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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.hpc.20240124 REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION JANUARY 24TH, 2024 Chairperson Thompson opened the regular meeting of the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission at 4:30pm. Commissioners in attendance: Roger Moyer, Peter Fornell, Jodi Surfas, Kim Raymond, Barb Pitchford, Jeffery Halferty, and Kara Thompson. Absent was Riley Warwick. Staff present: Kirsten Armstrong, Principal Planner Historic Preservation Stuart Hayden, Planner - Historic Preservation Kate Johnson, Assistant City Attorney Mike Sear, Deputy City Clerk MINUTES: Ms. Pitchford motioned to approve the draft minutes from 1/10/24. Mr. Moyer seconded. Roll call vote: Mr. Moyer, yes; Ms. Sulfas, yes; Ms. Pitchford, yes; Ms. Raymond, yes; Mr. Halferty, yes; Ms. Thompson, yes. 6-0, motion passes. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS: None DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: None PROJECT MONITORING: Ms. Armstrong noted that no project monitoring had occurred since the last meeting. STAFF COMMENTS: None CERTIFICATE OF NO NEGATIVE EFFECT: Ms. Armstrong mentioned two certificates that had been issued. One at 516 East Hyman Ave. and one at 500 West Francis St. She then described the details of each. CALL UP REPORTS: None. Mr. Fornell asked if Ms. Mullins had received approval for her requested TDRs. Mr. Hayden said yes. Ms. Armstrong said the TDR approvals have been fairly streamlined recently and Council has been excited to award them. NEW BUSINESS: Discussion of Letter Regarding the Re-Naming of the Benedict Music Tent – NOT A PUBLIC HEARING Ms. Thompson introduced the item and noted that while this is not a public hearing, if the board wanted to ask questions of Ms. Laura Smith from AMFS, she could come up and answer. Mr. Moyer noted that he had sent the board members a few items going over some history of the tent and Mr. Benedict’s involvement in the town. He said that he had spent a lot of time with Fritz and that Fritz was a marvelous dreamer. He then shared several pictures from a trip he had gone on with Fritz to the Haute route in the Alps. He described the pictures and shared stories of the different members on the trip. He noted that he had recently asked about 100 people what they thought about the naming of the tent. He said all but two people thought it was an absurd thing to do. He said the two not apposed, were both financial gentlemen from the world from which the donor comes from. He said that Fritz was a modest, pragmatic, and process-oriented person and that he would have said “take the money”. Mr. REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION JANUARY 24TH, 2024 Moyer said that this was not about Fritz. It was about the history of Aspen. He went on to talk about the “Waterfall House” which was designed by Fritz. Ms. Raymond said that what struck her from the information shared, was that Fritz was never given a lot of kudos and that he had no interest in the tent being named after him. It seemed like it was named after him after he had donated the land for a few huts and reformed the Music School Board. She thought the fact that he basically saved the Music School was an important part of Aspen’s history that needed to be saved and taken into consideration. She said she would rather not see the tent be renamed. Ms. Thompson reminder the board that they did not have any say in the renaming. They only had the opportunity to convey their opinions. Ms. Johnson provided some context of the HPC’s role as a board regarding this topic. She went over the board’s role as spelled out in the Land Use Code. She felt that this is a site or area that certainly represents some of Aspen’s cultural, educational, and architectural history. She thought if the board wanted to express an opinion, it would make sense and work if they tie it to the board’s main roles from the Land Use Code. Ms. Thompson said that the draft letter was a good start but would like it to tie back to their purpose as a board. She would also like to see the language be softened a bit. She would be in support of sending a letter but would like to make some modifications to Mr. Moyer’s draft. Ms. Pitchford liked the idea of providing the context in the introduction of the letter. She felt that the notion of remembering a community’s roots and the people who contributed to it was important and that the tent was definitely part of the town’s history, and that Fritz contributed a lot to town. She felt it was incumbent on the board to share their perspective on the importance of recognizing that site as part of the town’s history. Mr. Moyer believed that the context that Ms. Johnson had described would be a better introduction to the letter. Mr. Fornell wanted to confirm that the music tent was not on the list of designated historic sites. Ms. Thompson said she believed it was on a list of properties they would like to be designated but was not currently. Mr. Fornell then asked Ms. Smith if the Music Festival went out in search of money and offered the naming rights in exchange for the donation or did the individual only make the donation under the condition that his name was put on the tent. Ms. Smith said that the Music Festival has been soliciting a donor with naming rights for the tent since approximately 1995. Mr. Fornell wanted to confirm that the notion wasn’t born from the donor but was born from the Music Festival in their efforts to find a donor. He said that that makes a difference to him. Mr. Halferty asked if this was from the Music Festival and not the Aspen Institute which Ms. Smith said yes. Ms. Smith said that she came to help create some understanding and not to create a battle. She felt that they all share values and that they may have competing top priorities. She said that no one here doesn’t love and honor Fritz. She then noted that the current name came onto the tent only 23 years ago, after Fritz had passed and that it was named because there wasn’t a naming donor at the time. The naming REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION JANUARY 24TH, 2024 option has been open ever since and has been printed in the Festival’s materials and that Mr. Klein was the first to step up. She acknowledged how this is challenging for this commission and the town but noted that naming rights are how many non-profits raise money and survive. Every non-profit of a certain size in the country does it. She also noted that the roof replacement, set for this coming fall would be $2 million and that amount is hard to raise at $40 ticket prices. She understood how that can come into conflict with the conversation that the board is having. She stressed that they would continue to honor the Benedict’s and the many others who have stepped up over the years to help the Festival. She noted that the name on the tent is a 25-year gift and in 25 years the naming rights will be open again for another donor. Ms. Thompson said that the board just wanted to convey their perspective and she thought that at a certain point in time the tent and property should be memorialized in a more official way, because they are so important to the history of Aspen. Ms. Smith mentioned that they are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Music School and Festival this coming summer and invited the HPC members to attend the anniversary party on the opening Sunday of the Festival. Ms. Raymond thanked Ms. Smith for her perspective and appreciated the idea of trying to figure out a way to honor all the people who have contributed to the Festival over the years. She wanted to clarify that the naming of the tent is already a done deal. Ms. Smith confirmed that it is done. With that answer, Ms. Raymond acknowledged that this potential letter would only present a stance from the HPC members. Ms. Pitchford understood non-profits and that naming rights are a source of revenue. She did feel though, that in this small town with these very important sites with so much history, we need to figure out a way to memorialize them without putting a name on them. She felt they needed to continue to raise their voices to not just preserve buildings but also what those buildings represent. Ms. Surfas said that the gentleman that made the donation seemed to be involved with the Festival. Ms. Smith said that he has been attending the Festival for 40 years and on the board for 12 years. Ms. Surfas said she was surprised that with that amount of involvement that he needed the naming rights. Mr. Fornell and Ms. Thompson noted that it was offered to him. Mr. Halferty noted that the HPC just approved the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies. He said he was just playing devil’s advocate, but while he was still a huge fan of the Benedict family, he asked how this was different. He mentioned it because he wanted to make sure he was being consistent. Mr. Fornell said that the difference for him was that the naming rights were offered to donor. He thought that if the donor had come in with an ego and said he would donate $17 million, but only if they put his name on it, then Mr. Fornell would be dead set against this. Since the Music School had put this offer out to the public, and was successful in getting a donor, he felt it was different. He also had taken into consideration the fact that the Music Festival is still planning on naming one of the entrances after Fritz. He recognized and appreciated Mr. Moyer’s knowledge and valued his perspective on all of this. but said he didn’t know if he would be able to add his name to a letter that puts the Music Festival in a negative light. Ms. Raymond thought that this conversation should have happened a long time ago, before the naming rights were offered to the public. She agreed with the consistency idea that Mr. Halferty pointed out. She acknowledged the fact that many people have contributed to the tent and Music School and that REGULAR MEETING HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION JANUARY 24TH, 2024 the naming rights are going to come up again in 20 years or so. She suggested creating a wall of sorts to be able to include everyone’s name on. Mr. Moyer said that he had had the same idea of a recognition wall. He said that he had asked one of the Music Festival board members about the decision and they told him that it was made before informing the board. He asked if that was true. Ms. Smith said that standard practice is that gifts are accepted by the executive committee. Mr. Moyer felt that the executive committee should have come to the community ahead of making the decision. He questioned the make up of the executive committee and their connection to the history of Aspen. Ms. Smith said that that seemed like some kind of implication of impropriety that she felt was not fair. Ms. Thompson said she could support some type of letter that explained the context that Ms. Johnson outlined and encouraged the Music tent to further represent all the people who have been important to the Festival and tent. Mr. Moyer still felt they needed to say that they are disappointed in the decision and that it was ignoring Fritz’s contribution. Ms. Thompson asked to be able to take a stab at creating a more encouraging letter, asking the Music Festival to find some ways to represent their history in a way that the HPC could support. Mr. Fornell suggested that the letter note that the decision lacked input for the community. Ms. Pitchford noted that they don’t want to create contentious relationships and hope they could frame the letter so that in the future a more collaborative approach could be taken that brings the community in. Mr. Fornell asked Ms. Smith if the Music Festival was planning any type of announcement to let the community know that the donation was not made out of personal ego, but rather it was an offer made by the Music Festival. He asked because he said it changed his whole notion and perspective of the donor. Ms. Smith noted that it is damaging for any non-profit to have an entity write a letter to the newspaper saying a decision of theirs was bad and they should be unpopular in the community. She again noted that they were just raising money as a lot of non-profits do with an offer that has been out there and known about for more that 20 years. Ms. Johnson remined the HPC members that if they had strong thoughts or feelings on this, they could always write a letter to the papers as individuals, but this discussion was about if the board as a whole wants to send a letter. She noted that this discussion should also figure out who the letter would go to. Mr. Moyer said his intention was to send it to the Music Festival, but also put it in the newspaper. ADJOURN: Ms. Thompson motioned to adjourn the regular meeting. Mr. Moyer seconded. All in favor; motion passes. ____________________ Mike Sear, Deputy City Clerk