After hearing protests from local preservationists about its decision to tear down the Idols Hydroelectric Plant, the City-County Utility Commission voted unanimously yesterday to delay the demolition for 30 days.

The 30 days will allow members of the commission to gauge the public's interest in preserving the ruins or rebuilding part of the site, as well as get an estimate of how much it would cost to preserve.

"The question that remains," said John Larson, the vice president of restoration for Old Salem Inc., "is 'Does it still have a place in the identity of the region?' Yes."

Terry Cornett, the capital-projects engineer for the utility commission, estimated that the 30-day delay would cost the commission more than $100,000 to compensate Blythe Construction Inc., the contractor for the project, for the equipment that it has already moved to the site.

The delay reverses a commission vote of a month ago to spend $2.6 million to tear down the plant. The issue was revisited after some commission members said they had not been properly alerted to the historic significance of the plant. The dam across the Yadkin River would remain.

The Idols plant was viewed as an electrical marvel when construction began in 1897. It was one of the country's first long-distance transmission plants, and inventor Thomas Edison invested in the project.

In 1998, a fire destroyed the plant, which was owned by Northbrook Carolina Hydro.

The commission bought the dam and 11 surrounding acres in 2002.

Paul McGill, a member of the utility commission, said that there was nothing in the commission's information packet to indicate that Idols had any historical significance. In the future, he said, he wants to be alerted to such questions before voting.

Commission member Raymond Thomas said he would vote for the delay, but that he had reservations about whether any type of historic-preservation project conflicted with the commission's mission.

"Our job is to provide water and sewer as economically as we can," he said.
He said that any delays would ultimately cost the commission, and hence, ratepayers.