Charleston tries to explain how it does things

Across the United States, dozens of cities have adopted federal standards for working on historic buildings, but when someone suggested Charleston do the same, many bristled at the idea.

It's not just that Charlestonians have a historical legacy of resisting the federal government, though they do. It's also that this city often has been at the vanguard of the nation's preservation movement. Residents here organized to save old buildings many decades before any federal preservation standards were put to paper. And some saw flaws in the federal rules.

So Charleston wrote its own.

The resulting two-page document seems to be winning broad support. The city will know for sure after it holds forum Monday, May 12, on the new guidelines. The city's Board of Architectural Review could adopt them as guidelines as early as Wednesday, May 14.

The new standards get a thumbs up from College of Charleston architectural historian Robert Russell, who has said the federal standards were too inflexible. "It's nice that there's a possibility for back and forth, give and take, instead of someone wielding a heavy hammer, which never has been Charleston's way of doing things," he said.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com