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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/1998 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee J- Listoric reserrvation Committee R,egu(ar Meeting Cortege Station Conference Center 1300 George Bush Drive Wednesday, October 7, 1998 -- 5:15 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Deborah Jasek, Chair; Bill Lancaster, Elton Abbott; Rebecca Berry; Dennis Maloney; Joan Perry; Russell Duke; Margaret Griffith MEMBERS ABSENT: Dock Burke; Shawn Carlson STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent VISITORS PRESENT: Mike Luther I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by Deborah Jasek, Chair. 2. APPROVAL _ MINUTES: The minutes were approved as written. 3. HEAR VI IT RSi Deborah welcomed Mike Luther, who had nothing to present. 4. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC HOME /BUILDING APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED: An application for 211 Lee Avenue had been submitted by the owner Thomas Cartwright. Dennis motioned to approve the application. He stated that Mr. Cartwright had been a prisoner of war in Tokyo, Japan during World War II at the time the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Dennis said he'd talk to Mr. Cartwright and get more information to add to the file. The motion was seconded and the Cartwright home was approved for Historic Home Plaque #49. 5. UPDATE: a. Oral History Book: David said Jeff Carroll had signed a contract and picked up the information from the first four oral history sessions to begin work on the book. There had been eleven sessions held, and David said Mr. Carroll had been surprised at the amount of material collected. b. Lighting in Brison Park: There's $20,000 budgeted through Capital Improvements for sidewalks and to complete the lighting on the west side of Brison Park. A third of the money is for sidewalks, with the remaining two - thirds for lights and installation. The lights will cost $1,000 each, and about $1,000 each to install. David said he didn't know how many lights would be installed, since plans Historic Preservation Committee Page 2 hadn't been drawn up yet. He added that perhaps benches could be included if there was money left over. c. Special Event Signs: David said he talked to the Safety Engineer and was told there are 2 or 3 extra Southside Historic signs in stock. The Engineer wasn't sure why one of the signs in the area had been replaced with a city logo sign, but he would check into it. David said he'd also talked to him about covering the city logo signs with bumper- sticker type material with the image of the depot. The Engineer had told David he didn't see a problem, and that 3M made some good material which was very durable, however, he didn't know who would approve that change. Dennis said the letter he'd done to Mark Smith would take the process through official channels. The letter was passed around for signatures. 6. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: Deborah said she had a friend whose father and uncle had taken an aerial photograph of College Station and A &M during World War II, (in 1942 or 1943). The photo was classified because the area was considered a military installation at the time. The father and the uncle (the pilot who flew the mission) both being Aggies, kept copies of the picture for themselves. When the picture is located it will be loaned to the HPC for copying purposes. Deborah said she believes it shows clearly all the campus housing, as well as the beginnings of the College Park Subdivision. Elton said he spoke to Mary Lynn Dixon, Managing Editor of the A &M Press, about publishing the oral history book. She was personally interested in the subject, however, she would have to review something in writing that described the project. She told Elton that the odds were low that A &M Press would agree to publish it since it was of local interest. She gave Elton the names of a couple of other publishers to consider if A &M Press wasn't interested. David asked if Jeff Carroll needed to write up a synopsis. Elton said yes, if Jeff could write a brief description of the project and his approach to it, then it could be presented to Mary Lynn Dixon for review. Elton said he was bogged down on the historic guidelines subject. The way the City does historic designations is at odds with the way everyone else does them. The Texas Historical Commission and the National Register have very exclusive guidelines for getting listed on their registers. He said that what the City does -- designating places as historic based on who has lived there -- is good, but the architectural aspect is not being evaluated that much. All the information he was able to gather from the Internet didn't pertain to what the City does. He was looking for some type of support /guidelines for people thinking about doing a restoration /preservation project. He stated that it's more of a task than he thought it would be, and because of his other commitments, he will not be able to complete it. He said that there's an annual grant program through the Texas Historical Commission which will award between $500 and $5,500 to help local governments get started with ideas for local preservation. It's called the Certified Local Government Grant Program. He said because there is a lot of study involved with this project, it may be appropriate if the HPC tried for a grant. Then it could be Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 offered to a historic preservation student who would have ample time to do the studying and generate the guidelines that the HPC is seeking. Elton said he would be able to help in the role of seeking the grant, but doing the actual work would not be possible at this time. The National and State Historical Commissions' guidelines are so strict, that it is almost cost prohibitive in most cases to restore. They also want a distinct contrast between old buildings and any new additions which may be added. He said he has a controversy in his own mind about what the guidelines ought to be. Dennis said he'd had several people ask why the Fox home had received an historic plaque, when affer their renovation there was no resemblance to the original home. Dennis said he's afraid that eventually every house over 50 years old will have a plaque even if the structure has been drastically altered. Elton said the HPC needed to decide how rigid they want to be in adhering to typical historic preservation guidelines, which typically state that you don't change the place. If you change it, it's not eligible. Deborah said perhaps in the future the HPC needed to emphasize preserving not only the history of the home, but the architectural history as well. Dennis suggested building a replica of the College Station railroad depot at the intersection of George Bush Drive and Welsh Avenue. Students from the A &M Construction Science Department could build it as a class project. It would only be about 675 -700 square feet, but would be large enough to be used as a tourist information center. It was decided that parking would be a problem at that location. Elton said an item of concern for the HPC was the proposed moving of the train tracks. He felt that if the tracks were moved, sooner or later the City would be asking to have them moved back to town. He said the train was a significant part of College Station history that needed to be preserved. Mike Luther asked, as a visitor, that the HPC consider a formal resolution to place themselves on record as to what they want relevant to the railroad. He said that only by putting it in writing can it make a difference. The HPC decided they would like to have more information before a decision was made. Mike added that the current estimate to move the railroad was $75 million. David said the study alone would cost about $20 million. Margaret said that raising the intersections would be better. Dennis said that was already in the works. Elton stated that if that was done, he'd support putting a replica of the depot next to the tracks. Elton made a motion to form a subcommittee in order to gather the information needed to make a decision before the end of the year as to whether the HPC should support either moving the tracks or leaving them where they are. Deborah said the information would have to be gathered and presented by the December meeting. Bill seconded. The motion was voted on, and passed. David said he'd talk to the City's Planning and Engineering Department as well as TxDot. Deborah said she'd see what the status on it was at TTI. Joan said the HPC had discussed documenting the history behind the names of the College Station Streets. She wanted to know if a subcommittee would have to be formed to get that project started. Deborah said some of the street names would be easy to document. The history on some of the other names, however, would probably have to go be gotten from the subdivision developer who named the Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 streets. The initial process would be to go through and document the information on the street names whose histories are known. Deborah asked if the members would take this on as a committee, rather than dividing up into subcommittees. Everyone agreed. She said at the next meeting a map would be divided into sections, and everyone could combine information on the streets they knew. Mike Luther suggested getting an alphabetical listing of all streets from the City Streets Department. The HPC decided that they'd work on the College Hills Subdivision first. David said he would get with the GIS department, and he'd bring copies of plat maps. Bill said the president of the Brazos County Historical Commission had contacted him and asked to come before the HPC so that she could get some idea of how that group could help out. They may be willing to give the HPC money to do some of the projects which had been discussed. Elton asked if the HPC had a website. David said yes. Elton suggested having a form put on -line for people to fill out regarding street names and their histories. 7. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 6:19 p.m.