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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/01/1995 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation CommitteeHISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1995 -- 7:00 P.M. CENTRAL PARK CONFERENCE ROOM 1000 KRENEK TAP ROAD HISTORIC COMMITTEE Joan Lamkin, Chairman; Bill Lancaster, Co- Chairman; Greg Keith; Florace Kling; MEMBERS PRESENT: Mary Jane Hirsch; Deborah Jasek; Steven Smith; Bill Fox, Council Liaison MEMBERS ABSENT: Gary Halter; Deborah O'Briant STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent; Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary L CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:01 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the 1 -11 -95 meeting, with nc changes or corrections. III. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR HISTORIC HOMES David stated that there were no new applications for review. IV. UPDATE ON BLACK EDUCATION: Deborah stated that she had the marker application. She found a grammatical error on the narrative that she needed to correct, otherwise it was finished. The narrative was four and one -half pages long, with two and one -half pages of citations. Deborah stated that after having talked to several members of the black community -- one of whom was Lillian Robinson before she passed away -- she realized that the fire at Lincoln School was still a sore subject with some of the older people. They felt that the blame was inferred in the wrong area. So Deborah changed the narrative to read. The cause of the fire was never determined. Although It was speculated that the fire may have been set to force integration to occur more quickly, o search of the focal newspaper revealed o number ofmyslerious fires shot were set by on unknown arsonist during that time period' She cited various articles from the Bryan Daily Eagle from January 19 through February 1, 1966. Deborah stated that requirements for site markers had changed from seventy -five years to fifty years or older, which meant that the black education marker could be done as a subject marker, or as a site marker for the building She stated that the way the narrative was written, it could be used for either marker, since she had very specific citations about why that particular building and site were important, as well as information about the various additions, deletions, and things that happened to that series of buildings. Joan stated that the marker application was the new edition, and asked David if he had filled one out before. He said he had. Deborah stated that as far as she could tell, her part was complete and all that needed to be done was fill out the application. David asked if she had a site location map, and she said she did not. Deborah said that a photograph showing where the marker would be placed needed to go with the narrative. David stated that he could take care of that, as well as getting the site location map. Deborah stated that there was no historic photo -- no known photo -- of Lincoln School. David said that he had seen a class picture with the front door in the background, but that was all of the school that showed. Historic Preservation Committee Page 2 Bill L. asked when the school was built. Deborah stated that it was built sometime between July 10, 1941, and August 31, 1941. Bill L. asked where the black school was located before that, and Deborah stated that there was no black high school. There were 49 elementary schools in Brazos County and she has every one of those documented. There were several black grade schools - St. Mathis Church, Washington Chapel, Shirock (which was Shiro and Rock Prairie), there was Sulphur Springs, Mentor Springs, Dowling Providence, and Wellborn. Bill L. asked if there was ever a black school near Fairview and Montclair, stating that there used to be a black church over there. Deborah stated no, but that St. Matthew's was on Holleman, not too far from Lincoln Center. Bill stated that this church was there long before Holleman was ever a road, and it was located about where Fidelity Street is. Next door to that church was a house which had been cut in two and the pieces moved apart when the black couple that lived there got a divorce, but he doubted if it was still there. Mary Jane said she remembered that. Joan said there was just a foundation there. Bill said he was pretty sure the house was next door to the black church, and that there was a school in there somewhere. Deborah stated that there was no recorded school there. She said it could have been a 'private' black school, but all the black elementary schools were at the churches and they were state supported through the College Station School District. The teachers were hired by the district, and the buildings were maintained by the district. Mary Jane asked how many children attended the schools. Deborah said that in 1923, 127 students attended classes at the black schools. In 1928, the black schools were Peach Creek, Sulphur Springs, Washington Chapel, Wellborn, Shirock, Union Hill, Dowling Providence, and College Hills. By 1938 1� there were 246 students attending classes in those schools. All the students that went on to attend let's high school were bused to € emp in Bryan, and College Station paid the tuition. The high school was built because more children were seeing the need to attend high school, Bryan raised the tuition, and the school district needed to purchase a new bus. They went through about three months of meetings and realized they could build a nice high school and have more people going to school if it was located in College Station. The ten room school, which was built at Eleanor and Holleman, was constantly undergoing expansion. Bill L. asked if some of the buildings standing now at Lincoln Center were part of the original buildings, and Deborah said yes, almost all of them were. David stated that the parks operations maintenance shop was the homemaking college and that the front part of Lincoln back to where the gym starts, was the principal's office, the cafeteria and auditorium. Deborah stated that what was interesting, was that at one point they wanted to expand the industrial arts shop, so the shop teacher and his students went to the old Mentor Springs School which had closed, and they tore it down and hauled the lumber back. From the lumber of the Mentor Springs School, they added to their shop. That was their shop project for the semester. The parts of Lincoln School destroyed by fire were the teacher's lounge, the library, ten classrooms, and the principal's office. The buildings that were not damaged were the gym, two classrooms, the auditorium, the cafeteria, the science laboratory, the industrial arts shop, and the homemaking cottage. About half of the school was destroyed, and David stated that it was the half that sits where the current parking lot is now. Deborah said that there is a plan of the school, like a blueprint, that the high school business office has. She has a copy of it that could be pasted together. David said it would be good to include that as a part of the application. Deborah commented that the project was done just in time, since so many people in the last two years who had helped her are now deceased, such as Lillian Robinson and some of the older teachers. All of the information they were able to give her would have been lost forever, had the committee waited to do the marker. Deborah stated she would make her changes to the narrative and then bring the disk to Pam. David said he would fill out the application, and Joan said that she would hand carry the application to the Brazos County Historical Commission at the next meeting on February 13, 1995. V. 'MEMORY LANES' UPDATE Joan stated that the Memory Lanes Steering Committee was in place and that Southside Memory Lane was the second of about twelve categories that would be undertaken. The interviews will be held March 24, 1995, at the Conference Center probably from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon. Invitations would be sent out and the information gotten to the media. Joan told everyone that they still needed moderators, if anyone was interested. The next Steering Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 Committee meeting would be held February 20, in room 102 of the Conference Center, from about 1:30 p.m. until 3:00 p.m., and all H.P.C. members would get a memo. VI. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS Greg stated that everyone was invited to the next Old Main Society meeting and that it would be in rotunda of the Systems Administration Building on February 6, 1995, at 9:00 p.m. He stated that at the last meeting about thirty -five people attended. Every meeting would be held in a different historic building on campus and there were no membership dues. Greg stated that he had been working with the Board of Regents at A &M to save Law and Puryear Halls, and that he had been unable to get any support to save it. When he saw what the cost of demolition would be and what it would cost to repair the buildings (there was a difference in the cost somewhere between $200,000 - $300,000), he got busy writing letters. The dorms produce an income of between $100,000 - $200,000 each year. He gave all committee members a handout which included a copy of the letter he wrote to John H. Lindsey, a member of the Board of Regents, and a copy of Mr. Lindsey's response to Greg's letter. Because of Greg's input, the demolition of the two halls was deferred, and Mr. Lindsey asked General Peel to take another look at how the buildings could be restored. Greg stated that the decision did not necessarily mean that the buildings would not be demolished at some point in the future, however, they are safe for the time being. A copy of the story which ran in The Battalion was included in the handout. Joan thanked Greg for going in front of the Board of Regents to save the buildings. Greg stated that every year the Old Main Society would submit a suggestion for a class gift, and this year the suggestion will be to create a museum - quality, November 1910 model of the campus, which would be about 4'x 6'. Each building would be a scale model, detailed in its original color. The year 1910 was chosen because Old Main and the Mess Hall were still standing, the depot was there, it was the year the Interurban trolley was started, and Nagle Hall and the Analytical Services Building -- which are still standing -- went up that year. The homes around the drill field and Quality Row will also be represented on the model. Deborah stated that she found the photo of the Campus Theater for Joey Dunn and that it was being reproduced into an 8' x 10' by the campus archives photographic services. She found it in an ad in either the 1944 or 1945 annual. She knew the theater opened in 1940, so she just started looking in the annuals at all the advertisements, and sure enough, she was able to find a picture. Joan stated that she called Dr. Schultz to see where the state marker for the Interurban Trolley would be located and he told her on Old Main at the intersection where the city limit is. David stated that there was a creek there at the city limit. Joan said it wasn't definite that it would go there, but she looked at the map and it looked like it was near Natalie Street. She commented that it didn't look as though it would get much traffic in that area. David said a lot of students would go by. Bill L. commented that he had assumed it would be placed on campus somewhere. Joan asked who paid for the marker, and David told her that Brazos County Historical Commission had paid for half and the H.P.C. had paid for the other half. Joan asked if the trolley came by North Gate. Bill said it went by the campus theater. David commented that the thought behind putting the marker at the city limits was that the trolley ran between the two cities, and since the cost was shared, it should go halfway. Joan stated that there had been some kind of a delay, but that the marker should go up sometime in the spring. The H.P.C. would receive an invitation to that dedication. Joan asked how the preparation for the College Station historic homes tour was progressing. Bill said fine, that they had enough docents. Joan stated that all homes on the tour had received historic home plaques. Joan told the committee that she had heard that all homes which came off campus could never receive a Texas Historical Marker because they had been moved. Deborah stated that wasn't true, and looked in the Texas Historical Commission's Official Texas Historical Marker Guidelines and Application Form. It stated that Buildings that hove been moved cannot be considered for designation as Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. Relocated structures may qualify for subject markers if their history and architectural integrity warrant, and if there is proof that the relocation was required. Proof consists of evidence that the relocated building was formerly condemned by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or if it was under the threat of Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 imminent destruction.' Bill stated that all A &M houses would fall into that category, however, there are restrictions as to alterations and changes to the homes. Mary Jane said that Barton Nelson purchased three of the campus homes and that he could tell the Committee where they were located. Bill said he knew where they were -- all three are located on Boyett Street. One had been the home of the Dean of the Vet School, one had been the Dean of the Graduate School's home, and the other had been J.E. Marsh's home (Jack Marsh's father). Deborah stated that there is a log book that exists somewhere in the A &M Fiscal Department that lists who each one of those homes was sold to, and she has people in the Fiscal Department looking for it. People know that it still exists but they are not sure where it's stored. It is just a hand written log in an accounts payable /receivable book. David asked if the committee wanted to officially move its meeting time to 5:00 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m. David told the members to think about it. David told the committee that councilman Hub Kennady had called him when he heard that the ISTEA funding for the depot had been denied. Mr. Kennady told David that he wanted to look into moving the depot site to the North Gate area and possibly turn the depot into a restaurant or retail store. Joan asked if the students would go for that, and David said he didn't think so. Bill commented that there was no room at North Gate, and he didn't see any reason not to put the depot where it was originally. VII. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 5:55 p.m.