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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistoric Preservation Agenda Packet 10-8-2015 MINUTES PRELIMINARY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 EMMA HARVAT HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Thomas Agran, Esther Baker, Gosia Clore, Kate Corcoran, Frank Durham, Andrew Litton, Pam Michaud, Ben Sandell, Ginalie Swaim, Frank Wagner MEMBERS ABSENT: Kent Ackerson STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow, Bob Miklo OTHERS PRESENT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action) CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Swaim called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. CONSENT AGENDA: CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS. 825 Roosevelt Street. Bristow said this property is in the south part of the Clark Street Conservation District. She said this is a small, non-contributing property built around 1951. Bristow said the house has double-hung windows and a basement egress window in the back that needs to be replaced and resized. She said the other basement windows are all triple-pane awning windows. Bristow said that the one that currently needs to be replaced is an aluminum slider. She said the width is correct, but she is not certain if the height is correct. Bristow stated that the owner would like to replace the window with a metal-clad, wood casement window. She said that instead of having a metal window well with wood filling in the extra space, the owner plans to build a nice, square window well out of block to match the foundation of the home. Bristow said staff finds that, because this is non-contributing and because of the simplicity of the home, having the owner match the divided lights, the triple pane, would not be appropriate and would be overkill for this. She said staff would suggest not matching the double hung either and making this a simple casement window in this basement. MOTION: Corcoran moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 825 Roosevelt Street, as presented in the staff report, with the following condition: metal- clad window product information to be submitted for staff approval. The motion carried on a vote of 10-0 (Ackerson absent). HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION September 10, 2015 Page 2 of 6 CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS 435 Grant Street. Bristow said this property is on a large corner lot in the Longfellow Historic District. She said it is a brick, Cape Cod-like home built in 1930. Bristow said the applicant wants to take out the inner of the two brick surrounds. She said staff finds that this is probably original; the brick matches and everything seems right that it would be original, but it has been falling away from the outer surround. Bristow said the masons can't find a way to really make it stable and keep it in place. She said staff finds this likely and feels that because it is original, it was maybe never going to stay in place for a long time. Bristow said the contractor wants to remove the brick and keep it and maintain it in order to fix the front step, which would then match the rest of the house. She said the contractor would then build a new, wood frame/wood trim for the door. Bristow showed a slide where there is a slightly eased, rounded edge, a little shadow line, and then the rest of the trim. She said the carpenter would match this. Bristow showed the position this would go in, overlapping the edge. She showed a before picture of what it looks like from the outside and a photo shopped version of what it would look like after. Bristow said staff finds that it doesn't really impact the exterior character of the home. She showed the main slide, where there is shown a great deal of wood detail on this home. Bristow said this seems to be a good compromise, where the brick will be gone, and although it is an historic feature, the new trim will fit in well with the rest of the home, and the brick can be saved to fix the front step. MOTION: Baker moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 435 Grant Street as presented in the application and stated in the staff report. Durham seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 10-0 (Ackerson absent). NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION - UNION BAKERY. Bristow said the owners nominated this property for National Register listing as a locally significant property based on two criteria: the historic event - the founding and development of Iowa City, the development of commercial activities in that area, the development and founding of the University and specifically student-type housing; and also the criterion of architectural character. She said that the front corner of the building from the dividing line to the corner and the end of the stone to the corner was built in 1862, and then on the north side of the east facade there was a wraparound built in 1893. Bristow said the building has a Greek revival, commercial aspect that fits with Iowa City specifically. She said that these two types are so interlocked in how they developed together that it seems appropriate to have it listed as applicable under both criteria instead of separating into one or the other. Miklo said that about one year ago, this property was made a local landmark. He said this would be going to the higher level in making it a National Register property. Miklo stated that the State Historic Preservation Office asks for the Commission's review of National Register nominations. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION September 10, 2015 Page 3 of 6 Bristow said that any specific comments as part of the National Register nomination need to go on a specific form as part of the nomination. She said the form would be signed by the Chair and the Mayor. Swaim said she finds the report to be an excellent and informative piece of research. She said she learned quite a lot about the building as well as about Iowa City. MOTION: Litton moved to nominate the Union Bakery to the National Register of Historic Places under both criteria under criterion A and criterion C. Baker seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 10-0 (Ackerson absent). REPORT ON SABIN SCHOOL/SOUTHSIDE SURVEY. Miklo said that, as part of the flood recovery, the University acquired the Sabin School and desired to tear the building down to make it available for MidwestOne Bank. He said that in order to do that, because the property was National Register eligible, the loss of that historic building needed to be mitigated. Miklo said a memorandum of agreement was entered into between the City, FEMA, and the University to provide for this study as well as salvage of the decorative stone work from the building that will hopefully be incorporated into the Riverfront Crossings Park to be built later. He said this is the report of the surrounding neighborhood. Miklo said it is an intensive level survey that identifies the potential for a small historic district around the railroad depot and a number of other potentially individual properties throughout the neighborhood. He said the Commission is being asked to comment on the report and put forth any concerns. Miklo said staff feels it is a very good report that has a lot of information that could be used if local designation, either as individual landmarks or potentially a small historic district in this area, is pursued. Miklo recommended the Commission send back a comment expressing thanks and stating that this will be valuable information as local designations are pursued. Swaim added that it is an excellent piece of research telling a lot about this area. Michaud said there were six documented houses built by Barber south of Burlington Street, although hers is just north of Burlington. She said that Richard Carlson has the whole bibliography of Barber buildings in the entire State of Iowa. Michaud said that the term "double-hung widow" has been used frequently in the report instead of the term "double-hung windows", and that would need to be corrected. REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF: Certificate of No Material Effect – Chair and Staff Review. 409 South Summit Street. Bristow said this was a certificate of no material effect to replace the front steps with wood front steps, because they were deteriorating. She said the only change will be in how the front posts meet the bottom step to prevent further damage. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION September 10, 2015 Page 4 of 6 435 Grant Street. Bristow said this property is the subject of two applications. She said that the owner repaired some brick where there was a through-wall air conditioner. Bristow said the owner used some historic brick and some almost-matching brick. She said it is not jarring, and this is not a new hole that was put in the side of the wall. Bristow said the house has two chimneys. She said that chimney repair was done as well, and the only place she could find it was on both chimneys on the back, although it was very hard to see. Bristow said the flashing was not done recently, but staff asked the owner if she could paint that brown at some point. 830 College Street. Bristow stated that this property has original brick stairs that are highly deteriorated, although they have been repaired over time, multiple times. She said the owner now plans to take out the entire bottom stair, hopefully to save as much of the brick as possible. Bristow said the owner has a mixture of historic and new brick that he has acquired in various places that matches, and he will rebuild the stair. She said the owner will probably pour a concrete base under that so that it stays in place. Minor Review – Preapproved Item – Staff Review. 815 Ronalds Street. Bristow said this property is in the Brown Street Historic District. She said that the front window will be repaired. She said staff is still having conversations with the owner regarding a window on the back of the house. 603 Grant Street. Bristow said this property is in the Longfellow Historic District. She said the house has a very simple front step with very shallow treads. Bristow said there is a simple wood rail on the side. She said the owner wants to use more appropriate treads and will probably come out to the change of the concrete to put in rails and posts that are more historic and actually match the recommended guidelines. DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN PRIORITIES AND ANNUAL WORK PROGRAM: Swaim said that the research on the properties identified has taken far more time than anticipated, as has preparing the letters to the property owners. She said the subcommittee will continue to work on the project. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR AUGUST 13, 2015: MOTION: Michaud moved to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's August 13, 2015 meeting, as written. Durham seconded the minutes. The motion carried on a vote of 10-0 (Ackerson absent). HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION September 10, 2015 Page 5 of 6 COMMISSION INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION: Mount Pleasant Historic Preservation Seminar. Miklo stated that if someone would like to attend this seminar, the City would pay the registration fee and mileage expense. He said the State Historic Preservation Office encourages the Commission to continue its education regarding historic preservation, with a requirement of one Commission member attending at least one meeting per year, which has already been satisfied. Miklo asked anyone interested to let him know. Other: Swaim said Commission members should begin to think about establishing a subcommittee from the Commission to work with Friends of Historic Preservation to pull together the Historic Preservation Awards to be held in January. She said there would need to be about four volunteers. Swaim volunteered to serve on the subcommittee, as did Corcoran and Agran. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 5:54 p.m. Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2014-2015 KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member NAME TERM EXP. 9/11 10/9 11/13 12/11 1/8 2/12 3/12 4/9 5/14 6/11 7/9 8/13 9/10 ACKERSON, KENT 3/29/16 X X X X X X X X X X X X X AGRAN, THOMAS 3/29/17 X X O/E X X X O/E X X X X X O/E BAKER, ESTHER 3/29/18 X X O/E X X O/E X X X X X X X CLORE, GOSIA 3/29/17 X X X O/E X X X X O/E O/E O/E X O/E CORCORAN, KATE 3/29/16 X X X X X X X X X X X O/E DURHAM, FRANK 3/29/16 X X X X X O/E X O/E O/E X X X O/E LITTON, ANDREW 3/29/17 X X X X O/E X X X X X X X MICHAUD, PAM 3/29/18 X X X X X X X X X O/E X X X SANDELL, BEN 3/29/17 X X X X X X X X X O/E X X X SWAIM, GINALIE 3/29/18 O/E O/E X X X X X X X X X X X WAGNER, FRANK 3/29/18 X O/E X O/E O/E O/E X X O/E X O/E O/E