Efforts underway to save historic Melbourne home for demolition

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Family members want to tear an old Melbourne house down but that idea is not sitting well with neighbors
 
It called the Green Gables house and has been a presence on South Harbor City Boulevard for 120 years.
 
But distant relatives of the original owner William T. Wells want it demolished.
 
"It will lose the connection to how life was lived in Melbourne in the 1890s. Lose its last opportunity to have a significant residential structure preserved," said John Daly with Green Gables at Historic Riverview Village, Inc.
 
Because the house is not on the city's list of historic properties the city can't restrict its demolition.
 
The owners would have to give written consent to the city in order to preserve the property and in this case the the Green House that hasn't happened.
 
Wells made most of his money from his patent on a method for producing rustless iron. Some argue that tearing down the home would cause the city to lose a part of history.
 
The Melbourne Historic Preservation Board is giving a presentation at Tuesday's City Council meeting in a last-ditch effort to stop the home's demolition.

WFTV