BSA Historic Resources Committee Meeting Notes for May 2006
Present: Matthew Bronski, Taya Dixon, Marilyn Fenollosa, Vance Freymann, Jack Gold, David Kelman, Krista McFadden, Henry Moss, Brian Roche, Susan Schur, Jonathan Smith, Jay Stanbury, Rich Tobin, Sara Wermiel, and Gary Wolf
1. Follow-up on April meeting on the Archdiocese of Boston, property disposition: Henry Moss distributed notes for the April meeting. He regrets that they were not distributed in advance. For information about parish closings and buildings, see the real estate page of the Archdiocese's website (http://www.rcab.org/Parish_Reconfiguration/realEstate.html ) or call Marilyn Fenollosa or the Mass. Historical Commission. The MHC has a list of the status of churches.
2. Providence Preservation Society, programs and accomplishments: Vance Freymann, Trustee, and Jack Gold, Executive Director, of the Providence Preservation Society (PPS) updated the HRC about PPS's activities and the historic preservation situation in Providence, R.I.
PPS was founded in 1956 by real estate entrepreneurs, mainly women, who thought the historic homes on Benefit St. in Providence could become desirable again. As hard as it is today to imagine, 50 years ago Brown University and highway interests sought to clear the Benefit St. area - then a vibrant but dilapidated neighborhood - and other parts of Providence for redevelopment and highway construction. The PPS formed to resist these pressures. At first it focused on College Hill and later expanded its scope citywide; today PPS is especially focused on the preservation and revitalization of Providence's downtown, called the Downcity District.
Jack Gold, appointed PPS Executive Director in Dec. 2004, came from a position in New Haven, and he finds Providence far ahead of that city in its interest and support for preservation. While the PPS's programs include activities common to preservation advocacy/education organizations (annual preservation awards, 10 most endangered properties list, historic house marker program), it has some novel activities. One is a children's heritage education program, which offers tours to school children of the West Side and Waterfront areas of Providence, to teach them about "the beauty and history of their capital city through its architecture." With luck, this program will spawn the preservationists of the future.
Today, PPS tries to influence planning and development in Providence overall to protect the city's historic character. One way it does this is through a Planning & Architectural Review Committee. Made up of PPS members (architects, planners, preservationists, contractors) this committee meets monthly to discuss development projects proposed in the city - new construction as well as rehabilitation projects. The committee has no official authority, but it fills a gap. The city's design review committee has no mandate to focus on how projects affect the city's historic character, and although the downtown is both historic and largely intact, it is not covered by a historic district. Jack attends the city's planning and zoning meetings, where he learns about development projects. Developers are invited to make presentations to the PPS committee, and they usually agree to come. The committee makes recommendations and has been successful in shaping projects.
Another example of how PPS is trying to integrate historic preservation into general planning is its involvement in planning for the redevelopment of land that will materialize when the realigned I-195 highway through Providence is finished. The I-195 highway now curves through the city (see map below). This highway project, nicknamed the "Little Dig," involves a new bridge over the Providence River (Iway Signature Bridge) south of the Hurricane Barrier. Completion is scheduled for 2009. PPS has organized forums for public discussion of the redevelopment of the waterfront and parcels of land left over from the highway project.
Jack described some of the preservation accomplishments in downtown Providence. One is the former Peerless Department Store, which is being converted to apartments. RISD and Johnson & Wales College have both been expanding into the downtown, and PPS is working to influence their plans so they can be a force for preservation of the city's historic resources.
Once part of PPS, the PPS Revolving Fund is now a separate non-profit entity, run by Clark Schoettle. It offers low-interest loans and technical assistance for renovations, mainly for housing. The program is highly successful. Recent HRC presentations on creative and successful preservation initiatives in cities like Providence and Lowell remind those of us in Boston that we should not be geocentric - we can learn much from the preservation initiatives in other cities across New England.
The beauty and urban vitality of Providence is no longer a secret - prices for downtown housing are very high and HRC members wondered where the occupants are coming from. It seems some come from Massachusetts, some are local empty nesters.
Henry Moss asked what spurred Providence's renewal, and asked if the waterfront project was a key stimulus. Jack and Vance agreed that it was, and credited William Warner, a local architect, with the vision and dogged persistence that led to the revitalized waterfront. Two rivers that run through the city and flow into the Providence River had been covered up; these were uncovered, the train station and its tracks were moved, and - as anyone who has been the city lately can see - a wonderful park has been created along the riverbanks. Most of the funds for this work came from transportation grants.
In line with its focus on the downtown, last year's annual Festival of Historic Houses featured downtown lofts rather than early houses. But for this year's Festival (June 2-3), PPS returns to its roots on Benefit St. See http://www.ppsri.org for more info.
3. H. H. Richardson House: The house is coming up for sale; the estimated cost to buy and renovate the house is about $4 million. Chicken feed! So Richardson lovers out there, what are you waiting for? The Vernacular Architecture Forum holds a house tour on June 3rd. See our Nov. 2005 HRC meeting minutes for more information on the house: http://committees.architects.org/hrc/hrc_archive.htm
4. Letter from the HRC supporting funding of the Mass. Preservation Projects Fund: Henry Moss will draft this.
5. BSA Access Committee: Tom Hopkins, Executive Director of the Access Board, will attend the next BSA Access Committee meeting to discuss changes in access guidelines. Jonathan Smith will attend as our HRC representative and liaison and report back to the HRC on implications of possible changes for the preservation and reuse of older buildings. Others are encouraged to attend.
June 8, 2006, Thursday, 8:00 a.m.
The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, Boston, fifth floor
Featuring
Digital Potluck Session on
Interesting Issues Encountered in Members' Work
Calling all members to submit examples!
A similar session last July yielded interesting discussions on the philosophical issues relating to falsely aging new materials, technical problems with rapid fading of slate that was specified as "non-fading," an H. H. Richardson building constructed entirely of gneiss despite generations of historians writing that it is granite, the dual role of some architects as structural engineer in the early 19th century, and a case where harsh chemical strippers and techniques turned historic interior woodwork "fuzzy."
Please seek out a couple images of an interesting issue from your work and e-mail to Matthew Bronski at mbbronski@sgh.com by the morning of Wednesday June 7 at the latest. Any digital image format is okay - .tiff, .jpg. bmp. .emf, .ppt, etc. Matthew will assemble the images into a Powerpoint presentation for our group discussion.
Henry Moss, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel co-leaders and scribes