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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/03/1993 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1993 - 7:00 PM CENTRAL PARK CONFERENCE ROOM 1000 KRENEK TAP ROAD MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Halter, Chairman; Deborah Jasek, Joan Lamkin, Gary Basinger, Greg Keith, Mary Jane Hirsch MEMBERS ABSENT: Lois Beach, Bill Lancaster, Florace Kling, Vernon Schneider STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Superintendent; Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Gary Halter. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes were approved with no changes. III. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: No new applications to approve. IV. UPDATE ON "BLACK EDUCATION IN THE BRAZOS VALLEY ": Deborah located a copy of a plat drawing dated 1953 which was done by Mr. J.A. Orr, that she is splicing together from 4 copies. It shows six buildings for Lincoln Center. She talked to Bill Kling of Kling Engineering, who has a lot of Mr. Orr's paperwork, but nothing on Lincoln Center. Red Cashion gave Deborah the telephone number for his mother -in -law, Mrs. Burgess, who may know something, but she hasn't gotten in touch with her yet. Deborah has called four other people who only gave her names of other people to call. She has gotten two thesises (which she has read) on Black Education in the Brazos Valley - one dated 1922 and one dated 1944 - neither of which say anything about Lincoln School. She found a restricted aerial reconnaissance photo of TAMU and the surrounding area, which was taken by military aircraft out of San Antonio. This photo is in private hands. She believes she has seen what Lincoln Center looked like in 1942. It's hard to tell, but where it looks like Holleman would be, there is a long low building off by itself. Based on what she knows and what can be identified, she believes it is Lincoln Center. She is going to get in touch with Mr. Charles Schultz next week and try to get him to help her identify some things so that more information can be gotten from the photo. Other than that, there is nothing else new to report. Gary Halter said that the city has a lot of aerial photographs in City Engineering which o way back. He recommended she talk to Elrey Ash. Deborah did say she's finding more Lincoln graduates (Cliff Gross's father went to school there). She's found a lot of the teachers who taught there but most of them taught there at a later date and can't really tell her much about the original school. She has a few Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, November 3, 1993 Page 2 out -of -state contacts to get a hold of who went to school there. What's happening though is that most of the people old enough to remember the original school are getting on in age and can't remember very well, so she has to talk to them when they are thinking clearly and it will take some time and patience. David said we need to go back to 1918 to get 75 years of information documented in order to get the marker. Deborah has this but there is the missing link of how the school got there. Deborah said all she has regarding how the school got there is the actual time frame in which the school was built. She said something needs to be in the documentation on the actual building being built, because that was part of the reason the marker was turned down last time. Gary H. said that was a site question, and there hasn't been black education facilities on that site for 75 years, but the idea was to do a broader subject marker and maybe she has enough information to do that. He asked Deborah to draft something that deals with the subject of Black Education in the Brazos Valley, then maybe that could be submitted and a site marker put at Lincoln Center. Deborah said she has several pages already written. She said that she has access to a very good thesis dated 1942, done at Prairie View A &M on the common black schools in the Brazos Valley, and she plans to go through that and pull out the things that she can use. Gary suggested she do a draft that says "Subject Marker Application ", which could be reviewed at the next meeting. V. PROPOSAL ON INTERURBAN TROLLEY: Gary H. said the Brazos County Historical Commission has approved application for a marker on the Interurban Trolley, which was a fixed rail system that ran down South College connecting College Station and Bryan. This application has been forwarded to the State Historical Commission. The county would like the City of College Station to pick up half the cost of the marker, with Bryan paying the other half of the cost. Gary said it would be best to try and locate the marker on South College close to the city limit line in the general area of Hensel Park. Perhaps the Highway Dept would be willing to participate in the landscaping for a turnaround. The City of College Station's portion of the marker cost would be roughly $400. The County may participate as well, however, they do not have much money. Gary wants the City to commit to at least half of the funds. Someone in Bryan wrote up the marker application. Gary made the motion to pay up to half the cost of the Interurban Trolley marker. Joan seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. VI. UPDATE ON RICHARD CARTER PARK PLAAUES AND DEDICATION: David G. said originally it was discussed that the dedication date for the plaques would be done in conjunction with the railroad depot dedication on the weekend of Aggie Muster. He asked what date everyone felt would be best. Everyone agreed that Saturday morning around 10:00 a.m. would probably be best. Albert Pedulla will be contacted after a date has been agreed upon. Joan wanted to know if the Carter family descendents would be invited, and David said yes. There is a mailing list that will be used to send invitations to people. Everyone agreed that the time was flexible and could change, but the date was good. Joan asked if there was anything the committee could do, and Gary said just to be there and if anyone wanted to say anything they could. Joan suggested telling the new members of the committee about moving the Carter family cemetery and showing the pictures. Greg Keith asked if the original site was marked. David said there is a landmark and it's marked on a map and could be found, but the actual site itself is not marked. Joan asked if on the day of the dedication David could take the committee members across the street to the original cemetery site and show them where it was located. He said yes. Gary H. said that it's a possibility that at some future point a marker could be placed at the original site. At this time, judging from the current Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, November 3, 1993 Page 3 plans, it doesn't look as though the site will be made into a parking lot. Greg asked if there was the possibility that Scott & White would cooperate by allowing a landscaped area around a marker. Gary H. said that the Committee had tried to get them to participate in the moving of the cemetery, and they didn't respond. David said it may take a personal visit to get them to cooperate. Gary H. said he believes the wooded areas along the street will be left as is. The original cemetery site is just off the street in almost the same position as the new cemetery, only on the opposite side of the street. Joan said if any type of "entertainment" needed to be provided, and if so, the tape made by Roger Feldman on the Mitchell weekend would be good to show. She has a copy of the tape, and said she will bring it for the committee to see when the slides from the Carter reinterrment are shown. VU. UPDATE ON COLLEGE STATION RAILROAD DEPOT CEREMONY: The dedication date for the railroad depots will be Aggie Muster, April 21, 1994, in the morning between 9 a.m. and noon, in coordination with the tour of campus. A definite time will be determined at a later date. VIII. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: Greg stated that his ideas presented at the last meeting were the result of a brainstorming session, and he knew some ideas were not feasible. The idea he was most excited about was the Interurban Trolley, which he believes could be a historic parkway. Greg stated that Bryan/College Station was one of the smallest cities the interurban ever existed in. Greg said from his research it appears that all the track was scrapped. It's possible some of the cars were given to another city. He feels it would be nice if the committee could get one of the cars so that people could see what it really looked like. Gary H. mentioned that President Mobley spoke to him at his reception when he became Chancellor, about creating an agricultural village. He suggested possibly if A &M could get land then maybe something could be started along the lines of historic attractions that could be tied in with the Bush Library an located on the west side of campus. Gary H. discussed the idea of an agricultural museum with a lot of old Ag equipment. Chancellor Mobley claimed that there were a lot of old Texas houses around and the owners could donate them to College Station. He even suggested that A &M might provide the land if College Station would put up the money to do this. Gary said it would be good if it could be tied in with a replica of the railroad depot. There are a lot of good ideas for things that could be done. Gary feels that a lot of old equipment would be donated for a museum, but that there has to be someone at the University who is willing to push the idea to make it come about. Gary said its just like the idea of putting up a marker for the first broadcast of an A&M/Texas game from Bolton Hall. A State Historic marker adds credibility, but at this time there is an element within the University administration that does not like state historic markers because it will limit the ability of the University to do things. Gary said perhaps in another week or two he would contact Chancellor Mobley and remind him of the discussion they had on joint projects, and ask his advice on how to move on this. Gary said he feels that A &M would need to provide more than just the land, and he doesn't know if they have that kind of money. He said a committee would probably need to be appointed to decide what to do and who would pay for what. Greg said there were probably some old Aggies around who would like to get involved in that type of thing. Greg said he had another idea after he read about the City's approval to build more bikeways. The A &M faculty, in 1897, had a bicycle path along the railroad corridor. This is where the city is talking about building some of the Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, November 3, 1993 Page 4 bikeways. It's a very comprehensive plan but it would be nice if the portion that goes by the railroad track could have a marker commemorating the "Faculty Bicycle Club ", as it was called, which was organized in 1897, and they maintained the bikeway for several years. He suggested naming that part of the path the "Faculty Bicycle Club" path. Gary said that if this is built, perhaps a marker could be done. Gary asked Greg to dig up as much info as he could find through the archives and the city, such as old photos, etc. David said the Junior Historians from the College Station Jr. High contacted him and were looking for a project to do, and wanted to know if there was anything they could help the Committee with. Gary said yes, they could research the history of the names of streets in College Station. Find out who all the streets were named for. Bill Fitch could probably tell them most of the history behind the names of the streets in Southwood Valley. Then once they get that worked up perhaps they could do some type of little publication. David said he had heard that you couldn't have a street named after you unless you were dead. Gary said that was correct. David said the committee meeting in January should occur while most people are still on holiday and wanted to know whether to move the meeting or discuss it in December. Gary said to discuss it in December. IX. ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.