Moorestown mansion designed by Reading Terminal architects is saved from demolition, but others could be lost
An outpouring of support from the community saved 334 Chester Avenue. But other vintage homes in the township could be lost, advocates said.
A Moorestown mansion that was at risk of demolition eight months ago will be preserved as a private residence.
Designed in the 1880s by the architects of Philadelphia’s original Reading Terminal, the seven-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 334 Chester Ave. was most recently a funeral home and has been vacant for several years.
It sold for $725,000 on Dec. 6 to Rachel and Chris White, who live in Audubon. The couple are the parents of two young children and plan to make 334 Chester their new home.
“Much of the credit for [preservation] belongs to the community of Moorestown,” Rachel White said, adding: “We want to bring this house back to what it’s supposed to be.”
White also credited the nonprofit Saving Historic Moorestown and its founder and president, Julie Maravich.
The organization raises private money to underwrite grants to buyers of qualified properties. In exchange, the new owner accepts an easement that protects the exterior of the property from major alterations or demolition. Maravich said negotiations with the Whites are underway.
“The easement on 334 Chester is a first for Saving Historic Moorestown,” she said. “We’ve got several endangered houses in town and 334 Chester has sort of been our poster child to raise awareness.”
» READ MORE: Moorestown is debating how to preserve historic buildings while an owner seeks to demolish two Victorian-era homes
Historic district proposal ‘very much alive’
Maravich said the township’s effort to adopt a historic preservation ordinance and establish a downtown historic district was stalled by pressure from some in the business community.
But outgoing Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie said she expects the planning board to take up the measure as early as next month.
» READ MORE: Moorestown is trying again to establish a historic preservation district
“The house at 334 Chester was sort of the spark that lit the fire for us to really get historic preservation established,” she said, adding that some elements of the existing master plan related to historic preservation must be updated to align with elements of the proposal.
The mayor also said the ordinance will not cover every building in the downtown area. Nor will it prohibit minor cosmetic changes or dictate paint colors on those structures classified as “contributing” to the district.
And all of the buildings within the district — not just those deemed as contributing to its historic nature — will be eligible for a 5% abatement in property tax increases associated with exterior improvements made to their properties, said the mayor.
Said Lenny Wagner, the longtime Moorestown Historical Society president: “The more that buildings like [334 Chester] become at risk of being demolished, the more support there is in the community.”
He cited two adjoining Victorian homes for sale on West Main Street downtown, as well as a Revolutionary War-era structure on the eastern edge of the township, as potentially vulnerable.
Motivated by the potential demolition of the two Main Street houses to make way for a proposed apartment complex, resident Ryan Kastner created a Change.org petition July 22. It has so far attracted more than 1,600 supporters.
Kastner, who is 37 and works in tech sales, grew up in Moorestown and moved back to raise his own family there.
“I would like Moorestown to keep the character and the fabric our historic buildings represent,” he said.
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