Effort needed to keep our brick streets looking historic

Courier Editorial Board

July 31, 2008 11:16 pm

— TTo stamp or not to stamp. That was our headline in Thursday’s Courier about the discussion on paving Ottumwa streets. Our streets get torn up for a variety of reasons, mostly from wear and tear, and whenever crews have to dig underneath to repair our aging pipes.
The question then arises, how do you cover up the hole? For Ottumwa’s old brick streets, it would be nice to put in brick again. This can be expensive and time consuming, and it’s not a modern way to fix a street.
Next best, to people involved in historic preservation, is to apply stamped concrete that looks like brick slivers atop the cement.
You can visit various areas in town and see what it looks like. One spot is at North Court and Fifth streets, just up from the Wapello County Courthouse.
Driving by, it does look like brick. And, if real brick is unaffordable, some believe that putting in concrete that looks like brick may work for a historic area. We agree.
Unfortunately, the stamped concrete is expensive.
Public Works Director Larry Seals told council members this week that stamped concrete is about $76 a yard. That compares to regular concrete selling at $36 a yard. Seals also noted that those are 2006 prices.
Since then, he said that the price of color for concrete has greatly increased.
The council heard offers from citizens interested in retaining our historic districts to re-brick small areas of streets themselves, as needed.
Members of Ottumwa’s Historic Preservation Comission naturally want to retain the bricks in historic neighborhoods. Councilmen Keith Caviness and Gordon Aistrope agreed.
Councilwoman Shannon Addison suggested seeking possible grants available for re-bricking streets or providing funds for brick stamping.
It makes the city more marketable, she said, if we keep our historic areas looking historic.
It was a good discussion at the meeting, and city officials seem to have some avenues to explore.
We know the city is finding it hard to fund a variety of issues, most notably, some would say, the continual efforts at keeping streets driveable.
But, those efforts have to be balanced. We want all of our streets in good condition. On the other hand, we want to retain our historic areas. Our city has lost many of its old buildings due to neglect and lack of interest.
The preservation commission is committed to keeping integrity in our historic residential areas. There is a price to pay for that, and it is up to citizens to let our council members know our thoughts.
We hope that officials can find funding to keep bricks in the street, whether they be real ones or concrete stamped to look like bricks.