Preservation Priorities
In 2025, Preservation Durham introduced a new advocacy initiative: Preservation Priorities. This list replaces our previous “Places in Peril” list and is designed to better communicate the historic places and issues currently at risk in Durham. By highlighting key sites and sharing updates on progress and ongoing advocacy, our preservation priorities aim to engage our community more constructively and transparently in our preservation efforts.
Through this new program, we hope to better reflect the scope and impact of our advocacy work and to celebrate preservation successes alongside our partners and supporters.
This page is a work in progress - so check back often for updates!
Historic Durham Athletic Park (DAP)
Preservation Durham advocates for the preservation and continued public use of the historic Durham Athletic Park (DAP), a landmark deeply tied to Durham’s baseball and cultural history. As the City explores future uses of the facility to provide “the greatest benefit to the community,” DAP faces the risk of losing key historic elements. Preservation Durham’s ideal outcome is a preserved site that retains the original ticket booth, 1939 concession stand, and field, while serving as an open public space that celebrates Durham’s baseball legacy, its ties to the tobacco and mill industries, and the cultural impact of Bull Durham.
To achieve this, Preservation Durham will engage directly with the City’s General Services staff and the feasibility team, advocate for public support, and broadly share the park’s history to strengthen community connection. Our team offers historical expertise and preservation guidance, as well as opportunities for the community to engage with the project team and help shape the park’s future. Preservation Durham is committed to ensuring that DAP remains a source of pride and a testament to Durham’s sporting and cultural heritage for generations to come.
Durham Cemeteries
Preservation Durham advocates for the identification, protection, and ongoing stewardship of Durham’s historic cemeteries, which reflect the city’s complex social and cultural history. These burial sites, including private, unmarked African American and mill cemeteries, tell the story of Durham’s diverse communities and the economic and social realities they faced. However, many of these cemeteries are threatened by development pressure, lack of maintenance, encroachment, and ambiguous ownership, leaving them vulnerable to neglect and destruction.
Preservation Durham’s ideal outcome is a comprehensive strategy to document and protect all known burial sites, incorporating them into local and state planning data. This includes recording cemeteries on property deeds and establishing clear protections within Durham County’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to ensure ongoing access, maintenance, and protection. We seek to work with Durham County Open Spaces to initiate a cultural heritage survey to identify undocumented sites and integrate them into official planning databases.
To achieve this, Preservation Durham will continue to build a coalition of stakeholders, advocate for stronger protections within the UDO, and document existing and newly discovered cemeteries in a GIS system connected to the City and County Planning database. We aim to develop a public engagement strategy to educate and train volunteers, fostering a community-based approach to cemetery preservation. Preservation Durham brings deep knowledge and experience working with historic cemeteries and strong connections with government agencies. We are prepared to offer technical guidance, assist with public education, and coordinate efforts to document and protect these irreplaceable cultural resources.
Through strategic advocacy and community engagement, Preservation Durham is committed to ensuring that Durham’s historic cemeteries are preserved as places of memory, history, and community pride for generations to come.
Historic Durham School of the Arts (DSA) Campus
Preservation Durham strongly advocates for the thoughtful preservation and adaptive reuse of the historic Durham School of the Arts (DSA) campus, which faces an uncertain future after Durham Public Schools (DPS) relocates the school to a new site in 2027. The 15-acre site includes historically significant buildings designed by Milburn & Heister, exemplifying the Neoclassical Revival style and contributing to the Trinity Park Historic District. Completed in 1923 on Brodie Duke’s property, the original high school and junior high buildings remain structurally sound but require significant investment to address deferred maintenance. DPS has a poor track record of historic building stewardship, heightening the risk that these historic structures could deteriorate or face redevelopment pressures.
Preservation Durham’s ideal outcome is a successful project that preserves the historic high school and middle school buildings and integrates them into a sustainable future use. The site offers exceptional potential to serve community needs through adaptive reuse, possibly as an arts district with subsidized nonprofit rents, similar to the SALT Block in Hickory. A public-private partnership leveraging historic tax credits (HTCs) and removing management from the school board could provide a sustainable path forward, helping reconnect this key block along Main Street.
To achieve this vision, Preservation Durham will engage directly with the DPS Board and County Commissioners to advocate for early involvement of a third party to guide community engagement and identify feasible reuse options. We will organize site visits for decision-makers to showcase successful adaptive reuse projects across North Carolina and provide historical expertise and preservation guidance. Preservation Durham is prepared to facilitate preservation through accepting an easement, assisting with a preservation-minded sale, or even acquiring the property to protect it from unsympathetic development. Through strategic advocacy and community engagement, we aim to ensure that the DSA campus remains a vital part of Durham’s architectural and cultural legacy.
Home Security Life Building
Preservation Durham strongly supports the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic Home Security Life Building at 505 W. Chapel Hill Street, a significant mid-century modern landmark designed by renowned architect Milton Small. Constructed as a headquarters for the Hill family’s insurance company, the building symbolized the optimism of mid-20th-century Durham and remains a key part of the city’s architectural and cultural identity. Alongside Duke Memorial Methodist Church and the NC Mutual Tower, it helps define a principal gateway to downtown.
Despite its significance, the Home Security Life Building faces the threat of inaction. The City of Durham has entered negotiations with Peebles Corporation, the third development team to take on the project, but past efforts have stalled, leaving its future uncertain. Although structurally sound, years of vacancy and deferred maintenance put the building at risk. Without a clear and feasible preservation plan, Durham could lose an architectural gem, contributing tons of material to landfills and erasing an important piece of its history.
Preservation Durham’s ideal outcome is a sensitive rehabilitation that integrates the building into a larger redevelopment, ensuring its long-term sustainability. We will continue to advocate for historic tax credits and preservation incentives to make the project financially viable, working with the City, developers, and community stakeholders to ensure a successful outcome. Our organization offers technical expertise, support in securing National Register designation, and community advocacy, including applying for preservation awards and assisting with marketing efforts. Additionally, we are prepared to accept an easement on the property to provide tax benefits and long-term protection.
Through ongoing engagement with city staff, the development team, and elected officials, Preservation Durham is committed to ensuring that the Home Security Life Building remains a proud and functional part of Durham’s built environment, rather than becoming another lost landmark.
