Preserving for perpetuity
- Chuck Thompson
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 1
Shelby City Council votes to save Webbley house by demolishing 1916 addition
During a special meeting Monday night, the Shelby City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the renovation and preservation of the Webbley house project.
Also known to locals as the O. Max Gardner House and “The Governor’s Masion”, the Webbley house sits on approximately 2.5 acres in the Historic District of Uptown Shelby. It was purchased by The City of Shelby in 2024.
Project Manager from the Development Finance initiative at UNCE Chapel Hill of Government, Sara VanLear, and Fred Belledin, principal architect with Clearscapes Architecture, provided updates to the city council during Monday night’s meeting.
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“It has been a complex endeavor, as you can imagine, Belledin said. “We have been working hard over the past year for the best path forward.”
Belledin told city council that the addition added in 1916 was in bad shape due to water and pest infiltration, and suggested the additions on the house be demolished.
“They are past the point that we are able to restore them,” he noted of the additions, suggested a ‘careful dismantling’ of the addition.
The good news of the presentation was the report on the original structure, built in 1852, is clear to move forward with the preservation renovations.
“It’s amazing that it’s lasted this long,” Shelby Mayor Stan Anthony noted.
VanLear presented three different options for the council to choose from, to move forward.
The first option was to only stabilize the original 1852 House for a cost of about $300,000. Option 2 included the demolishing of the addition and rebuilding the outside to preserve the house to resemble its originally look for roughly one million is cost. And a third option was a full remodel of the structure at an estimated cost of 3.2 to 3.5 million. All of the expenses would be paid for through a state grant received in 2024 thanks in part to Senator Ted Alexander. North Carolina State Senator Ted Alexander -R., was not mentioned, nor given any recognition in a previous article by another publication back in December 2024.
Shelby City Council voted to move forward with the second option, which included the stabilization of the original house removal of the 1916 addition and restoring the outside.
The council decided not to opt for a full remodel because the final goal is to preserve the house and sell it to a private buyer who will then decide what to do with the Webbley House. A full remodel would vary greatly depending on if the structure was used as a restaurant, business offices, or a bed and breakfast, just to name a few examples.
City of Shelby Manager Rick Howell said the city does not want to own the building long term and sell it to a buyer who will put it to private use, within the specifications agreed upon to preserve its history.
"Hopefully with restrictive covenants, whoever ends up purchasing it will be able to put it too good use, by maintaining its integrity while also creating jobs and brining people uptown which will help with the economic viability of Shelby,” Howell explained.
He continued, “It’s a worthwhile project to preserve a pic of Shelby’s history, but it’s challenging nonetheless with the state the property is in when we acquired it. It has value to preserve the history but it’s just unfortunate it took as long as it did to get to this point. It’s a challenge but I do think it’s a worthwhile undertaking to preserve history in perpetuity.”
The next regular Shelby City Council meeting will be held on Monday, July 21 at The Don Gibson Theater at 6 p.m.
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