Everett Historical Commission

DRAFT Everett Historical Commission Minutes September 22, 2015 Members Present Members Absent Visitors City Staff Bobby Olsen Mark Soine Milt Heger Jan Meston Bill Vincent Dave Ramstad Ross Johnson Jack O’Donnell L. Sam Samano Niels Tygesen Arnold Morrison Russ Hermes Paul Popelka Neil Anderson Sandra Alder Steve Fox Laura Cameron-Behee Allan White Jim Staniford Dale Good Bobby Olsen: Welcome to the Historical Commission meeting. Our first item is approval of the minutes for the May meeting. Approval of Minutes Jim Staniford moved to approve the minutes of the July 18, 2015 meeting as written. Bill Vincent seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Additions to the Agenda No additions. Public Hearing on Nomination of Watson’s Bakery building, 1812 Hewitt, for Everett Register Bobby Olsen: For the record, the Historical Commission has received a copy of the Everett Register nomination form for this property. The purpose of the public hearing this evening is:  To provide factual information about the proposed project or action to the general public and to the Historical Commission.  To provide a fair, open and orderly forum for public comment and questions.  To identify issues to be considered as part of the decision. Applicant’s Presentation Sandra Alder: This nomination is for the 1812 Hewitt Avenue Building for the Everett Register. We know that this building is a contributing structure in the Hewitt Avenue Historic District on the National Register. (A PowerPoint presentation was shown.) This photo is from years ago. This building was the location of the first office of Capital Architects, my business. The building was built in 1910. We don’t have a record of the original architect. Two prominent realtors in Everett were involved in putting the project together. The building has classic masonry, which existed on two sides of the building after the building next door, the McCrossen Building, burned down in 2012. The party wall between the McCrossen Building and this 1812 Hewitt was a shared wall. 1812 Hewitt Avenue hooked onto the exterior wall of the McCrossen Building. This photograph shows the building after the fire. We were left with no wall on the east side. This photo shows the building on the alley side of the building as it was being restored. The building has been repointed and we added rosettes for structural tying of the masonry wall to the floor structure. The windows in the building before the fire were vinyl, and those have been replaced with wood windows clad on the exterior. We maintained the original division of the glazing. This is the south elevation of the building before and after the restoration. We have prepared this building to stand alone if there is no building built on the lot to the east. We selected a masonry color of rose for the concrete masonry units to relate better to the clay masonry. The building is all masonry except for the front elevation along the street which is a wood frame. These are interior photos of the interior of the building. There was a lot of water damage and mold on the walls following the fire. The mortar was disintegrating and coming into the building as sand. The building was repointed on both the interior and exterior. All that repointing will enable that building to stand and function. It gives new life to this building. We have retained as much of the historic character of the building as possible. The character and age of the building are evident. This is the south office before the fire. You can see a patch on the upper wall where the old furnace coal shoot exited the building. This is the curved interior stairway that goes to the alley. We had to remove the glass block, which was not original to the building. Structurally there was no path for the vertical load, so the glass block was removed. All the masonry and the stairs were retained. This is the upper corner office, the second story corner office. On the front of the building, we placed the door for entering the building on the corner because that was the best ADA approach into the building. I wanted to share a few things about Bill Finley, who was the architect that first restored this building. We submitted a Polk Directory listing of everybody who had occupied the building since 1910. There were periods of years when no one was occupying the building. Bill Finley purchased the building with partners and did substantial work to restore the building in 1998. Placing the building on the Everett Register would honor Bill because he restored the building in a way that was very much in keeping with the original character. He had great care for the building; his original work was in this building and this was where his office was. The building was close to his heart. He did a hand rendering of this building. Bill meant a lot to me. When he retired, I went to see him and purchased a copy machine from him. I really wanted to know who was going to take over his space. He said he didn’t have anybody. I asked how much he wanted to rent the space, and he asked how much I could afford. I was just starting Capital Architects and said I could pay $500 per month. He said I could have the space for that, and I should add $50 a month for every month I felt I could afford it. In no time flat I had the rent up to market rate. He gave me an opportunity that was very unexpected and it helped establish my company. He also gave us our first project, the Silver Lake Plaza Shopping Center, which helped us immensely. So again, in his honor it would be wonderful to have this building on the register. 2 Russ Hermes, one of the current owners, has been very special to us also because he took space in our building during the restoration of 1812 Hewitt after the fire in 2012. He has a lot of interest in 1812 Hewitt and has done a great job of restoring it. It is restored to the point that it will last for many years to come. It is very worthy of the Everett Register. Staff Report Jan Meston: Placement on the Everett Register requires owner approval. Historic preservation is in large part voluntary, and we are always glad to have people nominate buildings. There are criteria in the Everett Municipal Code for placement on the Everett Register. The first three criteria are:  The building must be at least 50 years old, and this building, built in 1910, is 105 years old;  It must be significant to Everett’s history, and this is a contributing structure in the Hewitt Avenue National Register District, so it is significant to Everett’s history; and  It must retain its historic character, which this building does. If a building meets these first three criteria, then it must fall into at least one of an additional 10 categories. This building, which is most commonly known as the Watson’s Baker Building, falls into three of those categories, as follows: 1. It is a significant example of a style of building, a vernacular commercial building from the early 1900s. Its pressed brick exterior, the band of windows on the second story bordered by wood trim, and the dentil detailing capping off the building all contribute to the architecture of the building are all features which contribute to the architectural style of the building. 2. The building exemplifies elements of the city’s cultural history. Between 1900 and 1915, Everett’s population grew from 8,000 to 30,000, and the Hewitt Avenue commercial district grew along with the population. This was a significant period in Everett’s history, and this building is one of the contributing commercial structures which represents that era. 3. It is associated with the lives of persons significant to local history, prominent local realtors V.J. Pearse and A.D. Lucas who had a hand in development of a number of buildings in the Hewitt Avenue Historic District. There is an article about Mr. Lucas in the History of Snohomish County Washington, 1926, which recognizes him as a successful businessman in real estate and insurance in Everett and a person who “has done much to improve and beautify the city.” Based on the building meeting all these criteria, the staff recommends that the Historical Commission recommend placing the building on the Everett Register. The Historical Commission’s decision tonight will be a recommendation to City Council, and City Council will make the final decision. We have also received an application for Special Valuation for restoration work on the Watson’s Bakery Building. A building is required to be on the Everett Register to be eligible for Special Valuation. We will consider that application at your meeting in October. That concludes the staff report. Neil Anderson moved to open the public hearing. Allan White seconded the motion, which passes unanimously. 3 Bobby Olsen: Is there anyone from the public who wishes to speak? Dave Ramstad: I would like to express my joy at this nomination. I hope it begins a series of Everett Register nominations for additional buildings in the Hewitt Avenue National Register District, as well as the entire length of our most historic street, Hewitt Avenue, being nominated for the Everett Register. The building is magnificent. Thank you, Mr. Hermes, thank you, Sandra, for your efforts on this. When it comes to the plaque which I presume will be on the building at some point, given the significance of Mr. Finley and the contribution he made to the building, I wonder if his name shouldn’t be included on the plaque. At the same time I am expressing my joy about the Watson’s Bakery Building being improved to last another century, I express my chagrin and sadness that not 100 feet away is the worst eyesore on Hewitt Avenue, the Hodges Building, and another building owned by the same landlord across the street, the ramshackle shell, the former Orpheum Theater, I believe. If I were someone with a job prospect here and was considering moving my family to Everett, I would drive Hewitt Avenue, our main street, and I’m going to see the plywood on the ground floor of the Hodges, and I’m going to say, “Uh oh, some nice buildings and some horrors.” The City had an initiative a few years ago to require landlords to at least clean and paint their structures as well as clean up their ground floor space and perhaps install some historic photos in the vacant spaces to make it look alive, occupied and welcoming. I don’t know where that initiative went, but it is not happening now and we have the eyesore next to this gorgeous gem. Win some, lose some. I think landlords who don’t responsibly maintain their properties need to come under higher pressure from city authorities and the public. We are going for a historic and unique downtown here in Everett that people are going to love whether they are newcomers or natives. We have to fix this problem. But I am joyful that this nomination has come through. Thank you. Russ Hermes: I am one of the owners of this building and a tenant representing Hermes Law firm. I have been in this building since 1999. I want to share with you some anecdotal things you may not be able to capture from the pictures that showed what we suffered as a result of the fire. No one knew as we were standing in front of the building at 9:30 at night on November 8, 2012, that we only had three walls. No one knew that it would take 2-1/2 years to go from that point to what we are seeing now. The City of Everett was fabulous in helping us expedite the process. The process was necessarily slow because Mr. Sikov, who was very helpful to me, owned the ground upon which I needed to build my 4th wall. I had to purchase that. We had to temporarily shore that wall until the McCrossen building could be knocked down and we could retain that side of our building, otherwise we would have had a leaner. I threatened the City I would put a white tarp on the building and show movies to vagrants on the tarp screen if they didn’t give me my permits. $1.5 million later and after living through this on a daily basis, probably spending 2 to 5 hours a day, we got this job done. I was the lead of the ownership group in handling this along with Sandra Alder, who happened to be upstairs from my temporary quarters and easy to get to. I am disappointed and one thing in the restoration, I must tell you. The City would allow another building to be built where McCrossen stood within one foot of my building. So it didn’t make any sense for us to rebrick the outside of the east side of that building as I would have liked to do. I’ll have you know that we did rebrick the inside of the east wall, and we retained all of the brick on the inside of the building otherwise. 4 On the left side of the front façade of the building where the concrete masonry units meet the front façade, we installed brick and tried to make it match the existing. So the wall that was going to be a concrete masonry unit buttress in the front is now covered with brick and looks much better. I could go on and on and on about the building and our experiences and the deluge of July of 2014 when the building wasn’t weather tight and we had fish and other pond animals living in our building. Mr. Finley has been spoken of tonight. He and a man named Kent Langabeer bought the building in 1981. I was in the beginning of my college career and hopefully looking to law school at the time. Mr. Langabeer was moving from Hascal Sjoholm CPA firm to start his own company. He and Bill Finley bought this building and I, of all people, helped Mr. Langabeer move into the building and start his new business. Funny how the circle of life turns. I have been there since 1999. Sandra has been a tenant and I have been a tenant of hers and we are dear friends, and we worked well, very well, together on this through some very troubling times. I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish and I wanted to share all that with the Commission. Thank you. Jim Staniford moved to close the public hearing. Steve Fox seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Bobby Olson: The public hearing is closed. Now it’s time for Commission discussion. Bill Vincent: I had the honor of being escorted through the building yesterday by Russ Hermes. It is unbelievable what has been accomplished. The only thing I would ask is whether it is possible to bring the aroma from Watson’s Bakery back? Years ago, I was the guy who greased all those pans that you guys had fresh bread in. I think this has been 1,000% done properly and is first class. Jack O’Donnell: I support listing this building on the Everett Register. It’s a contributing property in the historic Hewitt Avenue District. I remember when my friend and classmate Bill Finley was working on this, and I’m sure back then the Historical Commission gave the building a letter of commendation. I think we are lucky this building is standing. It was a real tragedy losing the McCrossen Block. This building could have gone then, too, or the choice could have been made that it couldn’t be saved because of the common wall. I thank you, Mr. Hermes, for choosing to save the building and Sandra for your work on the renovation. It is a keystone building in that block on Hewitt Avenue, and the three buildings across the alley should be on the Everett Register at some point. Seeing what this building has become will help someone to save those buildings. Thank you for your work. Neil Anderson: If there were a book on what to do in a historic district, this example would be in the first chapter. Great job! As Jack said, it could have been a real tragedy if the building had been lost, and it came close to that. Dale Good: I hear all kinds of reason we should approve this, and I don’t hear any reasons why we shouldn’t. It seems to me what they have done to that building is what needed to be done to that building and to enhance Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett. I think we need to approve. Steve Fox: I totally agree. It’s a wonderful job done. One question: the building has been called Watson’s Bakery, and Watson’s Bakery was there longer than any other tenant. But it seems a little arbitrary to call it Watson’s Bakery since they weren’t the first tenants. Are there some criteria as to what goes on the Everett Register plaque that we need to follow? Jan Meston: The general rule is that a building is named after the first tenant, but there are exceptions to that if there is a name that is more commonly used or desired. The name that has been put on Everett 5 Register plaques is whatever is adopted when the building in placed on the register. So this is an appropriate time to talk about that. Steve Fox: I’m thinking of two other buildings that are on the Everett Register, one is the Fosheim House and the other is the Morrow Building. I can see the argument that this building could be called the Finley Building since we have precedents. But Watson’s Bakery could be a good name, too. Or you could call it the Meier Max Building after the first tenant. I’m not sure how this works. Russ Hermes: There were a number of people involved in this building over the years. I am one steward of several including the people who ran Watson’s Bakery, including Bill Finley and Kent Langabeer. My preference would be to honor the building. If there is some reference under the building name on a plaque to some of the stewards I mentioned, that would be fine. But to list it as the Bill Finley Building I think disrespects some of the other history that goes along with the building and is probably as important as Mr. Finley’s stewarding this building. Jan Meston: On the historic property inventories for Hewitt Avenue Inventory done in 1989 and the Hewitt Avenue National Register District, the building is listed as Watson’s Bakery. Arnold Morrison: The building is very nicely done and you should be proud of showing people what can be done when you take pride in your work. When you don’t just rip things down and throw up a building as cheaply as you possibly can, but you actually put time, effort and heart into a structure like this, it shows. We need to do our job and recommend this be placed on the Everett Register. Jim Staniford: If this building is placed on the Everett Register, is there any protection if the County decides to condemn it to expand their courthouse building down the road like they did the other attorneys’ offices? Jan Meston: Proposed demolition of a building on the Everett Register comes before the Historical Commission for recommendation and to City Council for approval. Jim Staniford: What about it being on the Hewitt Avenue National Register? Jan Meston: National Register listing does not carry any restrictions at all unless there are federal funds involved in a project. The Everett Register has more protection or at least requires more public process. Bobby Olsen: I think it’s a great example of historic preservation. Any more comments? Jack O’Donnell moved to recommend City Council place the Watson’s Baker Building on the Everett Register. Neil Anderson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Dave Ramstad: Given the very high value we assign to encouraging historic preservation and educating the community about our history, once this is approved, does the City issue a press release announcing to the media that another building has been added to the Everett Register? Could that be something the Commission could initiate as an educational tool? Jan Meston: We can do that. I will work on this. Dave Ramstad: That would be good frosting on the cake each time we put a building on the register. It would give notoriety to all the folks involved with a building and continue to educate the public on the value we place on our history. 6 Milt Heger: Wouldn’t you have some kind of an event when the plaque is put on the wall? Some event to bring people out? Jan Meston: The Everett Register plaque is something that owners can choose to buy. It’s a standard plaque that we help them to order if they are interested. Mil Heger: I think the building is beautiful. Something special should happen. Dale Good: I would hope that if and when the owner gets the plaque, it include the names of Hermes, Langabeer, Finley et al. who have had a part in the restoration of the building. Steve Fox: Maybe another plaque below the standard one. Citizen Comments Milt Heger: On a different topic, we live ½ block from the new Farmers Market building. The building that was built does not look a thing like the banner picture of the proposed building. What the heck happened there? Jan Meston: The city is aware of this and is working on it. Niels Tygesen: I will get more information on that for you. Commission Comments: Neil Anderson: Is there any more status information on the Hodges Building? Jan Meston: Not that I have. It is stalled waiting for Mr. Sikov to fix the elevator. I will check to see if there is any news. Steve Fox: Is there anything the City can do about getting historic photos put in the windows of vacant buildings. Jan Meston: I will follow up on that, too. Allan White: Is there any update on the Longfellow building? Jan Meston: I will check on that also. At October’s meeting, we will consider the Special Tax Valuation application for the Watson’s Bakery Building. As you recall, that is a property tax reduction program for historic preservation projects. The dollar amount of qualifying expenses is deducted from the assessed value of the building for property tax purposes for up to 10 years. Jack O’Donnell: I’d like to request that at a future meeting we invite Sandra Alder to talk to us about plans for the Carnegie Building and changes to the windows. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. 7