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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.20100609ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 9, 2010 Chairperson, Michael Hoffinan called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Commissioners in attendance: Jason Lasser, Nora Berko, Jay Maytin and Sarah Broughton. Jamie McLeod, Ann Mullins and Brian McNellis were excused. Staff present: Jim True, Special Counsel Amy Guthrie, Preservation Officer Sara Adams, Historic Preservation Planner Kathy Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk Disclosure: Michael disclosed that he will be stepping down on 100 E. Francis as he works for the law firm that is involved in the transaction. 100 E. Francis Street, Given Institute Amy said council had an executive session to discuss the proposed demolition to the Given Institute. One of the discussions was the idea to have HPC direct staff to submit a nomination to the National Register of Historic places. Any individual or organization has the right to submit a nomination. We have the authority to do a nomination. Nominations occur three times a year and June is one of those times. This is a timely issue. We would like to discuss whether HPC would like us to prepare and submit this nomination. The reason we think nomination is worth pursuing is that it forces a higher level of documentation and analysis and merits of the property. A National Register nomination is a significant assembly of information and drawings and photographs. The process may protect the public interest by generating more discussion that determines what kind of value this property has to the community, state and the country. History summary: Amy: The Given Institute clearly illustrates the "aspen idea". Since 1964 the University Colorado School of medicine has provided programs in the community and first they were meeting at the Aspen middle school gym to bring together the leading experts in biology, sciences and medicine from around the country. There were a few locations on the east and west coast that this kind of activity was happening but Aspen was a centralized space for scientist that were trying to be at the cutting edge of their field. Getting together physically was extremely important and Aspen was a natural place to do that because we already had the Aspen Institute and the Physics 1 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 9, 2010 Institute. The academics coming here in the summertime and experiencing each other's knowledge and information and being part of the outdoors and the cultural things that were going on, it is a long standing tradition in our community. As an institution the Given is very much part of our Post War history. It is also the connection to the Paepcke family. Elizabeth Paepcke, as a widow felt strongly that this organization should have a place to land in this community that she donated or gifted at half its value two acres of her garden to the University of Colorado to site this building. The Paepcke's were patrons of everything related to modern architecture and art of the 20`n Century and as one of the required that Elizabeth Paepcke could pick the architect. She picked Harry Weese. He is a graduate of MIT and studied under Albert Alto and other great masters. He designed a number of network stations for the Washington DC metro system. He also designed The First Baptist church in Columbia Indiana which is a touch stone of Modern Architecture in the United States. It was designated a National Historic landmark when it was only 35 years old. Harry Weese's architectural career is quite noteworthy. Within our community the property is much integrated into the West End and is central to downtown. Nora asked what year it was gifted. Amy said it was gifted in 1970 and the building was built in 1972 and 1973. Jay asked if there were any other stipulations outside the gift. Jim True, Special Counsel said the deed was for half the price and the only condition for 21 years. Jay said essentially there are no restrictions at this time. Jason pointed that it is zoned R-6. Jay asked would the nomination create a higher level of discussion. Amy said yes. Nora said she spoke to Marsha and Shirley who are Harry's daughters. Shirley is involved in preservation in Chicago. 2 ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 9, 2010 Sarah said she had a great conversation with Harry Teague and he will be coming at our next meeting. He has a lot of images of the Given and was hired to do a kitchen addition to the Givens in order for them to do catered events. Harry Weese is one of the most significant architects in this town and in other places. It embodies the Aspen Idea which we have been losing. The IDCA is missed. The location of the Given is strategic to our town and a great stepping stone to our core. Having that intermediate spot ties together our community to the core and sciences. Coming up with an adaptive reuse is the biggest challenge. I whole heartedly support the nomination. Jason asked if the addition of the kitchen would affect the National Register and their opinion about the building. Amy said they would be looking at the building based on its current character. Sara explained on the National Register you would be able to have people access the property of the web site. Sarah said she has worked with the National Parks Service and she found the process not too constringent. We were able to do things on an historic site. They are aware of adaptive reuse. Jay asked if the National Parks Service accepts are nomination how long does the process take? Amy: It does take some time for the Colorado Historic Society who would receive the application to provide it to their directors who would forward it to the state register board and then the of the nomination itself is important. Nora asked what process should be. National Parks Service. The initiation Sara said HPC would adopt a resolution and it is passed onto the state and then to the federal level. Public Comment: Les Holst, resident of Aspen. Sometimes it is not obvious how important certain buildings are and how important our history is and an example is the ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 9, 2010 red brick. It only won by one vote and there was a huge community that wanted town houses. This is a slam dunk and you need to save it as soon as you can. Alan Richman said he is not a spokesmen for the Given. At some point representatives will be here. Sarah, said Harry Teague agreed to come to the next meeting and give a power point presentation. CU needs to be aware of this nomination. What is neat about the Given is CU's tie in on this side of the front range. This is the only property that I am aware o£ It would be a nice thing for CU to keep a foot in this neighborhood. Jim True: HPC can do a motion or resolution to move forward with the nomination. MOTION: Jason moved to direct staff to prepare an application for the National Register for the Given Institute; second by Nora. Jay said he supports the nomination and people are concerned that have the aspen idea and use the Given Institute. This is a building that we should have realized needed to be on the National Register several years ago. At some point we should identify other properties that we might want on the register and apply for them. Jason: Because this is zoned R-6 there is the possibility that we could lose one of our intellectual resources to residential development. I have a problem cashing in the aspen idea for an economic development gain. This is a loss forever. VOTE: Motion carried 4-0. Sarah asked how many properties do we have on the National Register. Amy said there are 25 properties. They are all Victorian except for the Boat Tow and Lift I. Jay said we need to be proactive about other properties in this town that we feel are important. We also need input from the public as to what is important to them. We also need to discuss other architects that we feel are important. ASPEN HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 9, 2010 Sarah said we get the list and then discuss other properties that need to be on it. We can look at the list at our next meeting and then decide what other properties need to be on it. We need to identify our gems. Amy informed the board that Bill Lipsy worked with Harry Weese on the Paepcke project. Jason suggested filming the meeting. Jim True announced to the public (Allen Richmond) that information will be presented at the next meeting on the Given Institute. It is not set as a public hearing but will be informational. Sarah suggested creating a collage of the Given institute when the public come and present photographs. MOTION: Sarah moved to adjourn; second by Jay. All in favor, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. ,, ,~ ~ / Kathleen J. Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk