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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/11/1992 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH, 1992 - 7:00 PM CENTRAL PARK CONFERENCE ROOM 1000 KRENEK TAP ROAD MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Halter, Chairman; Joan Lamkin; Les Hawkins, Deborah Jasek; Florace Kling; Gary Basinger; Nancy Sawtelle MEMBERS ABSENT: Lois Beach; Vernon Schneider, Council Liaison STAFF PRESENT: David Gerling, Special Facilities Supt.; Pamela Einkauf, Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Gary H. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes were approved. III. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: There were no applications to review. IV. ROCK PRAIRIE SCHOOL AND CHURCH MARKER DEDICATION: The invitation to the Marker Dedication Ceremony was reviewed for corrections /changes. It was decided that the map needed to be more specific. Changes will be made. There was no further discussion on this subject. V. SUBCOMMITTEE ON BLACK EDUCATION IN BRAZOS VALLEY: Deborah Jasek stated that she has found a surprising amount of information in The Eagle regarding black education, but you have to be willing to sift through everything else to find it. She found some articles that stated that in 1940 there were 30 black schools in the Brazos County area, and she has the names of all of them and the name of a teacher from each school. Deborah is gathering information which she can use later to cite from, and she is going to try to line up some interviews with some of the old teachers. One of the people who would probably have been the best source of information recently passed away. Gary suggested that it could be a subject marker on Black Education in College Station. Deborah said the Committee needs more solid documentation which can be traced and cited in order to verify the dates needed. Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, November 11, 1992 Page 2 VI. COLLEGE STATION TRAIN DEPOTS: The information on the depots has been delivered to Dr. Charles Schultz and it has been added to the Brazos County Historical Commission meeting agenda for Monday, November 16, 1992. A letter was written by Gary Halter to Robert Smith, President of the Campus Historic Marker Committee at the University, seeking permission to locate the Train Depot historic marker on campus. Mr. Smith called Gary and suggested that Gary chair a committee, with the help of a liaison from Mr. Smith's staff. A meeting will probably be held within the next two weeks to form a committee and to discuss the location. Gary was told by Mr. Smith that The University has the money to do three on- campus markers within the next year. Whether that means money to actually put up a marker or just do the landscaping around the marker is not known. The City has the money, however, to put up the Train Depot marker. Approval of the proposed site location will be left up to the committee to be formed, and they will determine if this is one of the markers they will commit to doing this year. Gary does not feel that there will be a problem getting approval from The University for the site. Gary stated that approval for the marker should be obtained from the Brazos County Historical Commission first. He will try to get this approval on Monday, November 16th, and hopefully approval from The University for the site will be received within two weeks. Gary and David located a potential site across from Albritton Tower near the Grove. It was suggested in the letter to Robert Smith that the Former Students Association might be interested in supporting this effort by purchasing benches, etc., to make the area a nice place to sit and relax. VII. SIGNAGE AT RICHARD CARTER PARK: David Gerling has been in contact with the Highway Department and they feel that it is feasible to put up signage on the bypass pointing out the location of the park. The Highway Department requested a formal letter explaining what is wanted, the desired location, and whether there are any other signs wanted anywhere else. David's impression was that they would rather have several requests for signs all at once, than just one at a time. David suggested requesting a directional sign for A &M Consolidated to be placed on FM 2818. Gary said we could wait a while and add the sign for the train depot at the same time. Gary also brought up the topic of signage at Richard Carter's statue. David has not had time to put anything together, however, he feels that information about the artist, Albert Padulla, his symbolism of the statue, and the date the statue was created, should be included in the marker to be located there. He also feels that a marker or sign of some type should be located at the cemetery stating that the graves had been moved, and describing the location of the original cemetery. There is a state historic grave marker which he felt the Committee might apply for. VIII. PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT RICHARD CARTER PARK: Deborah Jasek attended the Parks Board meeting on November 10th, where the issue of the playground equipment was discussed. She spoke at the meeting and gave the Historical Committees' views about wanting the equipment to remain in keeping with the historical theme of the park, and located away from Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, November 11, 1992 Page 3 the cemetery. Everyone thought it was a good idea. A Homeowner's Association is being formed and the first meeting will be held on December 8, 1992. The HOA is very enthusiastic and is willing to work with the Historical Committee. They will call Deborah when they begin discussing the equipment so that they can get the Historical Committee's input. The Parks Board recommended a joint meeting to approve the equipment that goes into the park so that everyone will be happy. It was suggested by someone at the Parks Board meeting that they should get the input of school children as to what type of things they would like that would be historical in nature. It was even discussed that since there was no money for the equipment at this time, that perhaps members of the HOA could get together and help build the equipment themselves. Ideas suggested: a jungle gym that looks like a Conestoga wagon, a log cabin, an old ship, etc. IX. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: The pictures were passed around which were taken from the "We've Never Been Licked" tape. The pictures did not come out well, and could not really be used for anything. Deborah did some investigating on Fish Hobgood and Fish Jones that were in a 1924 photograph of the Train Depot. She is going to try to locate these people to see if they are still alive. It was suggested by Gary that it would be nice if they were present for the depot marker dedication. The wording of the Train Depot marker was discussed. Gary stated that the marker needed to indicate the original location of the Train Depot, which was in the middle of where Wellborn Road runs today. Deborah attended the Texas Transportation Short Course for all transportation officials in the State. She spoke to the man who will have control of the money which will be coming available for historical purposes. She was told that there was going to be quite a bit of money but it will not be available until next year. The proposal to use the money will have to be tied into transportation in some way. She was told that the City of College Station has the perfect thing, because of the railroad station. She suggested that perhaps the Committee could propose some museum or picture story of how the railroad evolved because of the college and how the area grew because of the railroad and the college. Gary asked if there was any way the Committee could get money from them to reconstruct the railroad station. Deborah feels that there may be a way to do it because certain percentages of the money will be set aside for different types of transportation modes, and that there weren't going to be that many people submitting anything on railroads. Most of the input that's been received has been in regards to historic highways. There was some discussion of finding an old depot and moving it here rather than building one. David stated that the City of College Station has already submitted potential projects at an estimated cost of $6.7 million which is called ISTEA. Gary felt that the Committee should put its bid in to try and redo the train depot, perhaps tying it in with Wolf Pen Park, or at Richard Carter Park, as the focal point for a museum. There is little hope that the University will ever do anything about the depot, there are too many uncertainties, what with LoTrack coming in. Deborah will be getting more information on ISTEA, since she is on the mailing list for fund development, and will keep the Committee informed on the areas dealing with the funding of historical transportation. There will be no meeting of the committee in December. David invited everyone to the Parade of Lights Reception on Friday, December 11, 1992. Historic Preservation Committee Wednesday, November 11, 1992 Page 4 David showed the pamphlet on Historic Brazos County. No changes are able to be made now. He described how the pamphlet will look and stated that it will be available sometime after the first of the year. X. ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.