HomeMy WebLinkAboutBHPCMinutes_2011_07_07Brookings Historic Preservation Commission
July 7, 2011
A meeting of the Brookings Historic Preservation Commission was held on Thursday, July 7,
2011 at 4:15 p.m. in City Hall. Members present: Dennis Willert, Janet Gritzner, Mary Bibby
(arrived 4:40 pm), Pam Merchant, Father Ryan Hall, Les Rowland (arrived 4:30 pm) and Tom
Agostini. Pat Fishback, citizen, and Shari Thornes, City Clerk, were also present.
Chairperson Willert called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m.
Agenda: (Hall/Gritzner) Motion to approve the agenda. All present voted yes, motion carried.
Minutes: (Agostini/Hall) Motion to approve the June minutes. All present voted yes; motion
carried.
Next Meeting: Thursday, August 11 @ 4:00 p.m. (Note - Agostini will teach a T/TH class from
3:30 to 4:45 pm for fall semester commencing 8/29).
Old Business/Updates and Final Reports:
State History Conference Report. Merchant and Hall attended the State Historical Society
Annual Conference in Pierre on May 20-21. Father Hall submitted the following report.
Review of the South Dakota State Historical Society Conference
Pierre, South Dakota, May 19-21, 2011
by Ryan Hall
The official theme of this year's history conference was "Being Dakota: Territorial
Sesquicentennial 1861-2011." Unofficially, I found that there was really two interconnected
themes that were being discussed. Sometimes they tied neatly together in terms of South
Dakota history and sometimes not.
Dakota was established as a Territory with the Organic Act of 1861, with Yankton as its capital.
This time period largely coincided with the outbreak of the American Civil War, which is largely
being covered a bit in the national news media for its own 150 th anniversary. Thus, the
conference also discussed the larger national issues of the time, some of which were not directly
relevant to South Dakota history.
The keynote speaker was Professor Brad Tennant of Northern State University. He talked largely
on the implications of the Organic Act in creating the Territory of Dakota. He looked at various
topics, largely having to do with the infrastructure that was needed to change a place form an
unorganized territory to an organized one.
Other speakers included Olivia Mahoney, who is curator of the Chicago History Museum. S he
had just recently finished an exhibit entitled "Abraham Lincoln Transformed," which was the
nature of her lecture. Her goal in the project was to try and catalog Lincoln's changing attitudes
toward slavery throughout his career. Her thesis was that most people assume that he was out
to abolish slavery everywhere in the United States from the beginning of his career, but actually
his views changed some over time. He was always against the expansion of slavery, but it was
not until after the outbreak of the Civil War that he began to ponder banning slavery entirely,
even in the South. He largely had a pragmatic view on the subject so as to prevent war.
I personally think that the highlight of the conference was the "Songs of Abraham Lincoln's
America" by Judy Cook. This was an interesting combination of political influences on popular
songs of the time. She would largely sing examples from various regions of the country to
demonstrate some of these polarizing views, as well as the musical influence from the various
regions due to different ethnic migrations.
Other lectures on the first day involved a photo-journalism presentation by Jeff Barnes of the
Forts of Dakota, both in terms of what the forts were originally and what they look like today.
Craig Howe, director of the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies, presented
on the "whole memory" of being Lakota, speaking particularly to issues of tribal memory that is
sometimes a difficult concept to understand for non-Indian communities that have no such
tribal memory.
On Saturday, there was a good presentation on Railroading in Territorial Times by Rick Mills, a
railroad enthusiast and historian. He presented quite a few interesting pictures of how the
railroads were physically build and how that led to some of the town placements in Dakota
Territory. David Wolff of Black Hills State University presented on his new book, Seth Bullock:
Black Hills Lawman. Bullock was quite the historical character in the early days of South Dakota
as an entrepreneur and town builder. That book is available from the South Dakota State
Historical Press.
There were some more "living history" presentation on Saturday afternoon, with a Dakota
Territorial Throwdown, a drama by the State Historical Society staff, and a visit from Governor
Mellette, the last governor of Dakota Territory by re-actor John Timm.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the Conference, though it was not quite as linear in topics as last year's
conference, which had to do more with the sequential political history of South Dakota. This
year's was a bit more free flowing in topics, but tied in nicely to the sesquicentennial of Dakota
territory and the beginning of the American Civil War.
As a sports fan, I was intrigued by the topic for next year's conference: "Playing on the Plains:
Sports and Recreation in South Dakota. I am attaching a scan of the placard we received in our
check-in folder about next year's convention. I believe one of the speakers will be Marc
Rasmussen, whose book, Six: A Football Coach's Journey to a National Record, will be available
from South Dakota State Historical Press in the Fall.
As a completely irrelevant side note and shameless plug, the State Historical Press has (amongst
other excellent works) some excellent offerings for children. Of particular note, two illustrated L.
Frank Baum (of Wizard of Oz fame) short stories are available; stories that he wrote while he
lived in Aberdeen. My daughter loves both of them. If you have kids or grandkids, I would
recommend them. http://www.sdshspress.com/
New Business:
Preservation Leadership Training Report. Les Rowland attended the 2011 National Trust
Preservation Leadership Training (PLT) in Alexandria, VA, June 12-18. As part of its commission
member development training, the BHPC has applied and received funding to send a number of
its members to PLT and other national conferences.
Rowland said it was a great trip and it truly was a “boot camp” experience. PLT always
incorporates a specific restoration or preservation related issue or project. This year’s PLT
focused on Woodlawn Manor, a house museum and historic home of George and Martha
Washington’s daughter. The attendees split up into six teams and all came up with similar
conclusions. He looks forward to applying what he learned to Brookings. He noted learning
about ways to get people interested in historic preservation through public education events.
He plans to report on additional topics at future meetings.
(Bibby arrived @ 4:40 pm)
Preserve America Signs. The sign posts were not included in the original shipping. State staff
contacted the company and the posts were delivered to city offices. The Federal 106 review
process is now done, so the signs can now be installed.
Mayor’s Awards for Historic Preservation. Suzanne Hegg, Director of the Children’s Museum
of South Dakota, is checking with Larson family and Board regarding three possible event dates
in September. Hegg prefers a 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. event rather than 5:00-7:00 p.m. due to less
staff time. The Brookings Committee for People who have Disabilities is excited to partner on
the event. Letters of notification need to be mailed even if the date isn’t firmed up. The BHPC
members who volunteered to write pieces on each winner should get started immediately after
the letters are mailed.
Preservation Partner Reports
Downtown Brookings Inc.: Upcoming events – Tour de Gardens, Taste of Brookings, Street
Dances.
Preserve Brookings – Gritzner’s schedule has changed and may now be available to attend
Board meetings as the BHPC representative.
State & National Register of Historic Preservation Properties & Districts:
District Notification Process. At the request of property owners, the City Clerk’s staff is
sending meeting notifications to representatives in the University and Central Residential
Historic Districts regarding any meeting that may affect a property within a district. The new
website will have a “notify me” feature that will allow anyone to sign up for meeting
notifications.
Brookings Commercial Historic District
Plaques – Staff is meeting with an individual who may be interested in coordinating the
project.
Central Residential Historic District
Contributing status re-evaluation of post-modern structures in existing districts –
Thornes met with SHPO representatives on July 6th to discuss how to proceed with the
project now that the original initiating applicant is no longer eligible. They agreed that
the BHPC should continue with the project by sending a formal mailing to owners of
eligible properties.
Pending Review – The conditional use request for 624 3rd Street was removed from the
July Planning Commission agenda due to a procedural/notification error. The item has
been rescheduled for the August meeting.
Courthouse Remodel – Thornes noted that a review is pending for an interior remodel
project at the Brookings Courthouse. It will be the county’s responsibility to provide
notice to SHPO.
Other:
Announcements/Correspondence/Communications/Calendar
June 11-18 Basic PLT at Woodlawn in Alexandria, VA
July 6th SHPO Site Visit
September XX Mayor’s Award Reception
Sept. 15th 10/11 Grant Deadline
Meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.
Submitted by Shari Thornes