Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/05/1999 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee (ti t I historic Preservation Committee g uar Meeting ColTege Station Conference Center 1300 George hush Drive Wednesday, May 5, 1999 -- 5 :15 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Deborah Jasek, Chair; Bill Lancaster; Dock Burke; Shawn Carlson; Elton Abbott; Joan Perry; Becky Berry; Margaret Griffith MEMBERS ABSENT: Dennis Maloney, Co- Chair; Russell Duke STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent; Jo Carroll, Administrator, Community Development; Gary Balmain, Projects Coordinator, Community Development VISITORS PRESENT: Mike Luther, 614 Welsh; Dorcas Moore, 1118 Detroit; Tommi Preston, 6715 Raymond Stotzer Parkway; Benito Flores- Meath, 901 Val Verde NOTE: Parts of this tape were difficult to transcribe due to the distance of the speakers from the microphone. I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:17 p.m. by Deborah Jasek, Chair. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from the April, 1999 meeting were voted on and approved as written. 3. HEAR VISITORS: Mike Luther stated that he had done an oral history interview with Helen Schneider. A lot of it regarded her work as a secretary at A &M College when she worked for a man by the name of Kirkland, who had played a key role in the production of the atomic bomb. He also had been an eyewitness to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. According to the Mrs. Schneider, there had been a total of four people at A &M involved in the bomb project, and except for the personal writings between those people involved, no information was ever divulged to anyone. Unfortunately, Mrs. Schneider couldn't remember all the names. Mike asked the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC) if he could research the story further, provide the names of the key people involved, and add interviews to the tape before turning it over for transcription. The HPC advised him to proceed. Tommi Preston stated that he'd been present for one of the oral history sessions held several years back, and he'd never sent his revisions in. He said there were some statements he'd made that he'd like to delete, and a few things he wanted to add. Deborah told him to add as much as he wanted, and to return his revisions to Grace Colbert, Conference Center Supervisor when he was finished. Historic Preservation Committee Page 2 4. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC HOME /BUILDING APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED: An application was submitted by Mr. Benito Flores -Meath and Mr. Tommi Preston, for the Community House at 400 Holleman. Tommi Preston is the President of the corporation, Community House, Inc., which owns Community House. References were made in the application that the building might be a former campus house. Deborah commented that when she was researching Lincoln School for its marker, she'd found information stating that after A &M College moved all the campus homes, there had been two or three left, and A &M had been willing to give the houses to whomever was willing to move them. At that same time, the construction of Lincoln School was being discussed, and a letter found in the CSISD board minute archives, talked about using those houses as a school facility. Over that summer, no contracts were let for construction, yet the school opened in August. Deborah said that at the time of her research, because of the way Lincoln School seemed to appear overnight, and with the discovery of the letter, there had been a lot of speculation about whether the A &M houses had in fact been used. Deborah stated that perhaps one of the houses had been used for the Community House. There had been a few campus houses that no one knew for sure where they were moved to. Visitor, Mr. Flores- Meath, stated that it is known that the Community House has been at its present site since at least 1953, and that it had been moved to that location from somewhere else. He said when he'd done his research at Cushing Library he could not find records on any of the campus houses. Deborah said she'd been told by Dr. Paul Van Riper that at one time there had been a hand - written ledger listing the sale of all the houses, the dates they were moved, who picked them up, and where they were relocated to. The ledger had been in the Finance and Administration portion of the University, located in the basement of the Coke Building at the time. Bill Lancaster suggested talking to the Archivist at TAMU. Mr. Flores -Meath said he would continue to research the history, but regardless of whether it was a campus house or not, the affiliation with Mr. W.A. Tarrow, and its history of five decades of service to the community - a day care, a kindergarten, and a home to the Girl's Club - made it historical. He wasn't sure if it should receive a plaque for a home or a building. He thought it would be nice if the building itself could be a part of the Parks and Recreation Department, the way the Lincoln Center is. He felt it should be a part of the City, with the City helping to preserve it. He'd like to see it as a Girl's Club again. The HPC agreed that it met the criteria for a plaque. It was decided that even though it had been built as a home, it should receive the building designation because of its known history as a community building. Visitor, Dorcas Moore, said the Community House was where she, her brother, and most of the residents of the Southside state -named streets, went to kindergarten. She also went there when it was a girl's club. She said most people don't know it, but in that neighborhood, mothers sent their daughters to the Girls Club at the Community House, and the sons went to the Lincoln Center. She remembers it being renovated when she was a teenager. She said it has always been a piece of history for her family, friends, and the residents of that neighborhood, adding that it is still used as a place of worship. Jo Carroll, with the City's Community Development office, told the HPC that the Community House was in poor condition, not structurally sound, and would need substantial improvements down to the foundation. She said everything that could that could possibly be wrong with a structure, was wrong with the Community House. She said the City didn't want to see it torn down and if rehabilitation had been financially feasible, Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 they would have supported that. However, the City was not recommending renovation, Margaret Griffith asked if the City would have used HUD funds. Jo Carroll responded that Community Development Block Grant money would have been used. Joan Perry suggested taking out bids to see how much it would cost to make repairs. Margaret agreed, stating that if $100,000 of HUD funds could be put into bricks at Northgate for a sidewalk, when a perfectly good sidewalk was torn up to do it, then she felt that the City could at least look into how much it would cost to renovate this historic building. Jo Carroll said that in order to be eligible to receive funds there would need to be an organization, similar to the Girls Club, that would provide some type of service. Margaret asked about a police substation, Jo Carroll said that from a usage standpoint of a substation, if you were going to spend $100,000, you wouldn't want to renovate the property. The only reason you would want to renovate, would be because of historical significance. Shawn Carlson asked if the historical designation would help get the funds, Jo Carroll said not from a HUD standpoint, adding that if that type of money was spent, it would be a City Council decision. Mr. Flores asked if it would be possible for the HPC to recommend to Council that the City investigate purchasing the building and going through whatever channels possible to go about get the funding necessary to use the building for another Girl's Club or for Girl Scouts. Elton Abbott asked if it was more important to preserve the structure and its history, or if it was more important to have a place for people to meet. Dorcas Moore said the main goal was to get a plaque and have it preserved as an historical building, then to pursue the issue of trying to get it back to being a Community House and finding an organization that would operate out of it. Elton mentioned that a similar issue had arisen in Bryan when a building became eligible to be on the historic register. Renovation had to be done very specifically. The cost was so exorbitant, it couldn't be done and the building was knocked down. Elton said if a private entity had done it, as opposed to the city, they would not have to meet the same requirements. Dorcas said that at one point a matching grant had been applied for, but funding did not work out for their portion. Jo Carroll said it had been through the City, and when the deposit was put down in 1989, $25,000 wasn't enough even then. The City ended up replacing the windows and air conditioning the building. Deborah explained to the visitors that the HPC didn't have any money to put towards the project, and all it could do was approve the plaque. Dock Burke said the building's use was clearly documented, but he'd like to see current photos and floorplans added to the application, as well as the year built as soon as that date was discovered. Dorcas said she could get photos from 1952. Some questioned awarding the plaque if the age of the building wasn't certain. All members agreed that it was close enough to 50 years old, and age aside, the social and historical significance had been met. Joan asked what would happen to the plaque if the property was purchased by the city and the building razed. It was decided that something could be done on the ground or upright. Margaret moved that the HPC award the Community House building plaque #4. Elton seconded. It was voted on, and the motion passed unanimously. 5. ORAL HISTORY BOOK UPDATE: David Gerling said he hadn't talked to the author Jeff Carroll since April. David said he'd contact him, and when Jeff has something ready for the HPC to review, a special meeting (during the summer) would be called. Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 6. WALL OF HONOR AT THE HIGH SCHOOL: David stated that Chrissy Hester, principal of A &M Consolidated, was unable to attend due to end -of- the - school -year priorities, however, she was interested and asked to be contacted in June. Deborah suggested that a special lunch meeting be called for that, and for the review of Jeff Carroll's work, at the same time. 7. UPDATE ON VISIT WITH THE SOUTH KNOLL SECOND GRADERS: Deborah said the visit was a lot of fun, and she'd received a "thank -you" note from the kids. She said the children felt that one of the most significant things that had happened in ancient history was the opening of Post Oak Mall. They had also asked her if her parents knew Richard Carter!! The children had picked out five things in history and put on a show for her about the history of College Station. The show will be presented to the entire school. 8. BRAZOS VALLEY HISTORY TRIVIA /AGGIE 96 QUIZ DISCUSSION & POSSIBLE ACTION: Becky Berry said she wasn't sure the radio station was still doing the quiz. She said she'd check their website and see if they were. 9. STREET NAMING PROJECT UPDATE: David said the most recent update had been included in the packets, and that Pam Springfield had gotten most of the new information from the oral history interview with surveyor, David Mayo. Deborah said this would be a good summer project if anyone was interested - checking on names of some of the streets that the HPC had no information on yet. David said Northgate was a void, however, George Boyett could fill in the blanks. 10. REPORT ON BRISON PARK LIGHTING PROJECT: David said the project cost about $ 1,000 per pole. Utility department workers did the labor since it was on city property, so labor was free. If the lights are extended into the subdivisions, the labor will be contracted out. The cost would be approximately $ 1,000 per pole to wiring, plus the $ 1,000 for the pole itself. Dock asked about extending the lighting in the park. David said plans were in place and the money has been approved for lights to be extended onto the west side of Brison park, and for sidewalks to be installed in the next couple of years. 11. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON RAILROAD RELOCATION: Elton passed out a handout. He suggested letting everyone read over it and if anyone felt like making a motion at the next meeting, he'd appreciate it. He feels that it's very important that the railroad tracks be retained. Mike Luther asked that it be noted that the City of Bryan had approved, and has begun, grade separation work at Villa Maria. He said the grade separation will have to be done for traffic safety reasons no matter what happens with the railroad. 12. DISCUSS WHICH KEY ISSUES THE HPC FEELS COUNCIL SHOULD FOCUS ON FOR NEXT YEAR David said the HPC's priorities were needed so that the issues could be compiled into the City's Strategic Plan and addressed by City Council. Affer some discussion, the issues that the HPC wanted addressed by Council were: A. Maintaining the integrity of the neighborhoods needed to be considered with each decision that was made. B. Maintaining a balance between economic growth and historic preservation. Historic Preservation Committee Page 5 C. Elevating neighborhoods to a heightened awareness (impact all over town). D. Increasing information about history on the website. E. Continuation of the oral history project. F. Starting /creation of a heritage event. G. Create a wall of honor of former teachers at the high school, which will give students people to look up to and emulate. 13. DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING AGENDA: David said he'd received a large amount of pictures from Sam Criswell in San Antonio. Mr. Criswell found them when he cleaned out his mother's home. His mother had been a principal in the school district and had a lot of class pictures from different years, which she'd labeled with all the names of the students. Joan said that one of the pictures was of her 1963 -64 class. David said he had to promise Mr. Criswell that the pictures would be displayed for people to see and not hidden away somewhere. David suggested putting them in the library. Elton said this brought up the subject of the website and making that type of history information available to other people. Elton asked to discuss it at the next meeting. Other items for discussion in September: A. How to increase information about history on the website B. Discuss economic incentives for preserving historic neighborhoods C. Wall of honor D. History book E. National Register nomination for Richard Carter Park. David said a response was received back from Parks Board stating that they would notify HPC anytime they were doing something that might affect historic preservation. It was decided that agendas from both committees would be put in each other's packets. 14. REMINDERS: - Plan on a summer lunch meeting, date and time to be announced. - Next regular meeting on September 1, 1999 15. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at approximately 7 :30 p.m.