Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/07/1997 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING COLLEGE STATION CONFERENCE CENTER 1300 GEORGE BUSH DRIVE WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1997 -- 5:15 P.M. HISTORIC COMMITTEE Bill Lancaster, Chairman Deborah Jasek, Co- Chair Elton Abbott Bryan MEMBERS PRESENT: Howard Brett Estes Dennis Maloney Mary Jane Hirsch MEMBERS ABSENT: Carol Wagner Sharon Menn Aaron Ffrench, Old Main Society Liaison: Bill Fox, Council Liaison STAFF PRESENT: David Qerling, Special Facilities Superintendent Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary VISITORS PRESENT: Douglas Lancaster Sabine McCully, College Station Development Services ; Lee Battle, College Station Development Services I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by Bill Lancaster, Chairman. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes for April, 1997, were reviewed and approved with no corrections. 3. HEAR VISITORS: Bill welcomed all visitors and introduced his brother Douglas, from Tampa, Florida, as a visitor who had nothing to present. Sabine McCully said she was with the City's Planning and Zoning Department and was there for Lee Battle's presentation. Mike Luther had nothing to present to the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC). 4. REPORT AND DISCUSSION OF SOUTHSIDE HISTORIC SURVEY - LEE BATTLE, STAFF PLANNER: Lee said that he was there to update the HPC on how the Historical Resource Survey for Southside was going. He reminded everyone that the survey had been started before Joey Dunn left the City. He also wanted feedback from the HPC and to present some opportunities for the HPC to do some things regarding the project. He told the HPC that the first step in the survey had been research involving aerial photos. They wanted to research and see how many homes were historic just from an age standpoint. The best photo found was a very clear, 1946 aerial photo. He passed it around for the HPC to view. He said they compared the 1946 photo to a current aerial photo to identify which of the homes standing now were there in 1946. The next step involved building permits and finding construction dates. City records only went as far back as 1949, and unfortunately everything in the 1946 photo pre -dates 1949. Finding construction dates for a lot of the homes would be a challenge. He said the next step was to take a photo of each of the 300 homes identified from the 1949 photo, as still standing. Lee said after it's been decided which homes are the most historically significant, more detailed photos will be taken, and this was an area where the HPC Photo Subcommittee could help out. Historic Preservation Committee Page 2 He discussed the criteria for evaluation. As far as age, the home would have to be about 40 years old to qualify, and the photo happened to be 50 years old. He said the HPC could also help determine if there were homes not in the photo which might have historical or architectural significance and needed to be on the list. He preferred that the HPC make the decision about what was historically significant. He said there were also homes moved off campus after the photo was taken, and he had identified as many of those as he could to include on the list. He said he would need help with the last criteria, preservation priority. because the HPC knew the houses better than he did. All the houses on the list would need to be given a high, medium, or low priority ranking, which would indicate how important it was to try and preserve the home. He said the tricky part will be deciding between what would be a medium and low - priority home. He said some of the homes on the list have been so modified that even though they may be 50 years old, they are so different from the original home that the HPC may not want to include them on the list. Lee told the HPC that when everything was done, there would be an inventory sheet listing all the homes, with as many construction dates as they could find. He had been able to get some dates from the appraisal district, but some dates may have to be estimated. He said there would also be a survey base map which will have all the homes on it, as well as a contact sheet with all the black and white photos. There will be slides of all the homes, and an inventory form which will be used to document details about each home. The inventory forms will probably only be filled out on the high priority homes. He said there might be student groups on campus willing to go out and determine architectural styles and document some of the other details about the homes. He said the same type survey had been done for Northgate, and when it had been completed, there were 66 structures on the survey. Only six had been listed as high priority, 19 were medium priority, and the remaining structures were listed as low priority structures. Lee ended by saying that the project was at the stage where the HPC needed to decide how they would determine the priorities, as well as which homes be high, medium, and low priority. Once that was decided, the materials could be organized together, more detailed photos could be taken and the inventory forms done. He knew the HPC took the summer off, but if the project could be started in the fall, he'd like to see it completed by the end of the year. Lee said over the summer he'd be doing research, trying to find construction dates, and organizing photos and information so that he can give the HPC what they need to get started in the fall. Deborah commented that Bill Kling might have some information which would be helpful in finding construction dates. Lee said the definitions he had presented for priorities were vague, and that it was really up to the HPC to determine what would be acceptable. Bill L. said he and his brother both could help out on the construction dates, since they remember when a lot of the homes were built. Lee said over the summer he would create a list of homes he had construction dates on, and give it to the HPC. Bill and Elton both told Lee to call them over the summer if he needed any help. 5. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC HOME APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED; Bill said Laura Fitch Normand had submitted an application on her family's home at 1712 Glade, a former campus home. Bill said he'd discovered that some of the information Mrs. Normand had been given for her application was incorrect, and he would talk to her about it. Dennis said since the only discrepancies were dates, he moved to approve the application with the understanding that Mrs. Normand would make the corrections to her narrative. He said the HPC would be continually updating and amending the records as information came in anyway. Bill agreed and seconded the motion to approve the application. David said this would be historic home plaque #38. Bill said Dennis' idea to go ahead and approve the application was a good approach. Dennis said he wished Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 he'd thought of it before, for the other applications which were pending. Bill said it wasn't too late to do that with those pending applications. David said he'd gotten questions from some of the Northgate merchants wanting to know how to get a historic building plaque, so there may be some applications coming in for building markers. 6. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: Historical Tourism: Mary Jane had nothing new to report. Oral History; Bill said the oral history on churches was scheduled for mid July and if anyone could participate in that, to please do so. Research and Archaeology Bryan said he had been unable to get the city's historic guidelines out before the meeting for everyone to review as promised, so he handed out copies. He said the only addition was a form to be handed out to people, other than that, it was the same form. He said unless anyone had anything to discuss, he'd like the HPC to vote on the program so it could be adopted to supplement the house/building marker program. He said he had written the criteria as a guideline and it shouldn't be set in stone. If someone wanted a marker for something that didn't fit into any of the categories but was eligible, he felt the HPC should work around it. The form itself could be changed before it was handed out, but it explained what information would be needed for the marker process. Deborah moved to accept the criteria and form to be used. Dennis seconded, and all were in favor. Bill thanked Bryan. Bryan said the next step would be contacting the people who were interested in getting markers. David said Reverend Sims was interested in getting a marker for Eastgate. Bryan said the HPC might want to put something in the newspaper letting the population know that the program was in place. Photo Document; Sharon was not present to give an update. Elton said that as far as the HPC's participation in the Historic Resource Survey, he was capable of giving a recommendation on the architectural significance of the homes. However, he said he thought it would be better if the HPC had a slide show with all members present. That way they could go over all the houses quickly, and if there was any controversy about priority ranking, it could be discussed at that time. Everyone agreed that was a good idea. Bill said he'd had a phone call from Steve Rogers, an attorney in Bryan who is very enthusiastic about getting involved with the photo documentation process. Bill said that Mr. Rogers had contacted Steve Beachy about borrowing a bucket truck from the city to hoist him up high so that he could take videos and photos. Bill said he would help Mr. Rogers as much as possible. Elton said after Mr. Rogers did the documentation, the HPC needed to have the video converted to a digital video, so it could be stored on a CD and it would be permanent. Education /Churches: Deborah said she had not been able to do anything since the last meeting, but she would be working with Reverend Park over the summer. Dennis said Reverend Park might be at the Southside Neighborhood Association meeting on May 17th. Deborah said she didn't know about the meeting. David said it would be from Noon to 4:00 p.m. and he needed a facilitator from the HPC to attend that meeting. Dennis said he'd be there anyway and he'd be the facilitator. Community Appearance: Dennis said he'd been working on getting historic home plaque applications, but that David had exciting news. 7. SOUTHSIDE LIQHTINQ UPDATE: David said he had two things. He showed the HPC a picture of the light pole that will be used in Southside, stating that it had been chosen because of the Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 price, it was similar to the lights in other parks, and it would take standard replacement parts. It was an antique - looking, direct -burial pole made of concrete that would cost the HPC a little less than $900 a piece. He said he had talked to the City's electrical and facility maintenance crews to find out about installation, and found out that as long as the lamps were being installed on city property, the job could be done with city crews and no labor charge. David said that meant the HPC could buy eight poles and put two lights on each side of Fairview (Luther Jones) Park. He said the HPC needed to decide on white or yellow light. Currently the lights in that neighborhood are low - pressure, sodium lights which give off a yellow light. After some discussion the HPC decided to stay with the softer, yellow light to blend in with the other lights in the neighborhood. Dennis commended David for his work on the project. David said he'd be moving forward with the project during the summer, and hopefully the lights will be installed by early fall. Dennis said he'd met and gone around with Ed Hard about two weeks prior, to show him where the extra Southside Historic District signs could be placed. He said there are 15 extra signs -- but they were still not up yet. David said that he'd gotten with Luther Jones' family, and they were editing the narrative that would go on the plaque in the park. He said a picture will also be gotten from the family for a bust to be done. Once the bust has been cast, a dedication date will be set to officially rename Fairview Park to Luther Jones Park. 8. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: David asked if all the members had turned in their applications to stay on the HPC. Deborah and Bill both said they hadn't yet, but they would. David asked Mary Jane if she was definitely going off the HPC, and she said yes. Brett told the members that he would also be resigning from the HPC, since he had accepted a job working with Joey Dunn for the City of Bryan. He said he would be moving to Bryan in about a month. Mary Jane said she was concerned that there was only one home in Eastgate with an historic marker. She felt there were other areas of the city besides Southside, with homes of historical significance, and she would love for those people to know about the program. Elton asked Lee if they were planning to do an Eastgate Historic Survey. Lee said not that he knew of. Elton said he thought it would be a good target and follow -up to the Southside survey. Dennis said that Eastgate had just formed a Homeowner's Association which would be a means of getting the information needed for the survey. Deborah said that would mean Eastgate could get rid of the snail"signs and replace them with the historic district signs. Mary Jane asked if people had been complaining about the "snail" signs. Several people said they'd had complaints, especially after the historic signs went up in Southside. Bill asked when the HPC would meet again. David said the first Wednesday in September. 9. ADJOURN; The meeting adjourned at 6:14 p.m.