Present: Present: Fred Atherton, Bill Barry, Susan Close, Ross Dekle, Ric Detwiller, Taya Dixon, Leslie Donovan, Marilyn Fenollosa, Donna Harris, David M. Hart, John Hecker, Wendall Kalsow, David Kelman, Michael Lynch, Henry Moss, Doug Manley, Ivan Myjer, Elizabeth Randall, Albert Rex, Brian Roche, Roberto Rosa, Susan Schur, Caroline Schwerin, Malcolm Smiley, Sara Wermiel, and Brion Wynn 1. Cape Cod Modern Architecture: DOCOMOMO New England has several people who are developing a broader and deeper understanding of who designed the earliest Modern style houses in our region and who their clients were. They have begun to visit these houses with sympathetic owners and local advocates. There is a particularly strong set of houses and vacation homes on Cape Cod dating from the Thirties through the Fifties. In the spring, David Fixler, Gary Wolf, and Jonathan Smith - all long-time members of our committee and leading lights at DOCOMOMO - will present some of these buildings at an HRC meeting. In the meantime, look for the exhibit of models and drawings of ten early Twentieth Century houses at the BSA Gallery. The houses range in date from 1930 to 1938. The Gropius House is the latest! The exhibit is the work of students at the Wentworth Institute of Technology and was directed by Professor John Ellis, AIA and DOCOMOMO board member, Gary Wolf, AIA. 2. Committee Members' Current Projects: Malcolm Smiley, Sole Practitioner - described his current position at Dillon, GA as he traces the line of Sherman's March on toward Savannah and Columbia, SC. Malcolm's physical retracing of the route of these vanished 30,000 Union soldiers and 20,000 "contraband" souls is particularly compelling where it engages "heritage," with no tourism, no retail and little place memory among the local population. Uncelebrated road intersections where the direction of the march changed, overgrown foundation footprints of handgun workshops and stand-alone chimneys are Malcolm's landmarks. He aims to publish his annotated peregrinations as a book after he reaches the Virginia border. Wendall Kalsow, McGinley Kalsow Assoc - is engaged in extensive restoration at Emmanuel Church, including the Nova Scotia sandstone on the Newbury St. façade. In Medford, the firm is removing an acoustic tile ceiling and restoring the historic color scheme in a Unitarian Universalist church. Other projects include an 18-month-long rehab project at Merrimack Town Hall and repairs at Dry Dock 4 in the Charlestown Navy Yard, making it ready for the USS Constitution. Ivan Myjer, Building & Monument Conservation - is working with David Coe of Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott on the Victorian Mansion in Portland, ME where Brownstone delamination poses the usual spirit-crushing problems, but where they are studying the effectiveness of grouts to save carved ornament. Ivan is also working on an 1858 mill building in Stonington, CT, where there is no access to the original granite quarry and new details in thin stone are being developed to provide the same appearance as solid masonry. Further back in time, he is working on the 1490's Genoese entrance at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. David Hart, David Hart Architects, now located in Salem, MA (when not taking care of his grandchildren in Paris) - David is laboriously compiling and editing material from his past projects. David will show our committee his 25-minute video on the restoration of Orchard House, the Alcott residence in Concord, where Little Women was written. A HVAC project with Ernie Conrad's Connecticut engineering firm has provided huge ducts, air handling units, and heat exchangers with nothing visible inside or outside the Alcott home. This involved excavating and installing new foundations while unsuspecting visitors came and went. When Bronson Alcott purchased, rotated and repaired the old tenant house, it was described by his neighbors as "not fit for firewood." Doug Manley, McGinley Kalsow Assoc - is working on the Olmsted-designed Memorial Cairn at a road intersection in North Easton involving a mortarless reinforcing system for seismic resistance with Wayne King of Ocmulgee Associates. Doug and Wayne are producing a new retaining wall. The project utilizes funding from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund. It is not a repair. Other projects include the Albanian Orthodox Cathedral in South Boston and Story Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery. In Somerville, Doug and his firm are converting a Medford Street warehouse into an annex for City Hall. Taya Dixon, Epsilon Associates - is helping to develop four buildings in the South End for 100% affordable housing, combining investment tax credits for low-income housing and historic preservation tax credits using the new State Tax Credit program. Taya is also working with a mixed-use project in Framingham at the former Kendall Hotel, the Arcade and the train station. Her other train interest is the Greenbush rail line where she monitors construction impacts to historic resources along its course. David Kelman, Realtor - spoke about his experience selling historic houses spanning from the 1880's to the 1950's. David said people, especially younger couples, are increasingly interested in keeping old fabric, until they get to the kitchens. The houses are significant neighborhood presences although typically not by well-known architects. Most houses remain occupied by single families. David Hart pointed out that in Salem, larger houses are particularly vulnerable to thoughtless change because they are converted speculatively. De-leading contributes to wholesale stripping of interior millwork and associated finishes. Leslie Donovan pointed out that lead abatement grants are available in some communities. The loss of historic fabric that comes with modernization of large house interiors is a problem that both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Mass are concerned about and deserves special recognition as part of their respective "10 (or 11) Most Endangered" publicity and educational campaigns. Elizabeth Randall, Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences, and Franklin MA resident - is involved with changes at two interesting athletic buildings. In one she is inserting a new story for dance studios into an existing underground structure on Garden Street. The other is Harvard Stadium, an early, large-scale reinforced concrete building (1909, McKim was a design consultant). Elizabeth is working with Sasaki Associates to discreetly insert single-story locker rooms and weight training rooms beneath the bleachers. Technical considerations continue to push their way to the forefront. The stadium was on our committee's Symposium on Historic Concrete in 1994. Repairs from the 1980's included epoxy injection (some penetrated 6") and composite mortar patches. Various locations are spalling now. Because of water penetration, the main wall along JFK Street that supports massive piers and arches has begun to move outward. Craig Barnes of CBI is studying the relationship between structural displacement and other aspects of the building's envelope performance. In Franklin, Elizabeth is saddened by the tenuous presence of planning controls and limited appreciation of historic resources. [Elizabeth, Harvey Kirk, and Paul Reston (Tambone Investments) are three Franklin residents who could get together and turn this around.] Albert Rex, Boston Preservation Alliance (BPA) - is now deeply involved in a study of Archdiocesan property. They are compiling information on all 280 properties in the assessor's catalog using seventy area forms. There are roughly two and one half Catholic parishes in every neighborhood. In aggregate, deferred maintenance is an enormous issue financially. The Archdiocese has retained Simpson Gumpertz & Heger to produce condition assessments indexed to repair and maintenance costs. Currently, most parishes borrow $250,000 - $500,000 a year from the Archdiocese. Clearly, the property management problems were acute long before the recent sex abuse settlements. BPA recommended to the Mayor's office that there be an ad hoc committee to address collateral effects of the Archdiocese's rationalization and disposition of properties that they can no longer sustain. Prompted by concern over the Lake Street property, Mayor Menino had talked to Chancellor Smith in the past (during the administration of Cardinal Law) and requested two studies, one of which was to be about the historic significance of architectural properties. The Archdiocese declined to go along. Instead, Chancellor Smith has asked the BPA for a list of their ten most important buildings. This is a far remove from the institutional master plan that the City should require. There are four archdiocesan territories in Massachusetts: Boston, Fall River, Worcester, and Springfield. The Boston Archdiocese reaches north from metropolitan Boston up to Salisbury, New Hampshire. There are eight people, Chancellors and Archbishops, making the financial management decisions that will lead to "suppressed" parishes and the disposition of surplus properties. One of the most significant considerations will be whether the churches from suppressed parishes may be sold to congregations from other denominations for their worship. In addition to 37 pre-1900 churches, the discussion is complicated by school and convent issues. Leslie Donovan, Tremont Preservation Services - conveyed the excitement of the team that is completing construction at the Opera House (Keith Memorial Theater). The ornate auditorium ceiling is complete (Evergreene Studio with Suffolk Construction) and workers are moving into Memorial Hall. New Dutch metal, plaster repairs and extensive mural conservation in and around the proscenium are based on surviving color examples and historic black and white photos. Leslie is also working on the master plan for Wentworth Institute, the Somerville Police Station mansard and a large housing conversion at the Boott Mill in Lowell. At the Boott Mill, a program of masonry repairs includes a $250,000 list for the brick smokestack. The more acute challenge is the National Park Service's set of requirements for window replacement. Existing wood windows are 9' tall with 5/8" wide muntins. The NPS is requiring true divided lights on all elevations, including the Merrimack River side and an interior courtyard. Leslie and Custom Windows question the technical feasibility of this requirement because of previous work that was done at another location in the same building. The end use envisioned by Winn Development is affordable housing and Leslie is concerned that a costly window solution in these visually marginal locations may be an unreasonable way to spend Federal housing subsidies. Ross Dekle is working on restoration projects at the Old Cambridge Baptist Church as well as at a historic house with an interesting landscape in Natick. 3. APT Northeast: The Association of Preservation Technology, Northeast Chapter held their annual meeting in Boston this year, on January 31, 2004. Bill Barlow has requested that our committee share the effort of manning the APT booth at the Restoration Renovation Conference, April 22-24. 4. Stained Glass Association of America: Brian Roche reminded us of the SGAA conference this summer that includes an Architects' Day. Visits will include Emanuel Church, Arlington Street Church, the Christian Scientist Mother Church, Memorial Hall at Harvard, and the Ayer Mansion. 5. BSA Preservation Award: Ivan Myjer suggested that we consider the achievements of Nuestra Communidad, especially in Dudley Square, as the possible recipient of the next BSA Preservation Award. 6. Granite & Marble Symposium: Susan Schur and Ivan Myjer reminded the committee that registration is underway, and the May 8-9 conference date is fast-approaching. The lineup of speakers is impressive and a glance at the program will quickly show that there are many new technical subject areas and methods under consideration.
featuring John Hecker's recent work in Minneapolis 8: 00 a.m., Thursday, February 12, 2004 The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, 5th floor, Boston
Henry Moss AIA, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel, co-leaders and scribes
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