Architectural Review Board

10 February 2025 To: Kate S. Schwartz ksschwartz@fredericksburgva.gov cc: Planning@fredericksburgva.gov The Historic Fredericksburg Foundation has reviewed the upcoming agenda and related COA documents for the February 10, 2025 meeting of the Architectural Review Board and submits the following comments on select projects. Public Hearing: 10.A.i. COA 2501-0093 – 314 William Street HFFI appreciates the applicant’s modest increase in the setback of the proposed second story addition to six feet behind the existing parapet wall. Other modest revisions to the addition’s façade that could increase the compatibility of this project could include a reduction in the opaque solid surface above the proposed windows along the addition by enlarging the windows. We encourage the applicants to reconsider the rigid programmatic desires for diners to better view the street below, as opposed to the beautiful historic skyline of our city. More space for windows would provide customers with what is essentially a privileged perspective not afforded to people on street – a rooftop view that doesn’t emphasize looking down but rather looking up and all around. HFFI also supports staff’s recommendations for the applicant to provide information on the roof’s slope, drainage improvements, and rooftop access from within the proposed addition. The district’s design guidelines reinforce good stewardship of our historic built environment by the downtown businesses and property owners that derive value and profit from them. Properly maintaining and preserving Fredericksburg’s historic resources does not include a consistent chipping away of their historic fabric or replacement of the character-defining materials that comprise them. Thus, HFFI further requests that the applicant provide additional information, through good faith photographic documentation, of the existing parapet wall to illustrate its condition and material context. 10.A.ii. COA 2501-0092 – 822 Caroline Street HFFI conducted some research into the history of this cinder-block addition at the rear of 822 Caroline and found that the addition was constructed after 1927 and before 1947, according to local Sanborn maps. It may have even been erected in 1947, when surviving building records note a large $7,000 addition was made to 824 Caroline, which is also cinderblock. Regardless of its origins, the existing door appears to have been significantly altered over time. The proposed design for the replacement door uses contemporary materials in a design that is sympathetic to the door’s historic appearance and construction—as a modern interpretation of historic patterns. Therefore, HFFI concurs with staff’s recommendation to approve this COA as submitted. Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. | 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 10.A.iii. COA 2501-0095 – 1101 Gateway Boulevard HFFI is glad to see the City’s continued efforts to preserve the Idlewild site and its surviving historic features. We support the proposed rehabilitation plan of the site and hope that City staff might invite multiple preservation partners to contribute to its interpretation efforts, including HFFI and the National Park Service. General Public Comment: 12. A. Fall Hill Avenue Medical Historic District National Register Nomination HFFI supports the private property owners’ efforts to create a historic district in the area surrounding the 1949 Mary Washington Hospital building on Fall Hill Avenue. A national register nomination is essentially a report on the history and significance of a particular place that tangibly reflects important trends, events, individuals, architecture, and/or archaeological evidence known to have cultural value to a community. Such a report is intended to convey a depth of archival research to detail its history and an intensive architectural study of the physical fabric in order to assess the historic integrity of a property or properties as with a historic district. Consultants hired to produce such reports work diligently to gather this data and we are pleased to see some of this information presented in the proposed Fall Hill Medical Historic District nomination. HFFI’s volunteers and local preservation professionals have also worked diligently to record, assess, and honor the history and historic resources in our community. Therefore, we are pleased to support this nomination with additional research to improve the accuracy of its information—as the district document will serve as a tool for research well into the future for our area. First, HFFI homed in on primary sources to get accurate construction dates for both the Medical Arts Building (2301 Fall Hill Ave) and Doctor’s Office (2501 Fall Hill Ave), constructed in 1956–57 and 1964– 66, respectively. Second, we are pleased to provide information on alterations over time to the Old Hospital and Medical Arts Building, detailed in a June 20, 2024 blogpost on HFFI’s website (see Figure 1 and attached article). Lastly, we’d like to express our disappointment that the Fredericksburg Public Health Center (435 Hunter Street) was not included within the proposed district as it is directly connected to the significant medical history of the area. Designed by local architect John J. Ballentine in the late 1950s with a 1975 addition by Ballentine and another local architect, Mary Ellen Wheeler—this locally significant resource will soon be demolished without any documentation of its interior design. The Public Health Center’s omission from the Area’s Character Structures List may have sealed its fate roughly 6 years ago. Thus, HFFI would like to remind the Architectural Review Board of the important role that proper survey and thorough research plays in identifying emerging historic resources has in protecting our unique cultural landscape. While hired consultants may be required for more intensive survey efforts, collaboration with local preservationists and our colleagues at the Department of Historic Resources is critical to amplifying the positive impact of such efforts. As appointed representatives of historic preservation practice for our City, HFFI sincerely thanks those ARB members who make a concerted effort to forge connections with members of the local preservation community. If you have not yet been to HFFI’s archives, we invite you to visit the Lewis Store to gain a greater understanding of the specific resources we maintain to support preservation therein. For more than 50 years HFFI volunteers have compiled and supported the practices of historic Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. | 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 preservation in conjunction with local organizations, City staff, commissions, as well as state and national agencies. We love sharing the knowledge that generations of Fredericksburg residents have invested in our organization and thank the community that has nurtured the preservation of what makes our City both historic and distinct. Figure 1: At left, detail of September 26, 1964 Free Lance Star article about a building permit for a new medical office at 2501 Fall Hill Avenue. At right, January 25, 1966 advertisement for Dr. Nutter’s “new, modern Doctor’s Building.” Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. | 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 The Ties Between Modern Architecture and Healthcare History in Fredericksburg By Danae Peckler, HFFI Preservationist (June 20, 2024) https://hffi.org/the-ties-between-modern-architecture-and-healthcare-history-in-fredericksburg/ In the last few years, there has been much talk about the future of the old hospital building at 2300 Fall Hill Avenue and the neighboring lots. The property was owned by Medicorp Properties Inc—an arm of Mary Washington Hospital—until earlier this year (FredGIS 2024). Since the site plan for the St. Mary’s Landing townhouse project was initially submitted to the City at the end of January 2024, the public has become aware of the developer’s intention to demolish two extant buildings on the block across from the hospital bounded by Fall Hill Avenue, Hunter, and Elm streets. One is a brick bungalow built in 1947 by contractor H.H. Tyler for Arthur Greene and currently addressed at 2315 Fall Hill Avenue, while the other is the former Fredericksburg Public Health Center at 435 Hunter Street, designed by architect John J. Ballentine, Jr. and constructed between 1959 and 1960 by contractor L.C. Mitchell. While little funding is ever dedicated to documenting our historic built environment, the demolition of our existing building stock is not something we should continue to overlook. Like the conservation of natural resources, preserving and repurposing our built environment has great benefits. It is estimated that 25-30% of our landfills are now filled with construction debris, some of which has proven toxic to our air, water, and wildlife. In effort to save high-quality historic building materials from going to waste, some localities have established programs to foster the salvage and reuse of valuable building materials. Acknowledging that some older buildings cannot be salvaged or that the greater needs of the community outweigh the benefits of preserving them, many localities have policies and procedures that allow for the thorough documentation of historic properties, recording their historic occupation, use, and physical fabric prior to their removal. HFFI hopes to add historic context to the old hospital and associated healthcare buildings around it, along with the architecture and time period that defined them. Funding for the construction of the hospital and public health building stems from landmark health-care legislation referred to as the Hill-Burton Act. Passed by Congress in 1946, “this bill invested significant sums of federal tax dollars to increase access to healthcare for citizens across the nation. Among its many initiatives, the program offered local governments the majority of funds necessary to build dedicated structures for their health departments” (Marshall 2021:96–97). Government’s role in preserving the health of its people was certainly nothing new, but the impacts of wartime mobilization revealed both the relative scarcity of healthcare facilities across the country and how successful “public health centers” could be in maintaining it, distributing vaccines and offering basic care. Work to erect Fredericksburg’s third hospital building began in 1949. More than $520,000 in Federal funds and over $314,000 from the state of Virginia supported its construction, augmented by roughly $350,000 from local sources and donations (Alvey 1989:60,62). On February 18, 1951, a small dedication ceremony was held on the grounds of 2300 Fall Hill Avenue to mark the official opening of the new Mary Washington Hospital. At five stories tall and encompassing nearly 28,000 square feet, this new brick, steel, and concrete facility became the very model of a modern healthcare facility (Figure 1). The hospital was designed to accommodate future growth; the building underwent seven major upgrades and expansions between 1951 and 1990. An aerial image taken in 1980 and more recent photographs from the 2023 property listing provide a striking contrast to its initial architectural form and design (Figure 2 and 3). Figure 1: Early 1950s postcard image of the old Mary Washington Hospital on Fall Hill Avenue. Figure 2: 1980 aerial photograph shows two new wing additions under construction (“Hospital Expansion,” The Free-Lance Star, Feb. 28, 1980). Figure 3: Ground view of south elevation (top) and aerial image looking west (bottom), presented in the property listing and offering memorandum (Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite 2023). The growth and success of Mary Washington Hospital prompted the construction of other supportive, Modern-era, healthcare buildings around it. The “Medical Arts Building” at 2301 Fall Hill Avenue was constructed in 1956 by local builder/contractor, Bernard Cline, as a “professional office building” for a select group of physicians with private practices. The building also contained commercial space. A second Peoples Drug Store opened in the Medical Arts Building that year, offering “free prescription delivery service anywhere in the city” (The Free Lance-Star, Dec 20, 1956:16). A third-floor expansion was made in 1964, though demand from local practitioners grew (Moore 1979:13). In the fall of 1969, drawings by architect Henry C. Johnson, Jr., for a sizable addition to the north side of the building were submitted to the City Engineers Office, along with a request for exemption from the setbacks and height limits of earlier residential development. The requested variance was granted, but Johnson’s Modernist addition to this Georgian Revival-style building did not materialize (Figure 4 and 5). However, a single-bay addition matching the original material composition of the building was added to the north elevation sometime after 1969, while other modifications changed the symmetry of the façade, replaced all of the double-hung windows, altered several window openings, and removed the paneled door with sidelights, transom, and entablature of the central entrance. The Medical Arts Building’s original Georgian Revival styling reflects a conscious choice by the physicians who funded its construction. Did the doctors believe a more traditional look to the building would give a sense of continuity to their previous practices or instill greater trust among new patients in the physicians’ depth of experience? Or perhaps they felt that a Georgian exterior would help their new multi-story office building blend with the surrounding residential neighborhood (Figure 6), comprised of one- and two-story dwellings? Figure 4: Sheet 5, “Preliminary Design Addition to Medical Arts Building, Fredericksburg, Virginia,” by H.C. Johnson, Jr. Architect, AIA (October 1969). Full image of west or Fall Hill Avenue elevation (top) and detail of “Existing Construction” (bottom) (City of Fredericksburg Planning Department). Note: most of the Georgian Revival architectural features depicted in these drawings have since been removed and replaced.  Figure 5: Façade or west elevation (top) and southeast oblique of Medical Arts Building (bottom) presented in the property listing and offering memorandum (Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite 2023).  Future site of hospital Figure 6: Detail of 1941 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map of Fredericksburg, Sheet 21, showing scattered residential development in the area. On another lot across from the hospital and southeast of the Medical Arts Building is the modest one- story Public Health building, at 435 Hunter Street. Fredericksburg’s City Council voted unanimously to support its construction with the understanding that at least 55 percent of the cost would be obtained through the Hill-Burton Act (Figure 7; The Free Lance-Star, Aug 29, 1958:1). Designed by local architect, John J. Ballentine, Jr., in conjunction with Fredericksburg Health Director, Dr. Frederick J. Spencer, this Modernist building was completed and open to the public in 1960 (Figure 8; The Free Lance-Star, May 20, 1960:11). At a time when “new planning techniques, modern medical equipment, advanced building systems, and sterile treatment spaces radically changed health-care design,” some historians view health-care architecture in the postwar period as the embodiment of medical technology utilized for patient treatment (Marshall 2021:102). The administration of Modern-era healthcare planning and services placed stringent demands on its architecture—the design of such facilities needed to be as maintenance free as possible and support the efficient and economical administration of services, while remaining flexible to meet new and growing demand from the community. A Public Health Center’s plan was “delineated by five primary functions: patient waiting, administration, clinic, assembly, and service” (Marshall 2021:102). Figure 7: News article detailing City’s approval for creating the Fredericksburg Public Health building (The Free Lance-Star, Aug. 29, 1958).  Figure 8: Image of the south elevation and main entrance to the “Health Center” (The Free Lance-Star, May 20, 1960:11). While many new public healthcare facilities embraced the cost-effective, minimal maintenance construction of the Modernist designs with International and Contemporary elements, great stylistic variation occurred in Virginia’s units. Modernist examples most often appeared when the buildings were erected at the urban fringe—similar to the approach and design trends that impacted public schools during this time period. Fredericksburg’s Public Health Unit was not the only one John J. Ballentine, Jr., designed in Virginia. In 1954, he was selected by the Board of Supervisors in Caroline County to design their new public health center, which would be located across from Bowling Green’s town hall (Marshall 2021:107). Given the site’s surrounding architectural context at the town’s historic civic core, the selected design featured a traditional exterior skin—featuring what Ballentine called “Pseudo-Colonial” styling—with a Modernized floor plan informed by recommendations from the Virginia Department of Health and Caroline County’s Director of Health (Figure 9; Marshall 2021:108). In Fredericksburg, Ballentine customized his design in a series of seven schematic drawings to suit local officials and medical professionals, using the popular International style. The individual with the most influence appears to have been Fredericksburg’s Health Director, Dr. Frederick J. Spencer, a young physician from England, who had been selected for training by the State Health Department (Suffolk News-Herald, Apr. 3, 1956:1). In his mid-30s at the time, Dr. Spencer held the position in Fredericksburg for just a few years before moving to Richmond circa 1962 to become the State Health Department’s Director of Communicable Disease Control (Suffolk News-Herald, Oct 8, 1962:6). Figure 9: Figures of Caroline County’s War Memorial Health Center printed in “’A Suitable Memorial’: The History of Public Health Centers in Post-World War II Virginia,” an article written by Andrew Marshall, Preservation Architect at John Milner Associates Preservation Division, and published in the Fall 2021 issue of Buildings & Landscapes, a journal of the Vernacular Architectural Forum. Ballentine’s use of the International style at Fredericksburg’s Public Health Center strongly reflects the building’s modern medical purpose and use, as well as its public funding, location, and context within the community (Figure 10). He continued to work in the International style when he was hired to design an addition to the building in the mid-1970s. Drawings finalized in 1975 included a one-story, three-bay, brick addition to the east end of the center, designed with the capacity for the addition of a second story (Figure 11). Relatively few truly Modernist designs made it off Ballentine’s cutting room floor in Fredericksburg—a community dedicated to preserving its Colonial history and architecture. Ballentine was successful, however, in balancing Modern architecture within a traditional context. Aside from the Public Health Center, the most recognizable of his Modernist works include the commercial shopping center now home to Fahrenheit and Castiglia’s restaurants at 320–324 William Street (1956), the Virginia ABC store at 505 William Street (1963), and the U.S. Post Office (1972) at 600 Princess Anne Street (Spencer 2016). He is more often remembered in Fredericksburg for his efforts to preserve and rehabilitate historic buildings in the community, often in conjunction with HFFI—an organization for which he served as President for a time. As strong a preservationist as he was architect, Ballentine donated his collection of architectural drawings to the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc., many of which are in being digitized by our friends at UMW’s Department of Historic Preservation. Over time, Ballentine’s Mid-Century Modern exterior at Fredericksburg’s Public Health Center has been somewhat “Colonialized” by the addition of stucco, removal of its ribbon windows, and the replacement of its original breeze-block vestibule with a pedimented portico. But the cover is not book. This customized example of Modern medical architecture is worth a closer look. HFFI hopes that there will be an opportunity to more fully document this cultural historic resource, inside and out, so that we might continue to learn from it in the future. The omission of Fredericksburg’s Public Health building from the area’s “Character Structures” list also offers a few lessons to us all regarding the ways in which we identify and assess our historic built environment, particularly what parts of it provide valuable “character” to our neighborhoods. It gives little comfort to those who care about Fredericksburg’s cultural historic resources that even IF the Public Health building had been identified as a “Character Structure” in Area 6, current zoning does nothing to prevent or discourage its demolition. Some might say, why does this keep happening? Preservationists sometimes sound the alarm at the 11th hour! Yet what is both more common and less public are the many times when the insights and efforts of local preservation advocates are ignored, dismissed, or excluded from the discussion in the “hours” (months, years, and even decades) leading up to the alarm ringing. This situation, however, seems timely. This is an opportunity to re-evaluate the process by which we select and protect “Character Structures,” and also how we handle the demolition of our historic resources in and outside of the Historic District. Next week is the first of many public meetings about rewriting much of Fredericksburg’s Comprehensive Plan: June 26, 2024, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 210 Ferdinand Street in the School Board meeting room. Sure hope to see you there! References: Alvey, Edward, Jr. 1989 90 Years of Caring: Mary Washington Hospital 1899–1989. Mary Washington Hospital. Moran & Company: Charlottesville, Virginia. Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite 2023 2300 Fall Hill Avenue, Offering Memorandum and property listing. Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite, https://cbcelite.com/property-search/?propertyId=1195794-sale Marshall, Andrew 2021 “A Suitable Memorial”: The History of Public Health Centers in Post-World War II Virginia, Buildings & Landscapes, Vol. 28, Issue 2, Fall 2021, pp. 96–123. Spencer, Michael 2016 “John Jennings Ballentine, Jr., Fredericksburg Architect,” Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc., https://hffi.org/john-j-ballentine-jr-fredericksburg-architect/ Stanton, Gary. 2014. “Surviving Fredericksburg Building Permits: 1938-1960,” Fredericksburg Research Resources. Department of Historic Preservation, University of Mary Washington, https://resources.umwhisp.org/fredburg.htm Figure 10: Details from Ballentine’s January 6, 1959, “Fredericksburg Public Health Center, Sketch #6,” drawing with Hunter Street elevation (top) and proposed floor plan (bottom). Note: all elevations in Sketch #6 appear consistent with the as-built design; however, it is unclear if the interior floor plan from this model was also built. No documentation has been made of existing conditions at the interior.  Figure 11: Details from Ballentine’s March 1975, “Additions and Alterations to Fredericksburg Public Health Center, Schematic Sketch II…” drawing showing exterior elevations and site plan for expansion.