Category: Historic Preservation

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Alton, Illinois Historic Preservation

Alton City Council Reverses Grand Theater Landmark Designation

by Michael R. Allen

Yesterday, the Alton City Council voted 6-1 to overturn the city landmark designation recently conferred by the Historical Commission upon the Grand Theater. The theater, at the corner of Third and Market streets, has been owned by businessman Ed McPike since 1990. There is one tenant in a basement storefront on Third Street. McPike opposed the landmark nomination prepared by citizen Bill McKenzie.

After the Historical Commission voted 4-2 to confer designation, McPike appealed. Under Alton’s preservation ordinance, that appeal went to the City Council, which was then allowed to consider new evidence. Apparently, given yesterday’s decision, the council also has the authority to not only consider new evidence but also to impose a new standard of review.

Many concerned citizens, including McKenzie and Alton Area Landmarks Association President Terry Sharp, spoke in favor of upholding the Historical Commission’s brave decision. I spoke to clarify several points, including how — based on my St. Louis experience — landmark designation does not preclude reasonable alteration or even, if justified, demolition. In fact, the Alton Historical Commission recently granted demolition for the city’s oldest house, the Mansion House, after a devastating fire. Preservationists thought that the Mansion House could be saved, but the Historical Commission did not. Landmark designation simply ensures that the decision to demolish a historic building receives deliberation; it does not compel preservation in every case.

Alderman Mike Velloff, the lone dissenter, made the point that the level of review brought by the designation was no more arduous than what the Council would put in place for anyone seeking an official redevelopment plan. McPike’s attorney Jim Sinclair had called the landmark status a “taking” of the property.

While the Council overturned the landmark designation, the strong advocacy campaign for the Grand Theater has drawn a lot of attention to the long-vacant building. Hopefully that will lead McPike or a future owner to consider preservation.

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Belleville, Illinois Demolition Fire Historic Preservation Mid-Century Modern

Opportunity Lost in Belleville

by Michael R. Allen

Photograph by Chad Briesacher.

In a strange move, on October 19 the Belleville (Illinois) City Council voted 14-1 to approve a plan that would replace the former Meredith Home with a park. The Meredith Home is the six-story former Hotel Belleville at the southeast corner of Illinois and Main streets at the fountain circle. Built in 1931, the hotel has art deco stylistic elements expressed through brick and terra cotta. Between 1962 and earlier this year, the hotel served as retirement home operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville.

How the City Council came to vote away the sales and property tax revenues the building might generate in the future is uncertain. Using a loan, the city purchased the occupied building for $487,500 in February when the Diocese placed the building for sale. The sale generated some raised eyebrows in light of how the city of Belleville has cited lack of funds as a reason for not assisting the effort to save the former Belleville Turner Hall.

Photograph by Chad Briesacher.

After discussing redevelopment with a boutique hotel developer from St. Louis, Belleville officials abruptly changed course. Suddenly, attorney Bruce Cook stepped forward with an offer to pay off the loan on the property if the old hotel were demolished and the site became a park memorial for his late daughter. The park plan — a noble purpose best suited for a site whose development would cost less — lacks funding for demolition and construction. Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert has stated that the city might help with the cost, even though it has steadfastly refused to help the citizens trying to turn the Turner Hall into an arts center.


Photograph by Chad Briesacher.

Downtown Belleville has many vacant lots and surface parking lots well suited for a small memorial park. The city could easily have helped Cook find another site, and just as easily not purchased a large building that private developers may have purchased. The city does not have another building like the Meredith Home, which has not generated revenues in nearly 40 years. Beyond the preservation issue, it is odd that the city — with its revenues strained like every city’s — would not have jumped at the chance to move a prominent downtown parcel from tax-exempt status to a taxable piece of land. Cities thrive when private initiative, not government control, is the driving force in commercial districts. Belleville has missed a big opportunity with the Meredith Home.


Photograph by Chad Briesacher.

Another Belleville opportunity that hopefully won’t be squandered is a few blocks east at the northeast corner of Main and Jackson streets. In May, a corner building and part of the slipcover-clad former Fellner’s Department Store were destroyed by fire. The taller, more stylized section of the Fellner’s building survives, to the delight of the region’s mid-century modern aficionados.  Hopefully the city of Belleville will support new urban infill on this prime corner.

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Historic Preservation Missouri

Missouri Preservation Honor Award Nominations Due November 11

From Missouri Preservation

Is there an exemplary preservationist in your area or a great historic project that has been completed in the past year? Do you know of a great book that has been published which promotes preservation of our built environment in Missouri? Make sure these contributions and achievements are publicly recognized by nominating them for a Preservation Honor Award.

Awards will be presented at the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City in March, 2011.

Past awards have recognized lifetime achievements of preservationists and projects which have run the gamut from historic filling stations to high-rise apartment buildings.

Download our nomination form by clicking here.

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Historic Preservation Housing North St. Louis Old North

National Trust Honors Old North

by Michael R. Allen

In 1977, high of Model Cities euphoria, the City of St. Louis celebrated the new two-block 14th Street Mall in Old North St. Louis. Within two decades, the mall was bust and the twenty-odd buildings facing it were includes on Landmarks Association’s Most Endangered list. In 1998, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group hosted a charrette to imagine the future of the old pedestrian mall. Some people thought the group was crazy to envision the two blocks returned to urban vitality, but they were proven wrong — over a decade later.

This Friday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation will present its National Trust/Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance for the reborn 14th Street area, called Crown Square Development . The project is one of 23 award winners to be honored by the National Trust next week during its 2010 National Preservation Conference in Austin, Texas.

Ah, the difference that 33 years has made is immeasurable. (The $35 million cost of physically reversing the mall’s impact on the built environment is a misleading figure that does not compensate hours of community brainstorming, vigilance and sweat equity.) The path of two blocks of a fragile near north neighborhood shows the pitfalls of urban planning trends and the power of collective action to turn around supposedly hopeless causes.


The west side of 14th Street between Montgomery and Benton Streets, December 2004 (top) and July 2010 (bottom).

The view down 14th Street south from St. Louis Avenue in December 2004 (top) and July 2010 (bottom).

The view south down 14th Street from Montgomery Street in December 2004 (top) and July 2010 (bottom).

Some would say that bricks and mortar (and tax credits) alone don’t transform communities. In fact, I say that. The achievement with Crown Square to date is a miraculous preservation effort that safeguards historic buildings, reopens key streets, enhances the safety and appearance of Old North’s commercial center and provides new rental housing and commercial storefronts. Introducing 78 new housing units in a neighborhood can force a huge change, but toward a previous housing density that many current residents never knew. The social changes wrought by these physical transformations will be ongoing, and the outcome uncertain — but the pains mean that the neighborhood is growing once again.  For a neighborhood that had some 13,200 people sixty years ago and around 1,500 in 2000, growth is good.

For now, we can celebrate the effort of many long-time neighborhood residents who have never given up hope that two blocks of 14th Street would again be the center of neighborhood life.  This journey to restore the neighborhood commercial district began 33 years ago with a much different plan.  As impressive as the undoing of that plan is to see, even more impressive are the people who did not let the intervening years of abandonment deter their dreams and deeds.

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Historic Preservation Oklahoma

The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture Inspires

by Michael R. Allen

Last month, we visited Tulsa on what was planned as a vacation. Somehow we ended up often rising earlier and looking at more buildings per day than we ever do back home. These things happen, I suppose. I am just glad that our exploring led us to the inspiring Tulsa Foundation for Architecture (TFA; blog here). TFA is a small, young organization that has already built an array of program activities that would be daunting even for a more established organization. Founded by the Eastern Oklahoma chapter of the American Institute for Architects in 1995 — a mere fifteen years ago — TFA is a strong advocate for preservation, a force for education through tours and events, publisher of books, sponsor of “>Modern Tulsa convener of conferences and — most impressively — steward of a massive archive on Tulsa’s architectural history. Oh, and TFA collects architectural artifacts too!

TFA’s office is in the basement of the Kennedy Building in downtown Tulsa. Archivist Derek Lee kindly guided us through our surprise visit one morning. The staff members’ two desks are in corners, with most of the space devoted to metal shelving and flat files housing some 35,000 drawings from major architectural firms’ offices. The windows to the corridor are filled with colorful artifacts, including polychomatic terra cotta with Art Deco motifs. It’s as if a smaller version of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation and the Landmarks Association of St. Louis were joined together.

TFA’s mix is exciting and successful: the organization is buying a building that will increase space and, most importantly, visibility. Plus, the National Historic Records Advisory Bureau has proclaimed TFA as a model archival organization.

However, TFA’s biggest accomplishment stands outside of its office: the restored Meadow Gold sign on 11th Avenue, which was Route 66 in Tulsa. Located near downtown, the 1930s-era sign faced an uncertain future for many years. TFA obtained a grant for restoration from the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor in 2004, but the sign and the building atop which it sat were privately owned. When the owner planned demolition, TFA worked with the City of Tulsa to save and reconstruct the sign.

TFA’s work to actually save the sign accompanied a survey of 259 neon signs in the Tulsa area. This survey resulted in the just-published booklet Vintage Tulsa Neon Signs, a brief and colorful introduction to a threatened resource. This booklet joins TFA’s reprint of the exhaustive and lovely Tulsa Art Deco by Carol Newton Gambino and David Halpern as a powerful educational tool. We salute our busy colleagues in Tulsa and await good news of their future endeavors!

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Historic Preservation Public Policy

Status Quo For Federal Preservation Funding

From Preservation Action

On Thursday of this week, before adjourning for the midterm elections, Congress passed a stopgap funding measure to keep the federal government operating until December 3rd. The 2010 Fiscal Year ended at midnight yesterday. As was expected, funding was extended, with a few exceptions, at FY 2010 levels.

The passage of the measure, usually referred to as a Continuing Resolution or “CR,” puts off what are expected to be particularly hostile spending decisions until after the midterm elections. However, while the Democrats are saying they plan on settling FY 2011 appropriations bills during the lame duck session (the period between the midterm elections and the beginning of the new legislative year), Republicans are hoping to further delay spending decisions until the next Congress when they may have control of one or both chambers.

With funding in the Administration’s proposed FY 2011 budget eliminated for Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America, and cut in half for National Heritage Areas, an extension at FY2010 levels is positive for preservationists. While Congress has been receptive to the notion of retaining funding for these programs in their subsequent spending bills, to date neither chamber has passed such a bill or given an indication of what the funding levels would look like.

Lame Duck Likely To Be Lame For Preservationists

With Congress adjourned after passing little more than the CR, and a full slate of spending bills that will need to be dealt with for FY 2011 upon their return on November 15th after contentious midterm elections, the jury is out on what else they will be able to focus on. Sources are telling us that the likelihood of the Senate taking up an energy bill, such as either S. 3663 or or H.R. 3534 (the CLEAR Act), are very slim. While the former contains full-funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the latter contains both full funding for the LWCF and the Historic Preservation Fund. Preservation Action and its partners have been advocating for the Senate passage of the CLEAR Act for several months.

In addition to appropriations, likely candidates for consideration are the extensions to the Bush era tax cuts, and “New Start,” a new arms control treaty with Russia. Any introduced bills that do not get signed into law before the end of 111th Congress will die and would have to be reintroduced in the 112th Congress, which begins January 3, 2011.

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Historic Preservation Public Policy

Preservation Appropriations Dance Continues in Senate

From Preservation Action

As we have been reporting for months, there has been very little progress to date on FY 2011 spending bills. With a polarized Congress gearing up for a major mid-term election season in which polls indicate that Republicans could take control of the House, few legislators have been willing to push for spending bills that could further agitate constituents concerned about federal spending.

While the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies approved a draft $32.2 billion spending bill in July (the numbers for which have been kept secret, although committee members are saying funding for critical historic preservation programs that were proposed for cuts by the administration has been restored), the Senate subcommittee has yet to hold a hearing citing irreconcilable differences on additional spending and on climate change regulations.

Even if the Senate Appropriations Committee would approve a bill, neither the full House nor Senate will be able to take up any spending bill before the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.

In order to keep the Government in business, Congress will have to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) next week. Recognizing Republican opposition to increased spending, Democratic leaders are trying to limit the measure to current FY 2010 funding levels, although there is significant pressure to include funding for some new programs. Sources say the CR will most likely extend funding until December, well after the elections.

Once Congress returns post-election, there could either be an attempt to create an omnibus spending bill that includes many or all individual spending bills, or an extension of FY 2010 levels through all of FY 2011.

Preservation Action is the national lobbying organization for historic preservation policy. Individuals can join and support its work for only $20; learn more at www.preservationaction.org

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Historic Preservation Public Policy

White House States Support for CLEAR Act and Historic Preservation Fund

From Preservation Action

At the end of July, a statement from from the White House was quietly released (in fact so quiet, most of us completely missed it) in which the the President expressed his support for the CLEAR Act, H.R. 3534. In his “Statement of Administration Policy,” which includes support for several oil spill prevention and off-shore drilling measures, the very last paragraph states that “The Administration strongly supports funding for land and water conservation and historic preservation projects that prioritize the needs of the Nation based on competitive process.”

While it is still unclear just how much of a priority historic preservation is to the Administration, this is a good starting point, and one we can use to bolster our arguments to the Senate for inclusion in their version of the CLEAR Act. For the president to understand the economic benefits of historic preservation that speak directly to “the needs of the Nation” during this difficult time is a huge boon to our campaign for full funding of the HPF.

The administration has not previously shown open support of historic preservation; demonstrated most clearly by the FY 2011 budget cuts to eliminate funding for Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America, and greatly reduce funding for National Heritage Areas. Preservation Action and our members need to continue working hard to make sure our voice is heard and kept on the executive radar. The best ways to act are continuing to provide feedback to the America’s Great Outdoors initiative, contact your Senators and ask them to support HPF in the energy bill, S. 3663, and to help broaden our network by reaching out and finding new members for Preservation Action.

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Historic Preservation

Historic Preservation Course at Washington University

This fall, the University College at Washington University is offering “Introduction to Historic Preservation” (SUST 315) as part of the curriculum for its Sustainability major and its Sustainable Communities certificate.  Anyone can enroll, however, so spread the word.  Preservation architect Jeff Brambila, former president of Missouri Preservation and   current board member of Landmarks Association of St. Louis, teaches the course.

Here is the description:

This course explores the history and practice of historic preservation with an emphasis on regional urban issues and the way in which historic preservation contributes toward the development of sustainable communities. Students are exposed to a diverse range of preservation topics that will enable them to apply sound historic preservation principles in professional practice. Course topics include: evaluation and recording of historic properties and districts; Secretary of the Interior’s standards in the process of planning or designing a project; historic preservation in community planning; application process for state and federal tax credit programs; conservation of historic building materials; historic preservation vs. modern building codes and user requirements. We examine case studies of completed projects or projects in progress.

Registration information is available on the University College site here; search for “introduction to historic preservation.”

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Historic Preservation Public Policy

U.S. House Fully Funds Historic Preservation Fund

by Michael R. Allen

Yesterday by a vote of 209-193 the United States House of Representatives passed the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act of 2010 (H.R. 3534), sponsored by Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV). The CLEAR Act is important to historic preservation efforts because it included the first-ever full annual appropriation of $150 million to the federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), one of the conservation funds funded by offshore oil lease revenues. The HPF and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) have been funded through lease revenues since the 1980s.

The HPF provides federal money available to state and tribal historic preservation offices through matching grants for preservation planning, architectural survey, educational programs and other activities authorized in the Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Certified Local Governments — like St. Louis, Kirkwood and Chesterfield to name a few locals — can apply for funds through state historic preservation offices. The HPF, created in 1976, allows local budgets to stretch.

The U.S. Treasury Department estimated that the balance in funds that can only be appropriated to the HPF at $2.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2009. Previous Congresses have authorized anywhere from one-third to two-thirds of the $150 million annual appropriation that Congress authorized in 1974.