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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/02/1998 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee historic Preservation Committee Regular Meeting Cortege Station Conference Center 1300 George Bush Drive Wednesday, September 2, 1998 -- 5:15 p.m. HISTORIC COMMITTEE Bill Lancaster, Chairman; Deborah Jasek, Co- Chair; Elton MEMBERS PRESENT: Abbott; Rebecca Berry; Dennis Maloney; Shawn Carlson; Dock Burke; Joan Perry; Russell Duke; Margaret Griffith MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent; Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary VISITORS PRESENT: None I. CALL TO ORDER_ The meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by Bill Lancaster, Chairman. 2. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS: Bill welcomed all members to the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC), asking new members Margaret (McMurray) Griffith, Dock Burke, Russell Duke, and Joan (Thomas) Perry to introduce themselves. David said the new members would be sworn in at the annual Citizen Committee Banquet on September 15, 1998. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes were approved as written. 4. HEAR VISITORS: None present. 5. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC HOME /BUILDING APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED: An application had been submitted by Debra and Scott Shafer for their home at 117 Pershing Street. Dennis suggested that Mike Luther be contacted because he could add a lot of information about the former owners of the home, Dr. and Mrs. Klipple, and the role they played in the community. Dennis moved to accept the Shafer application. There was no opposition. The Shafer home became College Station Historic Home #48. David stated that Pam had started an application for a marker for the old Walton Medical Building. He said she'd gathered enough information to know that it met the criteria for a marker, because in 1993 the property had been eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places due to its Art Deco style architecture. David wanted to know if anyone would be willing to meet with Mary Lou Epps, the Historic Preservation Committee Page 2 owner, and finish the research on the building. No one volunteered to complete the research. David suggested that the marker not be held up. The motion was made and passed unopposed, making the Walton Medical Building College Station Historic Building #3. 6. ORAL HISTORY BOOK UPDATE: Author's Progress - David said the City had written up the contract for Jeff Carroll to write the book, and they were still in the negotiating stages. He anticipated that it would be signed soon and that Mr. Carroll would begin writing within the next 3 -4 weeks. He will have twelve months to complete the book. Choice of Publisher - David said this topic was open for discussion. Elton said he'd been responsible for contacting the head of A &M Press over the summer, but had not done so. Deborah said the HPC had twelve months to find a publisher, so there was no rush. Margaret said that A &M Press did high - quality work. David added that if the HPC went with A &M Press, there would be no publishing or marketing costs. He explained that half the money allocated for the book was for writer's fees, and the other half for marketing and publishing. Elton promised to contact his friend at A &M Press. 7. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: Joan said she'd looked over the "College Station Historic Home Plaques" list, and her grandparents were listed as current owners of a home which they'd sold. Pam explained that the people on the list had been the owners at the time the plaques were awarded. To avoid confusion, she would update the list to read "Registered Owner" rather than "Current Owner ". Dennis said the city should replace the current logo on the No Parking signs with the railroad depot emblem, and add either "Northgate ", "Eastgate ", or "Southside ". David said he had checked with the Streets Department about the historic sign which had been replaced with a regular sign in the Southside Historic area. The Streets Foreman told him it was because the city was out of the historic signs. He told David that when it's time to reorder, he'll check into what it would cost to make the signs with the depot. Elton said by doing this, the HPC was recognizing the other historic neighborhoods adjacent to campus, and asked who would be approving the sign change. David said that the city's Streets Department was in charge of the signs. Mark Smith, the Director of Public Works, would probably be the one to approve the change. Elton suggested that the HPC make a formal recommendation to Mr. Smith to change the signs. Dennis agreed to write a letter. Dennis said the city should budget money for more lamps like the ones recently installed in Fairview Park. Deborah said she saw on the internet that in the capital improvements budget there is $20,000 for additional lights in Brison Park. She said the HPC should try to find out what type lights the city was planning to put up. Dennis said it shouldn't just be lighting for parks, but for the Eastgate, Northgate and Southside neighborhoods. David said he would get with Steve Beachy to see what the $20,000 was actually budgeted for. Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 Elton said one of his goals was to develop guidelines for incentive to promote historic preservation in the neighborhoods. He said he has all the information accumulated, he just needs to put it into a presentable form. Margaret said she was concerned about preserving some of the older buildings on campus, and asked if the HPC was working with any group at A &M regarding preservation. Bill said no. Elton said historic building preservation was very expensive. He added that it was his field, so he believes old buildings are very important, but everyone needs to decide together that those buildings are worth keeping and that's a challenge for society. Margaret suggested acting as an advocacy group. David told her that there was such a student group on campus called The Old Main Society, adding that at one time there had been a liaison from the group on the HPC. David said he would get in touch and ask them to appoint another liaison to the HPC. Dock asked if there was any budget associated with the HPC. David stated that it was about $2,000, to cover printing, postage, paper, plaques, etc. He told the members that a good example was the plaque which had just been cast for Luther Jones Park, which cost about $1,200. It will be dedicated in the near future. Dennis told Dock that if he had something specific in mind that the HPC could get behind, a representative could present it to the City Council like he and David had done with the lamps around Fairview and Brison Parks. Dock said he'd like to see some concrete benches in Brison Park. Dennis said Luther Jones and Brison Parks would be good candidates for benches along the perimeters. He added that because of the deed restrictions for Brison Park, they'd have to be chained down and not permanently anchored. Joan said she'd like to see some way to let people know the history behind the names of the streets. Dennis suggested starting a file with that information. Deborah said it could be put on the Internet. Elton suggested The Eagle. David suggested putting it on the morning show. David congratulated Elton on being appointed to Leadership Brazos. David told the members that Bill would like to relinquish his duties as Chairman of the HPC because of his many other obligations. Dennis nominated Deborah Jasek for Chairman. Joan seconded. There was no opposition. No vice -chair was nominated 8. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 6:19 p.m.