Washington’s Historic Preservation Commission, during its meeting Tuesday, continued a request by the City of Washington for a certificate of appropriateness to remove a house so the Brown Library can expand.

The commission has 90 days to act on the city’s request. The commission made it clear it prefers the house at 415 W. Second St. be preserved and rehabilitated instead of being demolished, even if that preservation effort includes moving the house. The library has plans to expand the library to better accommodate the children’s library and add parking spaces.

The majority of the audience at the commission’s meeting support saving the house. Several speakers — they represented the Washington Area Historic Foundation, Preservation NC and other organizations — asked for the house to be saved and for the commission to give them time to do that. City Council members William Pitt and Virginia Finnerty, who attended the meeting, want the house to be saved, if possible. The speakers and the commission want to explore alternatives to demolishing the house. Finnerty said she would like for the City Council to reconsider its decision regarding the fate of the house. The council meets Monday.

Dee Congleton, representing WAHF, told the commission WAHF plans to hire an architect as part of its effort to save and preserve the house. Maggie Gregg, with Preservation NC’s eastern office in Greenville, told the commission there are several alternatives to save the house, including one in which Preservation NC, which works to protect endangered historic properties, would buy the house from the city and try to sell it to an entity willing to rehabilitate it.

Gregg said it that scenario transpires, the entity buying the house would be required to perform specific actions related to restoration and preservation of the house. Such covenants would be included in the deed to the property, she noted.

“There is a specific statute that would allow the City of Washington to agree to a specific sales price to a nonprofit, i.e., Preservation NC. All of our properties and surplus properties then receive restrictive covenants and rehabilitation agreements that are placed on them when the new buyer is found,” Gregg explained. “So, it eliminates the uncertainty of the upset bid process, and it also works to ensure that the integrity of the property is maintained. We’ve been able to do this with things as big as schools and things as small as individual properties.”

Gregg said moving the house would prove to be extremely difficult because it’s a brick structure.

Before deciding to continue the matter, the commission debated denying the city’s request. Had that happened, demolition of the house would have been delayed for 365 days. During that time, commission Chairman Ed Hodges noted, efforts could be made to save the house from demolition by finding an alternative to tearing it down. If such efforts failed, the house could be demolished after the 365 days.

Commission members opted to continue the city’s request until its February meeting. At that meeting, the commission could continue the request to its March meeting. If the commission does not act on the city’s request during the 90-day period, the house can be demolished, according to John Rodman, the city’s director of community and cultural resources.