save the house was on community members, and out of the city’s purview.
“There's several layers of regulations for designated historic properties: federal law, state law, and then local communication … . There's a process, and it’s usually not government driven,” Kearns said. “It's usually on local advocacy groups to move these processes forward, to accumulate enough information about a property to nominate it through the federal system and the state system … government certainly has a role, but it's the people who nominate these properties.”
Kearns noted how historical designation was not addressed over the past three years of developmental agreement negotiations, as the city looks toward transforming 30 acres on its westside for residential and commercial development .
“It wasn’t ever mentioned to me that there was a historic house there until last October,” Kearns said. “Ideally, if it had been brought up, it would have been incorporated into the development agreement, accommodating the preservation of the house.”
Kearns continued that he was under the impression that the property owners — North Plains-based Lone Oak Land and Investment Company and Florida-based Wolverine Financial — would donate the structure and even a piece of land to relocate it on, but one councilor directly pushed back on that claim.
“In regards to what the city attorney Dan Kearns said, one thing I will say is that we were never contacted by the property owner saying that they had a lot for us,” Marsha Kirk, councilor and President of the Banks Historical Society, said. “We have been trying to work with members in the community to move it to other properties; those did not come to fruition.”
Moving the property raised issues with preserving the home’s historical value, according to Kirk, and could hinder what chances there might have been to obtain grants for restoration.
What's next for what remains?
On behalf of the historical society, Kirk requested that the city ask the property owners to halt any further demolition work — and adjust the Westside agreement to ensure the site’s preservation.
“Then maybe as city councilors, as the community, we can talk about possible other options,” she said.
Historical society members echoed calls to take immediate action toward preservation during the meeting’s public comment period, including Ayla Hofler, who reamed the city for not being proactive in saving the home.
“The Westside agreement needs to be amended immediately — one sentence that says that tax lot is to be deeded to the city ... as is, instead not defining anything, which was a huge oversight of the whole city staff,” Hofler said. “That resulted in the destruction of a beautiful home that could have been nationally registered.”
Hofler, a local resident of over 50 years, attempted to prevent the excavator from plowing through the home July 5, and she said she believes the building was intentionally torn down right after the holiday to prevent opposition.
Records indicate that the construction company, operated adjacent to the Wilkes House, received a demolition permit from Washington County on Wednesday, July 3 — one working day before the house was all but razed entirely.
“There is so much liability to go around that I can't even begin, and to say that you didn't know anything about this house for all this time — it's been talked about for years. And it's well known to your city council members exactly what that house is, and you've never even said anything about getting it included in the development, which tells me that you didn't care,” Hofler said.
While much of the building is gone due to a demolition permit carried out by Five Star Builders, not all appears to be lost, Jones said.
“I have also seen (social media) posts saying Five Star Builders shouldn't have done the work, but because they did, they were able to salvage a few parts, including the windows and some other architectural features on their own dime, so parts of it are living on and could become part of the new project," Jones said.
And questions remain over the rest of the acre, which the historical society believes could be an unmarked Native American burial ground needed to be studied for its archeological significance.
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