Everett Historical Commission

Everett Historical Commission Meeting Summary April 23, 2019 Commissioners Guests City Staff Arnold Morrison, Chair Gary Strombo Paul Kaftanski Steve Fox Tammy Teodesto Karen Stewart Dave Ramstad Laura Cameron-Behee Amelia Hieb (excused) Glen Hunter Jack O’Donnell Thomas Feeney Andrea Tucker Patrick Hall Neil Anderson CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Everett Historical Commission was held on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the VAN VALEY HOUSE, 2130 Colby Avenue, Everett, WA 98201. Commissioner Morrison called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. followed by the Introduction of Commissioners, staff and guests. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were no comments. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Round table comments were made by the Commissioners for approximately 35 minutes. Staff mentioned a public inquiry about the “Winslow Building” on Locust St. that most likely was from someone confusing our city with Everett, Massachusetts. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner O’Donnell motioned to approve the meeting summary from March 26, 2019 and was seconded by Commissioner Fox. The motion to approve the meeting summary passed unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING TO RENAME WALL STREET BUILDING Paul Kaftanski, City Executive Director-Transportation & Infrastructure, reviewed the March 22, 2019 memo from the City of Everett requesting the Historical Commission hold a public hearing to consider renaming The Wall Street Building to the “Everett Municipal Building”. The reason for the name change is to give the general public an improved understanding that most City departments have their administrative offices in the building. Paul listed current City Departments located in the building, as well as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) that leases several floors of offices on a month-to-month basis. When the USFS relocates, additional city offices could likely be located to the city-owned building. Page 1 of 3 Commissioner Tucker made a motion to open the public hearing which was seconded by Commissioner Fox. The motion was approved. Commissioner Morrison asked if there were any members of the public who wished to comment on this proposed name change. Mr. Gary Strombo commented that GTE/Verizon/Frontier used to have offices in the Wall Street Building and that there would be considerable historical correspondence addressed to their former offices at the Wall Street Building. He suggested that if the City were to no longer use the name Wall Street Building that a letter to notify Frontier of the name change would be appropriate. Commissioner Morrison asked if there were any other members of the public who wished to comment on this proposed name change. Seeing none, he asked for a motion to close the public hearing. Commissioner Cameron-Behee made a motion to close the public hearing Commissioner Fox gave a second, and the motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Hall mentioned that the current name really disguises the location of Everett’s City Hall. Commissioner Anderson remarked that when he worked across the street at the County, nearly everyday people would ask at their permitting counter “Where is Everett City Hall located?” Discussion ensued about the Old City Hall where the City Council chambers and Police are located. Commissioner Fox remarked that the proposed new name was not very distinctive, but that he hadn’t come up with a good alternative. Paul was asked if the existing Wall Street sign would be removed from the building if the name were changed. He responded, yes, that the building sign would be removed. He noted that the building is accessible with the elevators open to the public from 7:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and that a new illuminated building directory is now clearly visible from the entrance. Commissioner Anderson made a motion to recommend to the City Council that the name of the Wall Street Building be changed to the “Everett Municipal Building” as proposed by the City administration. Commissioner Tucker seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. Paul was asked about the City’s rebranding efforts and said he would ask staff from the Communications Dept. to come and discuss at a future Historical Commission meeting. EVERETT NORWEGIAN MALE CHORUS Gary Strombo, President of the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus gave an overview of the group that started in the Midwest with an annual meeting beginning in 1878. The group formed in Everett in 1902 and held a singing competition in 1903 with about 150 people attending. He showed the Commissioners several framed photos and historic programs. He explained that the group would like to preserve these original paper materials and are looking for advice on how best to do this. Several items have been lost due to a fire. Commissioner Ramstad said the Everett Museum of History would be interested in taking over the collection. Mr. Strombo said that they were not looking to give up the collection, but find a way to preserve it. It was mentioned the staff at the Library’s Northwest Room might advise them on cost effective preservation approaches. At the close of the meeting, Commissioners would have an opportunity to view the materials Mr. Strombo had brought. NATIONAL MAIN STREET CONFERENCE Karen Stewart and Commissioner Hall attended the conference in Seattle last month. Karen provided two handouts about the Main Street Program and mentioned they provided an overview and a link to an on-line survey. Commissioner Hall talked about the national Main Street program which started in 1980 out of an effort to preserve historic downtowns. Currently there are 34 communities on Washington that have joined the Main Street program. The Downtown Everett Association (DEA) is an affiliate with the program and may elect to join for full program status. The discussion shifted to talking about the Page 2 of 3 Business Improvement Area (BIA) as a “clean and safe” organization focused in Everett’s downtown with approximately 300 property owners. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS City rebranding, Main Street Program membership status and opportunities, I-5 signage for Hewitt Avenue National Historic District add to City’s capital improvement program (CIP) and potentially fund with Hotel tax. ADJOURNMENT AND NEXT MEETING Commissioner Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Commissioner Tucker. Motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Brown Awards ceremony, Sat. May 4 at 10:30 am-noon. Everett Station Weyerhauser Room. This will substitute for our May meeting. Next meeting of the Historical Commission will be Tuesday, June 25th. Page 3 of 3