HRC Meeting Notes for March
2000
Present: Olga Bachilova, Eric Breitkreutz,
Matthew Bronski, Nick Brooks, Stacey Darrow, Ann DiLucia,
David Fixler, Jack Glassman, Brian Knight, Kim Konrad,
Laura Mackowiak, Doug Manley, Colleen Meagher, Ivan
Myjer, Robert G. Neiley, Stephanie Reinert, Albert Rex,
Deborah Robinson, Susan Schur, Jonathan Smith, Bob
Thomas, Sara Wermiel, and Luke Young.
In Henry Moss's absence, Matthew Bronski prepared the
agenda and led the meeting; Sara Wermiel took notes and
prepared the minutes.
1. BSA Historic Preservation Award:
Matthew Bronski asked for recommendations for this award.
Robert Neiley proposed the Motor Mart. Albert Rex
suggested the Chart House, which the lessees have spent a
lot to stabilize. More proposals are welcome. We should
make a decision during the summer.
2. Report on the HRC Bridge Committee: Sara
Wermiel reported that the subcommittee met March 2. It
decided that its first project will be preparing a
position paper and a guide to Boston's historic bridges,
perhaps modeled on the "Map and Guide, Notable Buildings
in Boston and Cambridge" that the HRC produced in 1992.
The purpose of the guide and paper will be to increase
public awareness of the city's historic bridges. Matthew
Bronski invited HRC members to take a picture of their
favorite bridges and explain what's appealing about them;
these photos might be used in the guide. Robert Neiley
recommended an article in the Boston on the
Northern Avenue Bridge (don't know the date) and Susan
Schur mentioned an article on the history of the Tobin
Bridge (Boston 03/06/2000, B2, with a photo).
Albert Rex said that bridges, and how to protect and
reuse them, have become a central focus at the National
Trust for Historic Preservation. Many of the legal cases
the Trust is dealing with today concern bridges; the HRC
bridge project, therefore, seems very timely.
Note: On March 21, Chris
Lydon's radio call-in show on WBUR, "The Connection," had
a program on the controversy over expanding traffic lanes
at the Peace Bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie,
Canada. To increase capacity, a joint U.S./Canadian
bridge authority decided to build a companion span, like
the existing steel truss bridge, because (among other
reasons) the ~70-year old bridge is historic. Lydon's
main guest, bridge engineer Eugene Figg, ridiculed the
absurd idea of retaining an ugly, obsolete bridge. Lydon
himself clearly hadn't given the topic any thought, and
the discussion degenerated into an uninformative shouting
match between a few locals (mainly Canadians) who think
the existing bridge is fine, and the guest, who advocates
a new "signature" bridge (such as the plan by architect
Bruno Freschi and bridge designer T. Y. Lin, who have
proposed a single-pylon, cabled-stayed, curved segmental
concrete bridge). No guest or caller addressed whether
the existing bridge is historic and should be preserved
on these grounds (rather than simply because it's there).
There's an interesting divergence in national attitudes
towards government agencies (Canadians defer to the
bridge authority, Americans don't). In case the site is
still up, for more information see: http://www.wbur.org/connection/archive/2000/03/0321b.shtml
For an informative article about the controversy, with
more links, see,http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~bjackson/otherside.htm
3. Save Fenway Park: Kim Konrad reported on the
efforts to preserve Fenway Park. Various groups,
including the new Coalition Against State Subsidy (CASS),
MassPIRG, and Citizens for Limited Taxation have joined
to oppose taxpayer subsidy for a new stadium. CASS
delivered copies of Neil deMause and Joanna Cagan's book,
Field of Schemes, to lawmakers at the state house and
city hall. The book argues that the public subsidies for
constructing new sports facilities enrich team owners but
give no commensurate benefits to cities and taxpayers.
Fenway Park's supporters are trying to get it put on the
National Trust's most endangered list. Kim requested a
letter of support for this from the HRC (Sara Wermiel
suggested she forward information about it to Henry
Moss). There's also a new player on the scene working for
the owners: George Mitchell. See his op-ed piece 3/9/2000
in the Boston , "Keeping the Red Sox
competitive."
Kim noted that plans for a new Fenway Park have gone
forward without input from the neighborhood and that
neighbors by and large oppose a new stadium, because it
would foreclose opportunities to redevelop the area in
ways the neighbors favor. A new neighborhood group, Urban
Village Coalition, made up of local residents, plans to
have a mini-charrette, to get people involved. Kim
distributed the Save Fenway Park! newsletter.
4. Opera House: Albert Rex reported that the
developers met with the abutters (Tremont on the Common
tenants are the most vocal opponents) and have tried to
be responsive. They have scaled down the rear extension
to create a 10-foot passageway and offered to pay for
Tremont on the Common's trash removal. The BRA will hear
the case on March 30 and if it approves the developers'
plans, ToC will probably sue. This is bad, because time
is running out for the building: the roof is in worse
shape than the developers thought, so the delay of a
lawsuit could be a death sentence for it. Boston
Preservation Alliance plans to write an op-ed piece for
the Boston to stress the importance of saving the
building.
5. Appleton Mills, Lowell: Matthew Bronski
described the background of the current threat to this
group of industrial buildings in Lowell and said that to
his knowledge, the Lowell city council has dropped the
idea of redrawing the boundary of the National Historical
Park to exclude this site. But the danger to the
buildings persists, including the pressure to take them
down because they are viewed as fire hazards.
Albert Rex said that Historic Massachusetts will
organize a meeting on fire safety and historic buildings.
There was some discussion on the topic of fire safety and
historic buildings - how to help firefighters avoid
danger (i.e., marking buildings so firefighters can know
their conditions before entering) and whether
firefighters are sufficiently acquainted with historic
building construction to work effectively yet sensitively
(divergent views were expressed).
6. DoCoMoMo: David Fixler said the group was
trying to put together a local and regional registry of
buildings; they made a presentation on modern movement
buildings to Massachusetts Historical Commission. They
are planning a tour of TAC houses in May and a lecture on
Louis Kahn. They meet monthly (next one is March 20). An
international registry book is being planned, as is a
conference in Brazil, and they are in discussions with
ICOMOS and UNESCO, urging them to take modern movement
buildings more seriously.
7. Other business: Matthew noted that tours
will resume when the weather improves and that weekends
seem to be better for people than weekdays. Possible
tours are a Gusatavino in Boston tour (visiting examples
of Guastavino tile work here) and a MASS MoCA tour. A
conference on architectural terra cotta will be held in
New York, April 8, at Columbia University, organized by
the New York Landmarks Conservancy. Luke Young seeks a
letter of support from the HRC for a nomination to the
National Trust Honor Award that a non-profit organization
RPRN (Recent Past Resource Network) is making to
recognize the work of Perry Dean Rogers & Partners
and Mass. Institute of Technology for Alvar Aalto's Baker
House renovation and restoration. This request was
referred to Henry Moss. David Fixler has a new job with
the Boston office of Einhorn Yaffee & Prescott but
will retain some connection to the Baker House project at
MIT.
There was tremendous interest in having a listserv for
the HRC. Sara Wermiel has been busy figuring out the best
way to set one up.
Meetings you may have missed:
New England Chapter of the Vernacular Architecture
Forum, Winter Meeting, March 25, 2000; "New England's
18th-Century Building Practices: Examining and
Synthesizing the Evidence."
Coming events:
Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation
Conference, April 8, 2000: "Preserving Our Cultural
Heritage: The Meaning of Place and Culture." Includes a
session "Historic Rehab & Public Safety" that is
supposed to explain New Jersey's rehab code.
Next Meeting
8: 00 a.m., Thursday, April 13, 2000
The Architects' Building
52 Broad Street, Boston, Fifth Floor