Online petition started to save old Blizzard House

Jody Murphy
PARKERSBURG - A West Virginia University graduate student is making a last-ditch effort to save the Blizzard mansion.

Justin Coen, who grew up behind the mansion, has started an on-line petition to save the house from demolition. More than a thousand residents turned out for an open house Sunday to view the inside of the once-regal mansion, built in the 1920s.

"People feel really strong about it," Coen said. "This is an opportunity for people to put themselves on record."

Coen isn't the first to generate a petition to save the house.

Bob Enoch, president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society, said a petition to preserve the site was circulated at Mountwood Park's Volcano Days. The petition received more than 500 signatures. Enoch said it was presented to Tom Forth, the head of Forth Foods, which owns the property.

"He was sympathetic, but it didnát sway him," Enoch said.

Enoch admires Coen's efforts, but says it's too late.

Enoch said Empire Builders, the company selected to demolish the house, has already begun stripping the inside of the home.

The Blizzard mansion and surrounding five acres of property, including the former Ralph's Food Fair, will be developed into a shopping center. The Blizzard house is slated to be demolished Tuesday.

Coen said he's unsure what, if anything, the petition will accomplish. The petition can be found at http://http://gopetition.com/petitions/save'>http://gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-blizzard-mansion

Coen said he'll likely fax the petition to the company.

"What I am hoping to do is put a little hesitation in the developer's mind before they embark on destroying historic properties," he said. "Maybe it will work, maybe it won't."

Coen said the city has a "shameful past" in tearing down historic buildings to make parking lots, making reference to DeSales Heights and the Boreman house, home of West Virginia's first governor.

Coen said the Blizzard mansion is headed for the same fate, despite its historical value. Coen said while there are many homes in Parkersburg built in the 1920s, few are located on the southside of the city.

"It is just the fact that the southside wasn't developed at the time the house went in."

Enoch said the problem stems from trying to balance the past with the future.

"There has to be a balance between preserving the past and preparing for the future," he said.

Coen also said the lack of green space will be another loss to consider.

"We used to play there as kids," he said. "That is something else people don't think or care about. That is another thing we will be sad to see go."

Enoch is resigned to the home's fate. The historical society today is removing the roof tiles.

"I have mixed feelings," he said, "but to me, there's a lot of people getting a lot of stuff out of there they will put in other old homes. The Blizzard home will perpetuate through this."

That's small consolation to Coen who decries the destruction of historical structures.

"You kind of expect it in Parkersburg, but we would like to see it cease at some point," he said.