Present: Olga Bachilova, Bart Bauer, Chelsea Blanchard, Matthew Bronski, Ellen Lipsey, Doug Manley, Laura Mackowiak, Colleen Meagher, Albert Rex, Deane Rykerson, Eric Ward, Sara Wermiel 1. Change in Location for November Meeting: Because of construction at the Architects' Building at 52 Broad Street, the November HRC meeting will be held next door at the offices of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, 40 Broad Street, Seventh Floor, Conference Room 6, 8:00 AM, Thursday November 9, 2000. Many thanks to Bill Barry and SBRA for generously allowing us to use their space. 2. Future Fenway Design Symposium: The Future Fenway Design Symposium in August (the "Fenway Charrette") developed two separate plans. The Preservation Plan rehabilitates and optimizes the existing ballpark within its current walls (new capacity 33,600- 37,000 seats), at roughly a third the cost of the Red Sox proposal for a new stadium. The Reconstruction Plan rebuilds the grandstand and adds further amenities and seating (new total of 38-40,000 seats) at roughly half the cost of the proposed new stadium. Both plans considered the needs of the ballpark in terms of the overall quality of life and urban planning issues of the neighborhood. Both plans require no land takings, and no cost to the city. Kudos to all who helped make the charrette a success. Save Fenway Park (SFP!) needs financial support to continue to fight this battle. With the recently announced "for sale sign" on the Red Sox franchise, public and legislative support for the new Red Sox new mega-stadium proposal seems to be losing considerable momentum. Goliath is stumbling, and David has a couple more rocks. 3. Community Preservation Act: Albert Rex provided a summary of the CPA which was signed into law September 14. The final version does not provide a tax on Homestead declarations. The Act allocates 26.3 million for state matching funds, and communities can begin adopting it in mid-December by home-rule petition (adopted in local legislative session, and passed by town vote.) Funding restrictions set a 10% maximum on administrative costs, and minimum levels of 10% for open space, 10% for historic preservation, and 10% for affordable housing. 4. Committee Members' Philosophical Concerns: With many committee members attending the APT/Preserving the Recent Past II Conference in Philadelphia, a small group took advantage of the opportunity for an intimate discussion of preservation philosophy and dilemmas. Returning from the recent state historic preservation conference in Lowell, and noting downtown Lowell's transformation over the past 20-25 years, Ellen Lipsey wondered if an industrial city could become too perfect, too clean, too scrubbed, losing a bit too much of the grit and patina intrinsic to an industrial city. Bart Bauer noted that, in cleaning buildings, techniques and materials may be straightforward enough, but deciding "how clean is clean" is always a dilemma. Olga Bachilova advocated for the gentlest cleaning method possible - often water with a mild detergent. She noted that buildings need not be cleaned to look as if they are new, and the use of harsh chemical cleaners is often not needed. Matthew Bronski asked whether it is necessarily desirable to clean a building at all, except in those cases where dirt either obscures the architectural expression (e.g., in a polychromy building), or where it may be detrimental to the material (e.g., carbon crusts on calcareous stone). Turning to the topic of additions or new construction in historic contexts, Deane Rykerson praised thoughtful but unapologetically contemporary architecture in historic contexts in Italy, which are viewed as part of the continuum of history. Deane wondered why we are less reluctant to mix old and new here in the U.S. While many Americans seem to think of Boston as a city that personifies a vibrant mix of old and new, we may be far more timid than our European counterparts in this regard - after all, it's now been over a quarter century since the John Hancock tower rose next to Trinity Church. Do current guidelines for compatible design in historic contexts steer new design toward an inoffensive middle ground, while discouraging both the eyesore and the masterwork that contrast starkly with their context? Recalling our recent tour of Bulfinch's University Hall in Harvard Yard, we contemplated whether current philosophies and design reviews would permit Bulfinch to design an austere granite building in a red brick context today. Forget about any possibility of Bulfinch expanding Faneuil Hall in the way that he did in 1805 (doubling its width, adding a floor, and moving the cupola from the center to one end to create the landmark we admire today) - we'd probably have him add on in a way that is clearly distinct from, and subordinate to the original. Sara Wermiel mentioned an upcoming panel discussion in New York at which Herbert Muschamp explains why there haven't been any good buildings built in NYC in 50 years (apparently, it's the fault of the preservationists and community control types). Sara suggested we each choose a building to critique at a future meeting as an example of design in an historic context. 5. Mass MoCA Tour: Neither rain nor snow nor sleet (or as it turned out, some of each) could keep thirteen HRC members and friends from driving out Route 2 to North Adams and the former Sprague Electric Buildings for a tour of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art on Sunday October 29. Along the way, our caravan stopped in beautiful Shelburne Falls, MA, where several committee members decided they will reside when information technology soon precludes the need to commute to Boston/Cambridge on a daily basis. At Mass MoCA Henry gave an overview of the history and several deaths of the project before it came to fruition. Henry was quick to point out the cardinal rules of museum design that they were more than willing to break (all the walls aren't white, windows offer eye-level views of the world outside the galleries), given the nature of the art displayed at Mass MoCA and the buildings which the museum inhabits. We admired the successful realization of Bruner/Cott's vision that Mass MoCA continue to be a place that looks and feels industrial, where steel grate and diamond plate are tough on Gucci shoes, and where the patina of industrial use is not obliterated from every surface. In this complex, not only is the palimpsest of multi-colored paint layers on brick gallery walls cherished, but the invasive plants along the edge of the bituminous concrete parking lot are also encouraged. After Mass MoCA we made a brief side trip to Goodrich Hall at Williams College, an 1853 Gothic Revival chapel that Bruner/Cott rehabilitated as a student center. Henry mentioned that one of the most interesting aspects of this small project was having the students as a client, listening to what the students wanted, and creating for them a place that they could call their own. Now Williams finally has a place to bring a date. 6. Other Business: Colleen Meagher and Ellen Lipsey mentioned that the recent State Preservation Conference was well attended and the sessions were worthwhile. The session on abandoned buildings and fire hazards was particularly well done. Olga Bachilova is helping to organize next year's National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference in Providence, R.I., October 16-21, 2000. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a conference session, or if your organization is interested in co-sponsoring the conference, contact Olga at ybachilova@aol.com An exhibition of paintings by HRC stalwart Susan Schur is on display at the Somerville Public Library from October 30- November 30 (just in case you mistakenly thought metallurgy, publishing a journal, and organizing top-notch preservation conferences occupied most of Susan's time). If you did not receive recent e-mail notification of the HRC Mass MoCA tour, we do not have a working e-mail address for you. Please contact Matthew Bronski at mbbronski@sgh.com if you would like to receive e-mails on HRC tours and events. (Location Change) 8:00 AM, Thursday, November 9, 2000 Offices of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott 40 Broad Street, Boston, MA Seventh Floor -- Conference Rm. 6 Take the elevator directly to the Seventh Floor. Conference Room 6 is directly off the elevator lobby. Henry Moss, AIA, Matthew Bronski and Sara Wermiel, Co-Chairs |