Historic Preservation Commission

MADISON HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting – March 11, 2014 Attending: Co-Chairmen John Solu and Janet Foster; Members David Luber, Alberta Marcy, William VanRyzin and Margaret Weisgerber. Absent: Members John Forte, Joseph Longo, Carmine Toto, Council Liaison Robert Catalanello, and Recording Secretary Laurie Hagerich. Members of the public in attendance: Craig Erezuma and Russell Stern, representing the DDC; Kate Malcolm and Linda Connors, representing the Madison Historical Society; Cathy Coultas, John Hoover. The group was called to order as an open public meeting at 7:30 in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act. The minutes of February 11, 2014 were considered and approved as presented. The agenda was altered to begin the evening with a presentation by representatives of the DDC to the HPC on their development of a “wayfinding” program. The first phase is an idea for a walking tour of Madison, available through a cellphone app. Craig Erezuma presented a representative example, based on the Hartley Dodge Memorial building. A small sign or “QR” code located outside the building would offer people a chance to download a short video about the building, with a narrative history and the interplay of historic and modern photographs. In the case of the Hartley Dodge Memorial, visitors to the community who were curious about the building on a weekend when it was not open would have a chance to learn about the interior architecture and the art and photography collection. Mr. Erezuma’s “draft” version of this was well received, and the HPC thanked him for his hard work on a pilot project that had exciting implications for making Madison’s history and an appreciation of its architecture more widely available. Mr. Erezuma envisions that the DDC and other entities would join together to fund the development this project further. He also has approached Madison High School history teacher Mark DeBiasse about working with students to prepare scripts and film the videos. Mr. Stern and Mr. Erezuma also presented work they have been doing with the DDC to develop a “Wayfinding” program of integrated directional signage throughout the town. It builds on a Morris County Wayfinding program; its first phase is visible on Hanover Avenue, Morris Township, where many County offices and institutions are located. Madison’s DDC saw ways to customize and improve this model for use in town. The goal of the Madison Wayfinding program is to help people navigate downtown, and to businesses in the “East End”. Many issues are involved: the DDC has included the Borough Engineer in their discussions for location of signs (and potentially thinning the number of street-side signs overall – there is much clutter and duplication); in thinking about typeface and design, they are trying to be sensitive to the historic character of many parts of Madison, as well as the sturdiness of the signage and its potential cost to manufacture. Their committee presented the signage design guidelines they have developed to date: - signage should address pedestrian information needs - there should be consolidation and streamlining of vehicular wayfinding (including identifying parking areas). - Define and direct people to the designated historic districts - Use modern materials to achieve a traditional or “timeless” look The signage should be uniform to some degree, but also signal with color or other devices the different areas of town – downtown, east end, civic buildings, rec area. Directions to places of community interest are a priority – Borough Hall (including the Joint Court, which now attracts a lot of people from out of town); the YMCA, the Shakespeare Festival, etc. The DDC group is launching a pilot project with the goal of designing and creating signs to be placed at the Madison Recreation Center off Ridgedale Avenue by the time of a major lacrosse event to be held there in June. The signs will direct people to the downtown, hopefully to eat at local restaurants and shop in the stores there. The Friends of the Bottle Hill Historic District will be approached immediately for input on identifying the historic district, as it adjoins the Rec Center driveway. Based on images presented, the HPC offered the following comments: - Metal stanchions are better than wood for the sign posts, and they would, if not match, correspond to the lightposts used within the downtown historic district. - It was suggested that Mike Piano at the Borough Electric Department had a catalogue of DOT-approved “street furniture” including sign supports, and searching through this resource would be helpful to the DDC to find workable, available, approvable supports for the signs. The HPC offered thanks to the Madison Wayfinding Group (M-WaG) for their initiative on this project and pledged support as designs went forward. The M- WaG is seeking approval from the Borough Council for creating signage for the rec Center area, and they are seeking a grant from the Madison Main Street Foundation to support this pilot project. TCC Applications: None in the past month were relevant to designated historic areas. Sign and Façade Committee: No new applications were presented by the time of the HPC meeting. The HPC received notification that Madison is included in the Morris County Department of Planning and Public Works “Phase III Cultural Resources Inventory”, to commence in April, 2014. Madison is to identify a contact person(s) to meet with the consultant carrying out the survey. Janet Foster and John Solu will be the designation liaisons for Madison Borough to the consultant. Initial meetings between them and the county’s consultant for the Cultural Resources Inventory are anticipated to be late in April. The HPC will be kept updated and information is available. The announcement of an update of the historic sites survey for Madison, which would be linked to photographs and a GIS_based mapping system is welcome news for the Commission. The formatting for the survey can serve as a template for updates and additions on the part of the HPC going forward. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm. Janet W. Foster Recording Secretary, Pro Tem