D.8 - 311 W. 6th Street — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION APRIL 27, 2020 DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS HDP-2020-0153 311 W. 6TH STREET D.8 - 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a ca. 1927 commercial building. ARCHITECTURE One-story, rectangular-plan, flat-roofed brick commercial building with a decorative stepped parapet and raised brick belt courses in the front wall and corner posts; modern, replacement metal and plate-glass storefront. The original ca. 1927 building has a ca. 1991 addition to the right, which resembles the original building in materials, scale, and ornamentation, but is set back from the façade of the original building. RESEARCH The building appears to date from ca. 1927, and was first the home of a Maytag appliance store, which was in business here until around 1931. Interestingly, prior to the construction of this building, the Salvation Army Hall was on this site, reflecting that this section of downtown still had its rough edges as a part of the city’s old red-light district, with saloons, gambling halls, and warehouses dominating the neighborhood to the south. Italian immigrants Onorato del Curto and Pasquale Caruso opened the Standard Market delicatessen here in 1931; Caruso and his family lived in the house just south of the building for many years. Caruso became the sole proprietor of the business around 1933 and changed the name to Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen, and was one of a very small number of Austin restaurants serving Italian food at the time. Caruso dropped the delicatessen aspect of the business in the mid-1950s; Caruso’s Café was in business here until he passed away in 1966. The building has had several subsequent restaurants since Caruso’s closed, and remains a restaurant space today. There is a ca. 1991 addition to the west of the original building. STAFF COMMENTS The building was listed as a Priority 2 for research in the Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey (1984). Staff has evaluated this building for designation as a historic landmark and has determined that the building does not meet the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in City Code: a. Architecture. The building is a one-story brick commercial building with some ornamental brickwork in the raised bricks forming patterns in the storefront and the stepped parapet wall; however, the storefront has been modified with the installation of a modern metal-framed window and door system. The building reflects a common type and does not appear to have the architectural distinction to qualify as a historic landmark. b. Historical association. For over 30 years, the building was identified as the home of Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen, a business started by an Italian immigrant to Austin. For years, this was one of a handful of Italian restaurants in the city, but there do not appear to be significant historical associations. c. Archaeology. The building was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region.  d. Community value. The building does not possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. D.8 - 2 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Encourage rehabilitation and adaptive re-use, but release the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package, consisting of photographs of all elevations, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history, for archiving at the Austin History Center. The building does not meet the criteria for individual designation as a historic landmark.  LOCATION MAP D.8 - 3  311 W. 6th Street ca. 1927 with a ca. 1991 addition D.8 - 4  OCCUPANCY HISTORY 311 W. 6th Street D.8 - 5 Sfuzzi Restaurant No proprietor is listed in the directory. Beans Restaurant James Dawson, proprietor City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office November, 2008 1992 1987` 1981 1977 1973 1967 1963 Beans Restaurant James Dawson, proprietor Caruso’s Café John J. Lucius, proprietor Sascha’s Restaurant Adolph Klundt, proprietor Sasha’s Restaurant Mike Hutchison and Adolf Klundt, proprietors Caruso’s Café Pasquale Caruso, proprietor Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen Pasquale “Pete: Caruso, proprietor Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen Pasquale Caruso, proprietor Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen Real Italian spaghetti and ravioli, steaks Pasquale Caruso, proprietor Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen Real Italian spaghetti and ravioli, steaks Pasquale Caruso, proprietor 1957 1953 1949 1947 1944-45 1941 A: B: Roma Package Store Liquors Theodore H. Neal, proprietor Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen Pasquale Caruso, proprietor NOTE: Pasquale and Arcelia Caruso are listed as living at 1412 W. 6th Street. Caruso’s Café Pasquale Caruso, proprietor Also listed as living on this site is H.E. Lucius, the cashier at Caruso’s Café.  1937 1935 1932-33 1930-31 1929 1927 Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen Pasquale Caruso, proprietor NOTE: Pasquale and Cecilia Caruso lived in a house in the back of the restaurant. NOTE: The address is listed as 307 W. 6th Street. D.8 - 6 Standard Market Delicatessen Paquale Caruso, proprietor NOTE: Pasquale and Cecilia Caruso lived behind the market. NOTE: The address is listed as 307 W. 6th Street. Standard Market Delicatessen Onorato del Curto and Pasquale Caruso, proprietors NOTE: Pasquale and Cecilia Caruso lived behind the market. NOTE: The address is listed as 307 W. 6th Street. Maytag Shop Washing machines A. Bland Broughton, manager NOTE: The address is listed as 307 W. 6th Street. The Maytag Shop Washing machines W. Douglass Stephenson, manager Delco-Light Products Hubert O. Roberts, Jr., manager Rear: Constantino and Trinity Villasana, renters NOTE: The address is listed as 307 W. 6th Street. Waiter, Looke’s Café, 815 Congress Avenue Salvation Army Hall Captain Hubert Uptegrove, officer in charge NOTE: There was also the Salvation Army Hotel here. NOTE: The address is listed as 307 W. 6th Street. NOTE: The current building was constructed in 1927 after the tenancy of the Salvation Army at this site. The directory listing is residential. 1924 NOTE: The building was extensively remodeled in 1991, when the addition to the west was constructed. D.8 - 7 Obituary of Pasquale (“Pete”) Caruso, who had a delicatessen and café in this building from the early 1930s to the late 1960s. Austin American, February 6, 1966 Notice of the requiem mass for Pasquale (“Pete”) Caruso Austin American, February 7, 1966 D.8 - 8 Water service permit to the Maytag Shop, the first tenant of the building (1927) The 1900 Sanborn map shows residential buildings along the south side of the 300 block of W. 6th Street. The location of the current building is on the left (west) side of the lot having a storage building.  D.8 - 9 The 1935 Sanborn map shows the existing building with an address of 307 W. 6th Street. The two-story dwelling to the rear was likely the home of Pasquale and Cecilia Caruso, who operated the Standard Market, a delicatessen, and later Caruso’s Café and Delicatessen here from the early 1930s through the late 1960s. The map shows that the building had a structural canopy or awning across the front. The 1961 Sanborn map shows the current building in the middle of the block just to the right of the large parking lot with the address of 311 W. 6th Street – it is noted as a restaurant. The two- story house to the rear of the building had been demolished by this time, although the city directory for 1963 lists H.E. Lucius, who worked as a cashier at Caruso’s, living on the premises. The structural awning or canopy across the front shown on the 1935 map above is still visible here. The one-story section to the west of the main portion of the building is believed to have been a ca. 1991 addition to the building. The addition does not appear on the 1961 Sanborn map.