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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/05/1997 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING COLLEGE STATION CONFERENCE CENTER 1300 GEORGE BUSH DRIVE, ROOM 106 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1997 -- 5:15 P.M. HISTORIC COMMITTEE Bill Lancaster, Chairman Deborah Jasek, Co- Chair Dennis Maloney MEMBERS PRESENT: Bryan Howard; Elton Abbott Mary Jane Hirsch Sharon Menn Brett Estes Carol Wagner Bill Fox, Council Liaison MEMBERS ABSENT: Aaron Ffrench, Old Main Society Liaison STAFF PRESENT: David Qerling, Special Facilities Superintendent STAFF ABSENT: Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary VISITORS PRESENT: Laura Massey, Old Main Society, for Aaron Ffrench Betty Croce, Community Appearance Subcommittee; Mike Luther I. CALL TO ORDER; The meeting was called to order at 5:19 p.m. by Bill Lancaster, Chairman. Q. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes for January, 1997, were approved as presented. 3. HEAR VISITORS: Mike Luther didn't have anything to present to the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC). Laura Massey, a member of the Old Main Society, was present in Aaron Ffrench's place. 4. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC HOME APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED: Bill L. said that an application had been submitted on the Laverty House located at 503 Angus Street. Bill said that this house would be moved if Welsh Street was extended through to George Bush Drive. Mary Jane asked if all discussion of extending Welsh would end if the application was approved. Bill L. and Dennis both said no, it wouldn't. Sharon made a motion for approval of the application and Mary Jane seconded. There was no opposition, and the application was approved for historic home plaque #36. David stated that there were just a few home plaques remaining and that he was in the process of ordering more. Bill L. informed the HPC that within the past month two of the original owners of College Station historic homes -- Mrs. Calendar and Mrs. Burgess -- had died. He added that there weren't many of the original owners left. Dennis stated that he'd been told by a real estate agent that the houses in Southside were selling more rapidly since it had been designated an historical area. Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 David said that an application for the house at 404 Pershing had been submitted for approval by the owners, Greg and Michele Gorman. Bill L. stated that the previous owner had been Dr. Russell Couch. David said that Mrs. Gorman had submitted all the information she had and she didn't know who built the house. Bill L. said there was no doubt the house was old enough to obtain a marker, it was just a matter of getting additional information, which should be locally available. David asked where he could send Mrs. Gorman for other information. Deborah said the title company that provided her with title insurance should have done a deed search and an abstract. She said she could also check the courthouse in the abstract section. David said he would let the Gormans know that additional information was needed, adding that a floor plan drawn by Mr. Gorman would be provided. Dennis said the HPC would like to know about any special characteristics of the home, such as a special wood being used, etc. 5. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: Historic Tourism: Mary Jane said she had nothing new to report. Bill L. told her that the City's Tourism Committee had not met recently. Oral History: Bill L. said there would be another session on February 19, and everyone was welcome to participate. Invitations went out to anyone who might have recollections of the war years and military history from 1900 -1949. David said that it was decided that after 1949 you got into the Korean and Vietnam Wars, which would be a separate Memory Lane. Carol suggested inviting Arnold Kramer from the History Department at A &M, because he'd done a lot of research on POW's. Bryan suggested inviting Dr. Mike Waters in the Anthropology Department, since he had been doing excavations at the POW camp in Hearne, and had done a lot of background research. Research and Archaeology: Bryan passed out a list of a few of the things he'd been looking into and discussed them briefly. On the topic of the marker on early settlers, he explained that since no evidence is currently present for a specific site, a general marker could be done for the area. He said he'd included the Aggieland Zoo on the list, but knew none of the details. He added a few other ideas not on the list. Aggie Muster would qualify as an event as far as age, and also the churches which had been discussed at the last meeting -- Washington Chapel, Pleasant Grove and St. Martin's. He said if anyone knew where James Rudder had lived, if the house was eligible as far as age (fifty years) and condition, it would be a good candidate for a federal marker, since Rudder was a nationally significant individual. Bill L. asked if it would be the home that Rudder grew up in. Bryan said usually at the federal level it's the residence they lived in while prominent, so it would be the home he lived in as an adult. Bill L. said the significant home would have been the one on campus which burned while he was living in it in 1963. The University then bought a home on Lee Street where he lived while the current President's home was being built. Anna Lou Jessup lives in that house now. Bryan said a marker may not be possible since the home burned, and the site probably wouldn't qualify. Bill L. stated that of the three homes on the Historic Homes Tour at Christmas, the Rudders had lived in two of them. Bryan said he hoped to find something of national significance in the area that would be eligible. He said at the state level there were a lot of buildings IOOCks on campus built in the 1930's, as well as the W.P.A. (War-Project Administration) Projects, which would qualify. Deborah said a site marker at Bolton Hall for the first radio broadcast of a football game would qualify. David explained that all the research had already been done for that marker, however, approval to put the marker on campus couldn't be obtained. Bryan said he would like Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 everyone's input on ideas, adding that he felt a lot of support could be gotten for the campus marker ideas for muster, bonfire and the band. Mike Luther suggested contacting Roger B. Watkins at 260-7788 for historical information about the first radio broadcast. He said Mr. Watkins, a past owner of W had the microphone and part of the 1949 Western Electric console that was used during that broadcast. Mike said he personally had some of the parts as well. He mentioned a couple of other ideas the HPC might want to put on the list for possible markers. There was a spare propeller from the Inola Gay being used in the slow speed wind tunnel at A &M. It wasn't one of the original props, just a spare, and though it's not old enough at this time for a marker, the HPC might want to keep track of it. He said that Joe Brusse, who helped design the tunnel and put it in, could be contacted. Bill L. added that Jo Brusse held the world's record for many years for the longest free fall. He bailed out of a plane at 29,000 feet during World War 11 over Germany, and wanted to get down as quickly as he could, so he free -fell about 26,000 feet before he opened his chute. He was captured by Germans as soon as he landed and a POW for about a year. He broke both of his ankles when he landed and still limps and wears a brace because of it. The other idea Mike had for a possible marker, was a house on Winding Road which was Fred 113feic Whites, the co- designer of the 13-36 airplane. The house is coming close to being fifty years old. W,,A Bill L. said Mr. Wl}ie used to fly to work at Easterwood Airport every day in his Air Coupe. He had a landing field about where Glade Street is now, where he'd take off and land. Dennis mentioned that Tom Cartwright on Lee Street should be added to the list of people to be invited to the Military Memory Lane. He was an American POW in Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped. Bill L. thanked Dennis and Mike for the names and added that if anyone thought of someone who should be invited, to call Grace Calbert. Photo Document: Sharon had nothing new to report. Bill L. said it would be a good idea to take a video of the land on both sides of the Highway 6 Bypass south of Furrows. Dennis also suggested filming at the corner of Lincoln and Texas where the new shopping center will be built. Brett suggested video taping the horseshoe at Kyle Field which would be demolished after next season. Elton brought in photo C.D.'s for the group to look at since there had been some discussion about them at past meetings. He said the images on them were digital and unless melted, should last a hundred years at least. Elton stated that Joey Dunn, formerly with Development Services, had asked him to represent the HPC in reviewing the work of the guys taking over the photo documentation project. Elton had told Joey he'd be happy to if the HPC agreed. Bill L. and the HPC agreed that Elton should act as the HPC representative in that capacity. Education: Deborah had nothing new to report. Community Appearance: Dennis asked Bill F. if there was a deadline for spending the $10,000 grant money. Bill F. said he wasn't sure, but a portion of the money could possibly be shifted from one year to the next. Dennis said he'd like to see the HPC decide on the type of period lamp it Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 wanted to use in Southside, and install them around the perimeter of Luther Jones Park while the money's still available. He also wanted to know if the City would agree to allow a citizen to purchase a period lamp and have the City install and maintain it. The lamps would be installed everywhere there's a " Southside Historic Area" sign. Also, he believes the City wants to change some zoning to allow certain types of low - traffic enterprise to move into the Southside neighborhood. Elton asked what was meant by low traffic, and Dennis said an architect or lawyer -- that type of office. Dennis said he was against the idea, however, usually when that type of office goes in, renovation is done to the house. Dennis said if the area rezoned was west of Hereford back to Holleman, down to Wellborn and up to George Bush, that would be good, since the homes in that area do not increase in value. If the rezoning comes about, he'd like to see a City policy whereby when a house is purchased, the appraised value of the home could never fall below, or rise above that value, no matter what you did or didn't do to it, as long as it was owner occupied. When a new owner moves in, the house is reappraised at current market value for the new owner and the same policy would apply. This would give the incentive to come into the area and renovate or tear down the non - historical buildings and rebuild. Dennis said it made sense for the City because it would improve the appearance as well as increase the value of the area. Bill L. said the idea had merit and perhaps the HPC should talk to urban planners somewhere who have had experience in that type of thing. Elton's only concern would be in maintaining any historical sites so that someone couldn't come in and tear down a structure that had historical significance. He added that the City's Accounting and Legal Departments should look into it since it could become complex. Dennis stated that there are special taxing districts all over the country, and the City wanted to do it with the Northgate area. Bill L. agreed that it would be very wise to offer the city something like that. Bill Fox said to keep in mind that the idea would also affect the school district, probably even more than it would affect the City. Deborah said she thought that as far as the businesses are concerned, the HPC should consider the recommendation of allowing the single- owner/lawyer /doctor type thing on the very edge and not on the interior of the district. Brett said there were no homes directly off Wellborn so there would be conflicting land use. He said if the zoning were changed to office /commercial, there would have to be some type of ordinance to preserve those homes, otherwise, they could be torn down and replaced with brick buildings. Deborah suggested waiting until after the current Legislative session ended in June to see what changes might be made with regards to property taxes. Dennis stated that this was just an idea but he did want to come up with some guidelines that could be presented to Skip Noe. 6. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: Bill Fox said he'd attended a meeting in the Eastgate area and there was concern from a gentleman there who wanted to have the Eastgate area recognized as one of historical significance. He said they were very impressed with what had been done in Southside. Bill F. suggested to the HPC, that since attaining a state marker often takes a lot of research and time, at some point the City may want to have its own plaque that the HPC could control, to identify historical areas of the city. He said he could see a plaque similar to the state's at the entry to Southside, describing the historical significance of that area. Bill L. asked if there was any reason why that couldn't be done. David said it could, and explained that two plaques similar to the state marker were already out at Central Park. He said the difference was that at the top of the plaque was the College Station logo (the snail), but the depot could be put on top instead. The HPC liked the idea. David said the money would probably come from hotel /motel funds through the budget process. It was discussed that Pat Holland and Mr. Culpepper, Jr. both would have a lot of information on Eastgate. Historic Preservation Committee Page 5 Deborah suggested putting together some type of booklet, available for a small fee, which would list all the College Station historic markers. She said that when the George Bush Library opens, tourists may be interested in reading about the different sites, homes, and people that lived here. Brett said that if the City did it's own markers, there would have to be a defined structure stating what would qualify. Otherwise too many markers could be handed out and they would lose their meaning. He said it would be worthwhile to look at the state's regulations and maybe scale them down to fit the city. Bill L. agreed that the process needed to be fine tuned. Elton said that there had been a lot of controversy regarding Northgate in the press lately. From his perspective, the area was undergoing great improvement, and he applauds what's going on. Deborah said that the bad press was from disgruntled business owners, and it's been going on since the first business was built in the 1920's. Elton said he was going to prepare a resolution and that he would be in favor of commending, by committee, what was going on in Northgate. Dennis felt the HPC should become more politically involved, and he would be willing to sign the resolution. Deborah agreed saying that it should be sent as a letter to the editor as well. 7. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.