The architect Gary Clements was on the podium in the courthouse of Baxter County and provided the Quorum Court both gratitude and sobering reality about the future of the oldest standing structure of the district.
“First of all, the Casey House is a very important building, not only for Mountain Home or Baxter County, but to Arkansas,” said Clements during the court's meeting in August.
The Casey House, a dog cabin with two rooms, which was built by Colonel Randolph Casey in 1858, urgently needs to be repaired. Since the construction costs are increasing and state grants are increasingly becoming more competitive, the way forward remains uncertain.
Clements, who founded his North Little Rock Architecture company in 1997 and worked in detail on historical retention projects such as the Wolf House in Norfork, thanked the court for his support and outlined the upcoming challenges.
“Colonel Randolph Casey was one of the earliest pioneers in this part of the state,” Clement told the court. “He was from Tennessee. He brought his family here in 1855 and built his house in 1858.”
The architect described the unique building of the building and found that it was “removed from the clickboard”, which was “produced in Batesville, the river, the White River to Buffalo, placed and built by Buffalo.”
Casey had promised his mother something special when she moved to Arkansas. “He promised his mother that she no longer had to live in a log house and he built her in this house, said Clements.
In its 167-year history, the building survived remarkable challenges. In 1985 a tornado tore off the roof – which Clements described as “one of the first miracles” because officials had succeeded in finding money for emergency repairs. But these repairs, which are quickly carried out with plywood and Cedar shakes, now fail.
“If you have been out there lately,” said Clements, showing the farm photos, “you can see that this is a look at the ceiling and that you see this plywood. From a historical point of view you would not see plywood. They didn't have it in the 19th century.”
The current recovery plan provides to remove the plywood and install the structured materials in order to “make the structure more authentic and to survive the shakes longer,” explained Clements. But even basic repairs are associated with amazing price tags.
The first restoration of the restoration, which focuses on the roof and the structural repairs, contains estimated costs of 214,172 US dollars. The district had applied for a state scholarship of $ 142,000 for two thirds of the costs, but received only $ 68,000, less than half of the claim requested.
“We had estimated the costs to do all this work and there were $ 214,000,” said Clements. “The problem is that it is a competitive scholarship, and so we asked about 142,000 what was two thirds … but we only have 68.”
The architect warned that future funds would probably be even more difficult, and citing political changes in Little Rock, which affect grant programs. The overall fund of the state's historical conservation scholarship is only about 850,000 US dollars, which showed the price of 68,000 US dollars “a large part”.
Despite the challenges, Clements emphasized the importance of the building beyond Baxter County. Casey was the first representative of Baxter County when it was founded from the surrounding counties, and his home represents a concrete connection to the area's pioneer.
The precarious basis of the structure for “just stacked rocks”, as Clements described it, survived the Tornado from 1985, but needs immediate attention. “It is a miracle that it didn't fall over when the tornado hit it,” he said. “Maybe it did it, maybe it did it.”
Modern components also affect the historical character. Clements pointed out that “Little Modern two by Vier” stretched out of seven foot on the veranda and expressed incredulously: “I cannot believe that it has not yet fallen.”
The restoration faces a significant gap in financing. With the state scholarship of 68,000 US dollars and the contribution of the district, Clements said: “If we have this with the 68,000 full uses, we have 168,000,” still about 45,000 US dollars before the assessment of phase 1. And these estimates that were drawn up in October 2024 can no longer reflect the current costs.
“As a public institution, it must be the procurement laws of the State Procurement Act, and I will be with you through this entire procedure,” said Clement to the court and stated that his company would supervise the offer to ensure proper procedures.
With a view to the future, Clements outlined the next phases: the foundation after completing the roof repairs. “It would be nice if you could try to rat a match money for it,” he advised.
The architect pulled parallels between the Casey House and the Wolf House and called her “sister projects that are lucky enough to be here at all”. He praised the foresight of the historical commission and found how the district had retained the wolf ownership for years “until the state picked it up”.
Interestingly, the guarantee of money for both projects from the same state financing source, although Clements found that a certain fund was “no longer available for counties, but was at the time”.
Clements warned that future funds would probably be even more difficult. “There is a lot of politics down here in Little Rock, and only money is postponed and moved,” he said. “I think it will be difficult in the coming years to receive further grants.”
“We have a gap of 45,000,” concluded Clements.
The architect closed his presentation with the emphasis on the importance of maintaining the history of the district and thanked the court for the continued support of the project.