HomeMy WebLinkAboutBHPCMinutes_2008_06_12Brookings Historic Preservation Commission
June 12, 2008
A meeting of the Brookings Historic Preservation Commission was held on Thursday, June 12
2008 at 4:00 p.m. in City Hall. Members present: Jerry McCollough, Pat Powers, Mary Bibby
and Pam Merchant. Members absent: Joanita Kant and Dennis Willert. Shari Thornes, City
Clerk, was also present.
Chairperson McCollough called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
Adoption of agenda. A motion was made by Powers, seconded by Merchant, to approve the
agenda. All present voted yes; motion carried.
Approval of minutes. A motion was made by Bibby, seconded by Merchant, to approve the
April minutes. All present voted yes; motion carried.
Schedule next monthly meeting. Thursday, July 17th at 4:00 p.m.
Election of Vice Chairperson. A motion was made by Merchant, seconded by Powers, to
nominate Mary Bibby as Vice Chairperson. All present voted yes; motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS/UPDATES:
Grant Amendment Request Updates. Thornes reported that she had obtained an
amendment request to extend the grant timeline in order to complete projects and provide
additional detail on the BHPC’s $10,000 project.
Porch Tour Arrangements. McCollough will host a walking tour of the University and
Central area on Wednesday, July 9th, at 1:30 p.m. The tour is being offered as one of the
programs during University Week for Women. This is the second year that the BHPC has
offered a tour. Last year’s was very well received. The tour will conclude with refreshments
at the home of Diane and Dave Kosbau at 824 Fifth Street.
Preservation Week / Final Reports:
Mayor’s Awards for Historic Preservation – Thornes read a letter the Mayor received from
winner Stephen VanBuren expressing his appreciation for the recognition.
Newsletter – No feedback.
Central Residential Historic District—National Register District
Proposed County Courthouse Addition. Thornes reported meeting with Patricia Garcia
Duggan, Circuit Court Administrator, and members of SHPO staff on May 21st. This meeting
was in response to her request to discuss what types of changes can and can’t be done to a
historic building. SHPO staff was scheduled to be in town that day for a site visit at SDSU.
The group met at the courthouse to review Court Service’s preliminary plans.
Thornes said Court Services hasn’t retained an architect to assist on the project. They believe
that this is the responsibility of the County. Thornes noted that the County Commissioners
have commented in at least two meetings, when discussing their space needs & overall costs,
that the courthouse renovation for court services wasn’t their problem. Garcia completely
disagrees with these comments and said the County Commissioners are misinformed. Garcia
told the group that she plans to more strongly remind the County of their financial
responsibilities at their next meeting. She also provided the group with the case law citations
regarding those responsibilities. She said the County is required to provide a space that is
suitable for the intended functions. One of the cases was in South Dakota where the county
(Pennington) felt the same way as Brookings. That court services took it to court and won.
Thornes said Court Services has many functionality issues to consider: confidentiality for
juveniles & providing spaces where the general public can’t see them waiting for court;
confidentiality and security for the judges; and another courtroom space in addition to the one
they have. The only possible space would be on the 1st floor to take out all interior walls in
the Auditor’s offices (south end). Thornes said she suggested the Treasurer’s end (north end)
because the space is already open, but there are vaults to contend with. There’s also another
vault that poses a problem. Thornes noted that one of County Commissioner Klavetter’s
arguments against the 1921 building that the cost to add vaults would be too expensive.
Functionally the 1921 building seems to make more sense for court services and the
courthouse for county services. Thornes said that she asked Garcia since the County is
required to provide court services with adequate space, why hasn’t this been offered? The
challenges to make the courthouse work for court services will be extensive and will greatly
change the interior. Garcia said Court Services hasn’t considered the 1921 building for their
needs and because it hasn’t been offered for consideration. Garcia said the responsibility to
hire an architect would be the county’s and she’s afraid they would select anyone that is
knowledgeable about court services design or sensitive to a national register courthouse
retrofit. Garcia clarified that if court services were to take over the courthouse, they would
remain as tenants. The 11.1 review process would be the responsibility of the county.
University Residential District
711 7th Street - Thornes said this property has recently had a new foundation installed
but was moved slightly on the site. She noted receiving the following email from the state:
In light of several historic homes in Brookings needing foundation repair, and being repositioned a few feet to the
side of their original orientation, Jason and I wanted to follow up with the National Park Service as to whether this
would affect the integrity of the historic property.
Our contact at NPS needs to know the following in order to get back to us on this issue:
1) Will the sideways move be the final placement of the building? (I assume yes) And how many feet is it from the
original orientation?
2) Will they be raised up on the new foundation? How much above the former level?
3) What is the current foundation material? What will the new foundation be made of?
4) Will the new foundation follow the original footprint?
5) Are any other changes proposed, for example, a new addition, excavation of adjoining land, relocating
main entrance, etc.?
Shari, if anyone else is doing similar work on a National Register property, they will want to consider the same
questions.
Because this is a question we have never encountered, we feel it is best to check with the park service in advance
to clarify whether or not the "sideways move" would have an adverse affect on the historic properties.
Thank you for your input,
Jennifer R. Brosz, Historic Preservation Specialist
South Dakota State Historical Society
Thornes said she had encountered this question before and was told that a sideways move
(anything other than a straight up & down) would disqualify them from the NR. Thornes asked
SHPO to advise if the Park Service had changed their position on this issue.
South Dakota State University
Pending Demolitions. Thornes reported learning that SHPO was scheduled to be in
town on May 21st for a site visit at SDSU for pending building demolitions. Thornes asked
to join the tour. SHPO staff and Thornes met with Mike Reger, Dean Kattleman and
SHPO staff to review their project. The Board of Regents and Governor approved the
removal of Old Shepard Hall (chem. Lab building south of the “Barn” built in 1929 – fairly
non-descript), New Shepard Hall (one-story pharmacy built in 1980), a the little power lab
building next to the old UPD building (small, one story brick built around 1900). The
project has already been bid and awarded to Gil Haugen. He has all salvage rights and
nothing in the buildings will be sold at surplus. It will be 3 years before they tear down Old
Shepard. Thornes circulated a schematic of the new Science Building to the Commission
for review.
Staff Updates:
o Reschedule State Training Sessions – Reschedule for the third or fourth week in July.
o 2008/2009 State Grant Award – The BHPC’s grant request was fully funded for $10,417.00.
o 2009 budget schedule/process- The BHPC city budget request has been completed and
submitted with a level funding request of $3,600. No problems are anticipated.
Announcements/Correspondence/Communications
o Common Ground, Spring 08
o Forum Journal, Spring 08
o MainStreetNews, Apr 08
o DBI Agenda, May 08
Calendar
June 9th Preserve Brookings Annual Meeting – old Fire Hall, 7 pm
June 17-18 Section 106 Training – Pierre
June 21-28, 2008 Preservation Leadership Training – Portland, Maine
July 9-11, 2008 University Week for Women (tours)
July 10-13, 2008 National Alliance of Preservation Commissions – New Orleans
Oct. 21-25, 2008 National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conference, Tulsa, OK
Oct. 13-17, 2009 National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conf – Nashville, TN
Oct. 26-30, 2010 National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conf – Austin, TX
Agenda items for July Meeting - Porch Tour, PLT Report, and State Jurisdiction Over
University Property
Meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Submitted by Shari Thornes