SALISBURY — Over the years, Historic Salisbury Foundation has rescued many tons of historic architectural materials from a future in the landfill and until now, those relics had been stored in the old ice house building by the railroad tracks on East Horah Street.
However, following a move and a recent grand opening, those hoping to acquire historic architectural materials for restoration of their own homes or other projects have a much broader space to shop and bring their visualizations to life. The move did not happen overnight, though.
“Going from the ice house to this space, Reclaimed Relics, was not a quick process,” HSF Project Manager Rachel Fink said. “We were lucky enough to have movers with the process, but we were along for all of it … it was a grueling two months or so.”
The new location is in the former Fun Factory space on North Church Street.
“Fun Factory moved out in February,” Fink said. “We started our lease March 1.”
While moving everything proved a timely process, Fink indicated that it actually made the organization and layout of the new space better.
“It was nice we were able to do it slowly so we could organize everything and not just have pallets of slate out in the yard,” Fink said. “It took so many volunteers to organize everything and put everything where it is supposed to be.”
As they moved their collection, they also saw it grow.
“We have tons of new things that have come in the process,” Fink said. “Instead of them going to the ice house, we brought them straight here. So not everyone has seen everything in here until now.”
For those who have never visited the Ice House location, it is almost impossible to overstate how much more spacious Reclaimed Relics is.
“The Ice House was considerably tall but not very open,” Fink said.
At Second Saturday Salvage events, the volunteers often set up many of the architectural pieces outside the ice house. The tight, cramped space made access to items and organization difficult, even with volunteers and HSF staff’s best efforts.
“We had been working on organizing the ice house for a year,” Fink said. “So it had come a long way, but the shopping experience here is just completely different.”
Additionally, where the previous location was only open once a month, Reclaimed Relics will be open to the public every Saturday as well as by appointment.
“Just call the office (704-636-0103),” Fink said. “During the week, call us, and we can come open it up because when you are working on a house, sometimes, you need things quickly.”
Fink described offering architectural salvage as a vital part of the HSF mission that ties into the organization’s main overall mission.
“Our mission is saving historic spaces and preserving, protecting and revitalizing historic Salisbury and Rowan County,” Fink said. “This is such an instrumental part. In order to save these historic homes and have these resources and our community to have these resources, we need to do this part.
“We have one of the best historical preservation districts in the state; we should have one of the best architectural salvage in the state. For people to be able to come and access those resources with ease and not at an insane price point, that is a big part of our goal here. I would not say this is our primary mission; I would say it is a vital part of it.”
With so many salvaged items from historic homes and buildings, it is not always a matter of just telling staff the year of your home. As Fink explained, it is more about style.
“We have profiles from the 1800s to the 1960s and ’70s,” Fink said. “As far as light fixtures, those will be the turn of the century up until the 1950s. We don’t tend to look for time specifically. We look for style, like if they come in and say I have an art deco house.
“We don’t have everything, but we do what we can to have as much as we can. When houses are available for salvage, which we always prefer to save houses from being demolished, but in the case when the owner wants to demolish, they are moving forward with demolition, we say, ‘Can we go salvage?’ It saves them money at the dump, and it helps us get things out of it.”
Fink is about as excited as anyone for the new location, but she mentioned the volunteers will surely be happy, too.
“It was hard to get volunteers when you had no AC or bathrooms,” Fink said.
But most of all, the layout and the experience are sure to make the entire process more enjoyable for those looking to
“It is nice not to have things sprawled out in the yard. Everything here has its place,” Fink said. “We will continue to take donations and continue to salvage to be able to provide a better experience for people in Salisbury who are restoring homes and taking the time to revitalize our city.”
