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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/05/1994 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1994 - 7:00 PM CENTRAL PARK CONFERENCE ROOM 1000 KRENEK TAP ROAD MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Halter, Chairman; Deborah Jasek, Florace Kling, Gary Basinger, Greg Keith, Mary Jane Hirsch MEMBERS ABSENT: Joan Lamkin, Lois Beach, Bill Lancaster, Vernon Schneider STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent; Pamela Einkauf, Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Gary Halter. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The last meeting was held in November. The December meeting was cancelled due to the lack of a quorum. The November minutes were approved with no changes. III. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: No new applications to review. There were three people who received applications in December, however, none have been received back in the mail as of yet. IV. BRIEF UPDATE ON "BLACK EDUCATION IN THE BRAZOS VALLEY" : Deborah stated she's pretty much at a standstill now. She has three more dates on bond elections which were held in the 1950's that she needs to verify through the school archives. The Superintendent's office opens after she's gone to work, is closed at lunch and closes for the day at 4 p.m. Therefore, she will have to take off from work to go to the archives. Once she has those three dates verified, she will have a draft ready. V. PRESENTATION BY PARKS & RECREATION BOARD MEMBER ON PARKS MASTERPLAN: David G. introduced Marci Rodgers, the Chairman of the Parks & Recreation Board. David explained that the Parks Board is in the process of working on a masterplan and turned the floor over to her. Marci explained that at this point in time, the Parks Department is maxed out, and to take on any other major Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, January 5, 1994 Page 2 parks would be difficult without more staff. The department is looking for direction on where to go with the development of the parks in the city. So the Parks Board is working on a masterplan that would take the department through the year 2010. In December, a meeting was scheduled with the community advisory committees of College Station, however only two people showed up. The Parks Board has met with PARD Staff, City Staff department heads, the City Council, representatives from different athletic organizations, and the different advisory committees, trying to get their input on the future of the parks and recreational programs for the city. The masterplan deals with parkland acquisition, recreational programs and equipment - things the community wants and needs. Marci brought a list of questions the Parks Board wants answered, and passed those out. She explained that Gayle Schmidt and George Dresser were also on the Parks Board subcommittee working with her on the masterplan. Marci stated that the information she needed from the Historic Preservation Committee was: a) the purpose or mission of the committee; b) input on how the committee and Parks Board could work together in the future; and c) some ideas on things the committee feels are needed within the park system. Marci asked if the committee members wanted to answer the questions individually, or if everyone wanted to have a brainstorming session and she would take notes back to the subcommittee. Gary Halter said a brainstorming session would probably be best. He stated that the mission of the committee, though not in writing anywhere, was to identify and to preserve the history of the City of College Station. Marci stated that she felt that the city's name, College Station, needed to be recognized in some way as the original train station that served the college at A &M. Gary H. said that one of the committee's long term goals is to have a reproduction of the old College Station depot located somewhere in the City. Someone on the A &M Board of Regents would have to make it a project otherwise he has given up on A &M doing it. A lot of the people that would remember the station are those who would be inducted into the Sul Ross Society, having graduated at least 50 years ago from A &M. However, these aren't the people being appointed to the Board - it's mostly younger people in their 40's or 50's who don't remember the railroad because train service really ended in the 1950's, with the station being torn down in 1962. A reproduction of the train depot could be the focal point of a city museum. Gary H. also mentioned the fact that at one point the committee talked about creating a park, possibly somewhere in the Wolf Pen Creek area, made up of old campus houses (like the old Commandant's house which has just recently been torn down) and turning them into restaurants, antique stores, arts and craft shops, etc. Gary H. asked if anyone knew why the Commandant's house at the corner of the East Bypass and 2818 had been torn down. David Gerling said that he didn't really know why it had been torn down, but that at one time he was S Imyt4 looking into the possiblity of procuring it for the committee and that the ,Q.,.. Dansby's who owned it were just trying to sell it to whoever would buy it. His 161).41_ understanding was that it had gone from Mrs. Dansby to the grandchildren, and that it was a spouse of one of the granddaughters who was actually trying to sell it. He doesn't know if the property was sold or what, since a "FOR SALE" sign was never seen. One day the house was standing and the next thing anyone knew it was being torn down. Gary H. said it would have made a nice restaurant had there been some place it could have been moved to. Deborah said there was something similar to what was being discussed in Old Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, January 5, 1994 Page 3 Town Spring, where old houses and buildings have been brought in by the local preservation society, refurbished, and then leased out to small businesses. Gary B. suggested putting the railroad depot reproduction, along with an old locomotive engine if one could be found, at the same location as the old homes. A playground could also be included, as well as walking or jogging trails with a railroad type pattern in the bricks linking everything together. Greg stated that the low end of this idea would be what Wallisville calls "Heritage Park ". It is located on Interstate 10 between Beaumont and Houston. It's nothing like Old Town Spring, but they have moved five or six old buildings there next to the Highway. They've been painted and refurbished. He doesn't believe the buildings are used by businesses, but there is a state marker there. The committee agreed that these ideas fit in with the questions Marci was asking. Park facilities needed: There is a need for a heritage park. This ties in with the next question on Collaboration between the Parks Board and the Historical Preservation Committee: Creating a park with a historic theme is a project both committees could work on together. Deborah said also that caution needed to be used on any development of Richard Carter Park. There had been talk about putting in playground equipment there, but the idea more or less died. Gary said he felt a playground could be put in without detracting from the historic theme of the park. A fort could be built with slides, etc. It wouldn't have to be metal and plastic equipment. David Gerling said that a museum or library would be something the committee might like to promote. It's not known at this time where a public library would go, it has been suggested that it may go in the Wolf Pen Creek area. Gary stated that voters rejected a bond issue in 1989 or 1990 for funds to build a library partly because of a conflict over the location. Greg Keith mentioned the "Faculty Bicycle Club" which was constructed in 1897, along the railroad corridor. With the upcoming bikeway improvements the city plans on doing, he feels that a good joint project for the committees would be to try and get a portion of the bikeway (which will be along the old bikeway path) named after the club. Deborah said that if the committees wanted to reproduce a portion of the bikeway, ISTEA money could be obtained for that purpose. She stated that 10 -20% of that federal money has been allocated for historical purposes (i.e., historical transportation, old historic road preservation and reconstruction, railways, etc.) Redoing the bikeway from the late 1800's would fall into that category. The money ISTEA has allocated for historical purposes cannot be used for anything but historical type things, and at this point in time, that money is not being sought after as widely as some of the other ISTEA funds. What programs would the committee like to see implemented ?: Gary said perhaps there would be some way to incorporate an historic festival in with the yearly folkfest or jazzfest. David G. suggested getting someone to write a short play about the history of College Station. He used Amarillo's play "Texas" as an example. He knows that it would not be anything that large but he thought it would be good to have a 30 -60 minute play that tells about local history (wolves on campus, how Wolf Pen Creek got its' name, etc.). Deborah suggested getting some schools to participate in the play, and Greg recommended getting the Aggie Players to write the play. User Fees: The committee decided not to touch on this subject. What one thing would the committee like to see implemented ?: Gary H. said the reproduction of the railroad station, however, he didn't know how to accomplish that. Greg suggested putting the reproduction of the depot at the AMTRAK station if the Heritage Park idea didn't take off. Gary H. stated that there is some uncertainty as to what will happen to the railroad tracks, however, that would be a much better location since it would be a working railroad station and close to the George Bush Library. Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, January 5, 1994 Page 4 koQ - rof Gary H. informed the committee that he had learned that someone was wanting to donate to A &M some old historic homes located in Round Rock. He said Chancellor Mobley was going to appoint a committee and have the committee go look at the homes and make a recommendation on it. They want to give the homes to A &M and have them moved to College Station. Gary said he didn't have much more information than that but he knew that the University was attempting to do things that would promote people visiting the Bush Library. He had an idea that this may be part of that. It would be good if these old buildings could be tied into the Heritage Park in some way. David G. informed Marci that at other meetings the idea had been discussed about creating an agricultural historic park, with old agricultural and mechanical engineering equipment. Greg said that he felt that the drive down George Bush and around the University could be improved upon as far as landscaping and medians. The University is so prestigious but the streetscape doesn't do it justice. Gary H. said there are plans to improve the streetscape but until something is done about the railroad tracks it will never be very attractive and there will always be a visual barrier. Deborah would like to see a lot of the green areas (easements) that go along the creeks, turned into bikeways and walkways, especially in the College Hills area. Gary H. said a lot of those easements are not owned by the city and are utility easements owned jointly by the property owners. He said it would be difficult to get homeowners to agree to something like that because the majority wouldn't want people in their backyards. Greg suggested having greenspace and landscaping at points of entry throughout the city, so that the first thing a visitor to the city would see would be a beautiful area. It would also be nice to have artwork or statues or something of historical significance in some of the medians. Gary H. recommended that the city consider using low -light pollution lighting when replacing or installing new streetlights. These are low sodium, down facing lights that have a shield so the light shines down and doesn't add a lot of light pollution. Marc! thanked the committee and told everyone that if they had any more ideas to call the Parks & Recreation office. She said the Parks Board would like to have something in writing on the Parks masterplan this summer. VI. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: Greg asked what the next step in the Bicycle Club Track would be. Gary H. said it would be to look into the ISTEA funding. David G. talked to Ed Hard in the City Planning Department. Ed's in charge of the Bike Plan, and he told David that it has been funded and blessed. He also said he would be glad to meet with anyone from the committee to see if some of Greg's ideas on the Bicycle Club Track could be incorporated into the plans. Gary H. said it was a good idea to construct part of the track on campus and put up a sign explaining that it was a duplicate of the track which ran from Bryan to College Station. Greg thought that creating the portion on campus out of wood like the original would be nice, however, it was agreed that it would be too rough and require more maintenance than concrete. David suggested possibly putting in a small section with wooden boards like the original track so that when people rode over it they would appreciate the concrete track that much more! Greg suggested using colored concrete to reconstruct the path and possibly lining it with railroad ties. Using one of the three colors of the original bicycle club - green, blue or gold would make it easier to tell it was a bike path as well as Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, January 5, 1994 Page 5 being more attractive.. He feels that just using regular concrete for the path does not generate a historic feeling. Greg said he would like to meet with the city planner. VII. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.