Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2017 07 17

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Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes June 19, 2017 Page 5 of 12 Koertje says I may be convinced about demolition being an appropriate expense. I still have trouble with the new construction and how that fits within the confines of the resolution and how it is justified. Chuck Thomas says I am prepared to accept it. I don't know that I can advance compelling evidence that would change your perspective. I am prepared to accept it as part of work that is required in order to achieve the goal of restoring that structure. Cyndi Thomas says I agree with Koertje. I could be convinced on the demo side because you need it to separate the two in order to expose that north side. But once you have done that, how does the new construction play into preservation? I would rather see more money going towards restoring the north side and doing all of the other work listed in the structural assessment and important to the integrity of the building, than giving $75,000 to the pool house. It doesn't feel it is supporting the Center for the Arts. Dickinson says I think I missed the beginning of this process, the genesis of the whole conversation because it happened in 2016. What was the original goal here? Are we trying to restore the Center for the Arts or trying to get a new pool house? These are two different directions. If the goal is to restore the Center for the Arts, then the only way to do it is to demolish the pool house. Chuck Thomas says when this was presented to the HPC, we asked if they could separate the Center for the Arts from the pool house and restore the north face. That was the genesis of the discussion. You could make the argument on any new construction, but how does that preserve the structure to be saved? I am less critical of the genesis that gets us a new pool house. Koertje says the new construction doesn't have to be part of the preservation of an existing building, but there are specific purposes for which it can be used. That is to limit mass scale lumbar storage, setbacks, pedestrian walkways, and utilize materials typical of historic buildings. I have not seen the case on how this fits in that. Dickinson says this is a positive moment for the HPC to have this building being dealt with in a respective way. We have been brought a project presented in the right way. They chose to limit the scale. We have a nice project in front of us that will be incredibly expensive, but it is a major building in our local history. Koertje asks Trice if tonight's packet has a rendering of the new pool house. Trice says there is a rendering in the PUD and PUD application and Staff report. Chuck Thomas says the finish is greatly dissimilar from what it was before. Haley asks if this is considered one property. Trice says it is all one landmarked site. The Center for the Arts is the landmarked structure. This is an odd situation because they are attached. The entire property is a landmarked site so we are able to use the new construction grant on this property. Chuck Thomas asks when Memory Square was dedicated. I am trying to get a sense of the historical nature of the park itself in relationship to the structure. It is not unusual for different older parks that have landmark status by virtue of the architect or other things. Trice says I don't know the date of Memory Square. The landmark was in 2005. Haley says my only hesitation is there may be other projects that need to be paid for including the north wall. I wonder if that will work against them in the future. Chuck Thomas says we have a proposal before us that separates the pool house from the Center for the Arts, it makes it a stand-alone historic structure, it is an improvement in terms of historic preservation, and there still remains work to be done on it. I don't see how this could be an impediment for addressing it at a later date. Haley says the original plans did not have a separation. Chuck Thomas says yes, they were still attached. The HPC reacted to the original concept and suggested that they separate them.