Chambana Sun

City of Urbana Historic Preservation Commission met March 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:

Members Present: Scott Dossett, Matt Metcalf, Alice Novak, David Seyler, Kim Smith

Members Excused: Gina Pagliuso, Trent Shepard

Staff Present: Lorrie Pearson, Planning Manager; Kevin Garcia, Planner II

Others Present: None

1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Declaration of Quorum

Chair Alice Novak called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was declared present.

2. Changes to the Agenda

There were none.

3. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the August 3, 2016 Historic Preservation Commission regular meeting were presented for approval.

Ms. Smith moved that the Historic Preservation Commission approve the minutes as written. Mr. Seyler seconded the motion. Mr. Metcalf proposed the following changes:

1. Page 5, Paragraph 1 – “This house falls into the Eclectic Period and is modelled after a pure copy of the European inspired type of housing.”

2. Page 6, Paragraph 2 – “Although he agreed that William Trelease was significant, he did not feel it was enough to landmark a building in this case based on this nomination.

Ms. Smith and Mr. Seyler agree to a friendly amendment to the motion to incorporate these two changes. The minutes were then approved as corrected by unanimous voice vote.

4. Written Communications

There were none.

5. Audience Participation

There was none.

6. Continued Public Hearings

There were none.

7. Old Business

There was none.

8. New Public Hearings

There were none.

9. New Business

There was none.

10. Monitoring of Historic Properties

Kevin Garcia, Planner II, mentioned that City staff received a Certificate of Appropriateness for the Hieronymous House located at 702 West Pennsylvania Avenue to allow the replacement of a pulley system in a window on the back side of the house. It was reviewed administratively and approved.

11. Staff Report

There was none.

12. Study Session

Brainstorming for Preservation Month Activities

Mr. Dossett stated that the Historic Lincoln Hotel had been a topic of debate in the mayoral primary. Statements had been made that the City would allow someone to spend $25 million in renovations to the hotel and other statements were made with regards to tearing it down and redeveloping the property. He suggested having an open house at the Historic Lincoln Hotel to invite the public and get them aware of the building. Lorrie Pearson, Planning Manager, commented that she would inquire about this.

Mr. Dossett felt the building is an important piece of history for Downtown Urbana. Chair Novak pointed out that both the hotel and the mall are on the National Register of Historic Places, and the hotel is a local landmark as well, so there was some protection in place.

Chair Novak reviewed the activities that were held in 2016. She asked for ideas for activities for 2017.

Ms. Smith replied that she enjoyed the lecture series on the architectural styles. She received lots of positive feedback. She said that she really liked the tours as well.

Mr. Metcalf mentioned possibly providing outreach to the schools to help educate teachers and students about historic preservation in the community. Chair Novak recalled that the National Park Service had done some lesson plans and that Landmarks Illinois did a school project on “How to Use Old Buildings”. These might be good places to start finding information for an outreach of this nature. Mr. Dossett commented that before researching materials to use, they should check with the School District to see if the teachers would be allowed to add this to their curriculum. The State of Illinois has standards on what can be taught and how it can be taught to students. Chair Novak said that with the curriculum and State standards, the timing may not be right to reach out through the school district; however, they may be able to put together a kid-oriented tour for this year and plan ahead for Mr. Metcalf’s idea for 2018. Ms. Smith proposed holding an outreach event at the Library for kids.

Mr. Metcalf also suggested having a nomination writing workshop. The nomination process can be intimidating so he thought they could hold a workshop to make people aware of the different resources and of the history of the town and the neighborhoods. He also thought it would be helpful to record some of the lectures they hold and post them as a resource for people in the future. Chair Novak thought this was a good idea. She stated that Anke Voss of the Urbana Free Library had mentioned having a session in the Archives Department at the Library. People would need to register, and they would have to restrict the workshop to a limited number of people. She mentioned that she would discuss this idea with Ms. Voss.

Lastly, Mr. Metcalf proposed celebrating a theme, such as “Colonial Revival” or “Eclectic Period Architecture”. Many times during a landmark nomination, people were opposed because the buildings did not fit a specific theme exactly. Celebrating different architectural themes could educate people on what that meant for architecture during specific periods in time. For example, architecture during the Eclectic Period meant not being exactly like a specific style.

Chair Novak suggested having people meet up at the Market at the Square again because it worked out so well last year. She expressed concern about showing the same properties as the tours last year. Mr. Garcia commented that with having a specific theme, he felt that there were enough buildings to show different properties this year. They could begin “Eclectic Period Architecture” tours at 10:00 a.m. so it would allow people to get back to the Farmer’s Market to shop before it closes at 12:00 p.m. (noon). Mr. Metcalf said he would start compiling a list of 10-12 homes from the 100 Most Important Buildings. Property owners could also request to have their homes added to the tour if they felt it was special. He also agreed to lead a tour.

Ms. Pearson stated that it was helpful last year to have a consolidated calendar of events for Historic Preservation Month activities. She suggested as the Historic Preservation Commission members get details of this year’s activities pinned down to let City staff know so we can put together a calendar for this year’s activities.

Chair Novak suggested that the Commission members look at the month of May on a calendar and figure out when they would be available to help. Mr. Metcalf would be available after May 8th when the University of Illinois’ school year was completed. Mr. Garcia felt that it would be best for the Commission members to communicate their availability and the details of the activities and possibly to have the Commission meet in April to confirm the plans if needed.

Chair Novak inquired about getting a proclamation for this year. Mr. Garcia said he would look into getting this through the Mayor’s office.

13. Announcements

There were none.

14. Adjournment

Mr. Seyler moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Metcalf seconded the motion. With all Commission members in favor, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

http://www.urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/03-01-2017_1.pdf