Russellville Historic District Commission

RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES Special Called Meeting – Tuesday, November 12, 2019 CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS Commissioners Present: Greg Barborek - Chair Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice-Chair Judy Galloway – Secretary Steve Newby Kathy Price Polly Hardin Beverly Hooten Kathy Price Betsy McGuire City Council Liaison Absent: Phyllis Carruth Staff Present: Sara Johndahl, City Planner, Temporary Historic Preservation Officer Advisors Present: Danielle Housenick - MSR Director Advisors Absent: Brian Holstein - Director City Development, Trey Smith - City Attorney Call to Order & Welcome: Mr. Barborek called the November 12, 2019 special called meeting of the Russellville Historic District Commission to order at 7:00PM, the roll was called and a quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Barborek asked if everyone had read the minutes of the October 24, 2019 regular meeting. Ms. Alford-Hodges asked for an inaccurate sentence to be struck from the minutes and for the gentleman from the Humanities Depart at Tech to be removed. Minutes will be corrected and a motion was made by Mr. Newby to accept the minutes as corrected. Ms. Price made the second and the minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote. Staff Report: None Agenda: The first item on the agenda was review of a COA for a mural on the west side of the "Sportscene" building at 316 West Main Street. Christie Graham from the Russellville A&P Commission was unable to attend and Ms. Housenick spoke to the mural and answered questions. The "Sportscene" sign will be painted over and a 10" X 10" "I Heart Russellville" will be painted in an enclosed box outline. The owners' permission for the mural has been obtained and the applicant is aware of the Section 10.20 mural and free standing public art section of the design guidelines. There was some discussion about whether or not this mural was appropriate for a Historic District. HPO Jondahl explained that we as a commission are not able to limit content. Ms. Alford-Hodges made the motion to approve the COA as it RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting November 12, 2019 Page 2 complies with the HDC guidelines. Ms. McGuire made the second and the COA was approved by a unanimous voice vote. The second agenda item was for consideration of a COA applied for by Kevin Martin for a façade rehab on his building at 209 N. Commerce Avenue. He plans to rebuild the storefront and reinstall all of the glass that he removed, including the transom glass, an unusual textured and opaque glass. He does not yet have a door, but will install a single light commercial door when he locates an appropriate one. Ms. Galloway questioned how he was going to level the bulkhead since the sidewalk slopes upward on the south end of the building. Mr. Martin plans to level the bulkhead by pouring a concrete sill that will be wider on the north end of the building and decrease in height toward the south end of the building. Ms. Galloway also questioned the design of the bulkhead drawn by Mr. Hiegel, his architect. Mr. Martin indicated that the configuration of wood on the bulkhead would be exactly like the bulkhead on the building across the street that is of a similar vintage. The drawing he supplied to us is in error. He plans to reinstall the flat aluminum awning after cleaning. Ms. McGuire suggested that there is an old commercial door removed from a downtown building that is being stored by Main Street Russellville and that perhaps he could use that door in his rehab. Mr. Martin will check out the door for fit in his project. Mr. Newby made the motion to approve the COA submitted by Mr. Martin, citing compliance with Page 51, Section 10.30 on storefronts and Page 53, Section 10.34 on windows and doors. Ms. Keenan made the second and the motion was approved by a voice vote. Old Business: Ms. Alford-Hodges reported on Mason Toms "windshield survey" for a historic district in the old town neighborhood. He provided a map based on the 1946 update to the 1929 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the area. Based on the evaluation and the boundaries that have been proposed the district would have a period of significance that ended between 1945 and 1950 and would have 89 properties with a 64% contributing status. Ms. Alford-Hodges will contact him and see what is required to accomplish the survey. Ms. McGuire reported on the latest on the Latimore Tourist Home. Mason Toms and Ralph Wilcox looked at the area in James School Park, two blocks south on Houston Avenue that has been proposed as a site for the home. It would be on the same street and facing the same direction as the original site. Mr. Barborek said that Bob Hiegel had moved a building and would be a good source for information about the move and the cost involved. The move would have to be approved by the AHPP State Review Board in April and then be sent to the National Park Service for their approval in order to keep the National Register status. The move also would have to come before the City Council for their approval. Keeping the National Register status is critical for funding to rehabilitate the home. Ms. McGuire spoke with one of the Board Members of New Prospect, Harry James, who said he would bring up the house move at the first of December meeting and we will have to wait to see what the Board decides. If the move is possible, it will be necessary to find an interested party or entity to take on raising the funds and completing the rehab. This Green Book Tourist home would be a good addition to the Civil Rights Trail and is one of only a few of these homes in existence. This is a last ditch effort to save the structure. The commission next discussed the role the Historic District Commission wants to take in the upcoming sesquicentennial celebration in Russellville. A walking tour of the old town neighborhood, possibly using an app or QR codes to identify different properties, was discussed or a downtown walking tour. The A&P Commission is planning to have old photographs of some of the downtown buildings and blocks that were taken in the early part of the 20th century so that people could see the changes that have occurred over time. No plans were adopted at this meeting. RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting October 24, 2019 Page 3 New Business: Ms. McGuire pointed out that the commission needed to be thinking about what projects we need to apply for CLG grant funds to accomplish in the coming year. She suggested a survey of the old town neighborhood, resurvey of the downtown historic district or perhaps digitizing the box of slides that Nancy Lowe had taken and organized, most dating from 1992. The Ganner glass plates that are kept at the depot have already been digitized. The HDC needs to obtain a copy of the disk for our records. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:05Pm. Greg Barborek - Chair Date