Hotel owner fights to save historic Phoenix buildings - KTAR.com

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PHOENIX - Cityscape, U.S. Airways Center and Chase Field are all popular places that help to make downtown Phoenix more vibrant, but a valley historic preservationist says Phoenix needs do more to preserve its heritage.

Robert Melikian said Phoenix needs to save older buildings by passing stronger laws requiring new owners to prove they have the financing to redevelop building sites before historic buildings are demolished.

"Right now, the most they can do is delay someone demolishing their building for 365 days," said Melikian. "That's it, whether the building is on the National Register of Historic buildings or not. In Phoenix, you can just tear it down, hope for the best and force the rest of us to look at empty lots for decades."

It was decades ago when Melikian gained a passion for saving Phoenix's older buildings.

"I saw the old Luhrs Hotel torn down needlessly 35 years ago," said Melikian. "That's what drew me to be a historic preservationist. A man came into money, had big visions, torn it down and then went bankrupt. We looked at an empty lot for 30 years there."

That site near Central and Jefferson is now home of the new Cityscape, but Melikian says other buildings have also gone by the wayside.

"The Fox Theatre, the Central Christian church at 400 North Central on the east side of the street, is still a vacant lot," Melikian said, adding that those are just a few examples.

Melikian is the owner of the San Carlos Hotel and author of the book Vanishing Phoenix. He took us to Second and Monroe Streets, where a row of buildings from the early 1900s once stood that he thinks also should have been preserved.

"Millionaire's Row was east Monroe street, starting at first and second street were the millionaire mansions," Melikian said. "Anyone with money wanted to live on this street. They had about a dozen mansions. The last one left is the Rossen house, which is a magnificent treasure. But we lost two that could have easily been saved, where the Herberger Theater is. We need the Herberger theater, it's a terrific asset to downtown, but they could have put it anywhere. In the 1950s and '60s, they knocked down two beautiful Victorian mansions that were there."

He says another building at Central and Monroe should be saved. A former lodging house built in the 1800s became the St. Frances Hotel shortly after 1910.

"You can see that it used to have pillars on the sidewalk here," Melikian said. "A beautiful, old, charming building that is underneath this facade that was added in the 1940s."

The building is now vacant and boarded up. It is the second oldest building in Phoenix.

The oldest is the one that houses Majerle's Sports Grill downtown. Melikian said, like Majerle's, the St. Frances could be made vibrant again.

"There's a lot of room for charm and things that you couldn't duplicate," Melikian claimed. "Craftsmanship is behind these walls here, beautiful hardwood floors, high ceilings. We'd really see a part of the story of the history of Phoenix here, how they catered to tourists coming to town."

And right next to it is the multi-story former Valley National Bank building. It's empty and for sale for seven million dollars. In the 1960s, it had a huge Valley National Bank sign on top that could be seen citywide. "The world's largest revolving sign was on this building," said Melikian, adding that the skyscraper is another building that could be revitalized.

He said cities like San Diego, Pasadena, and Portland have strong historic preservation laws that have allowed them to keep some of their heritage and Phoenix should do the same.