News Story-2

The city council, on Monday, will decide if the four homes, built by the deceased Theo Belmont and owned by Larry Paul Manley will become historic landmarks.
“If every home that Belmont built were made historic, there would be a lot of historic names,” Larry said.According to city statue,a house or other dwelling must meet one or more of the 13 criteria to be considered as landmark status.The houses were built in 1949 which meets one criteria of housing, which states that a dwelling must be a minimum of 50 years old.Other criteria include “distinctive historical architecture” and “an identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the culture and development of the city.”
“We just don’t want to throw away that history because someone wants to build some apartments,” Stan Smith said. Larry plans to demolish the houses and build the town’s first apartment complex on the site.
“Demolition makes things go away forever, I don’t think Mr.Manley wants us to make a hasty decision without thoroughly investigating it,” Jim Fowler, vice chairman of the Leaguetown historical commission. The placement of the four houses was cleverly done by Belmont because two of the houses face one direction and the other two face a different direction, thus creating a hidden oasis beneath the cover of the street’s aging oak and pecan trees.
“I know he wanted only the best for Leaugetown and was not sentimental about old things in the town. In fact, he was the person responsible for demolishing the old school building and building a new one, and he built the original school,” Amanda Morgan, city council member, said.During Belmont’s lifetime he built many homes and sold them to the townspeople.Many of those homes have been designated as historic homes.
“Leaguetown is on the cusp of growth, and we need to prepare the town for the future,” Larry said.