B.2 - C14H-2013-0003 - Seaholm Intake Building — original pdf

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B.2 - 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION JUNE 22, 2020 APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS C14H-2013-0003 801 W. CESAR CHAVEZ STREET SEAHOLM INTAKE BUILDING PROPOSAL Rehabilitate the building, including cleaning and restoration work; replace the main entrance; add a new entrance. ARCHITECTURE One-story rectangular-plan industrial building clad in concrete and capped by a gable roof with a parapet. The building features a roll-up metal door and multi-lite steel-sash windows covered by boards. The building is two stories high facing Lady Bird Lake; this elevation includes water intake gates. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS Proposed work to the building includes: 1) Replace metal roll-up door at primary entrance with new ADA-compliant entrance. The entrance will feature paired fully-glazed aluminum doors with multi-light steel- sash sidelights and a shallow profile. 2) Remove service entrance and low concrete wall adjacent to primary entrance; infill door opening with metal panel. 3) Add doorway on primary (north) wall. The entrance will feature paired metal doors and be accessed by concrete steps with a simple steel pipe railing. 4) Seal water intake gates on south wall from inside. The existing steel sluice gate stems will remain. 5) Remove existing parapet-mounted security lights and add simple modern sconces adjacent to the entrances on the primary wall. 6) Install rooftop ventilation units set back approximately 15’ from the north edge of the roof. The units will not be visible from the water (south side) and minimally visible (low and screened by foliage) from the north side. 7) Reconstruct roof. This change will not be visible due to the parapet. 8) Clean building and remove graffiti. 9) Restore historic windows, parapet copings, and steel railings. The copings will be removed, cleaned, and reinstalled. Historic windows will be re-glazed with new single-pane glass (the existing glazing compound and existing glass both contain asbestos). Proposed site work includes: 10) Install new signage. The sign is a standard Parks and Recreation Department design and will be replaced in a future phase of work. 11) Construct concrete porch in front of new primary entrance. 12) Construct new compacted gravel yard east of new primary entrance. 13) Add ADA-compliant parking stall; construct sidewalks between stall and building. 14) Remove existing sidewalk in front of building. 15) Replace gate between Intake Building (Building 1) and the smaller Building 2 to the east.  B.2 - 2 16) Install a new metal security fence. The fence will be made of zinc-coated steel and painted black, to minimize its visual presence. STANDARDS FOR REVIEW The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation are used to evaluate projects to historic landmarks. The following standards apply to the proposed project: 1) A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment. The use of the property is changing from industrial to public. The new use preserves the character-defining features of the building, including the simple building form, cladding and window sash materials, window and door openings, and sluice gate mechanisms. The project meets this standard. 2) The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided. The project retains historic materials, features, and spatial relationships between the Intake Building and Building 2. The existing metal roll-up door mimics the original roll-up door from 1949 (the building was expanded in 1954), but the new primary entrance is simple, meets accessibility needs, and fits in the existing door opening. The proposed new entrance on the west side of the primary (north) wall is also simple and unobtrusive; site constraints mean that it cannot be located on a secondary wall. The project meets this standard. 3) Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken. The most visible changes are the new doors in the primary entrance and the added entrance to the west. The new doors are clearly modern and will not create a false sense of history. From the project architect: Regarding the configuration and differentiation of the new entrance and exit, I think it will be easy to see that they are new and not original. The big difference is that the windows are raw aluminum with a silver color. The profile visible on the outside is very thin. Like a half inch. The new hollow metal frames are 2 inches primarily with one inch mullions at non primary positions. They are currently organized in a way that is similar to the windows but doesn’t copy them exactly. It feels like a good fit and we can paint them in a way to further differentiate them. Black would be an option. The project meets this standard. 4) Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved. Not applicable. 5) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved. The property’s distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques will be preserved. Window glazing will be replicated in the historic window sashes. The project meets this standard.  B.2 - 3 6) Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence. The existing window glazing and glazing compound contain asbestos and will be replaced in-kind. The project meets this standard. 7) Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Cleaning will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. The Parks and Recreation Department is proposing to test a dry media blasting method with walnut shells on an inconspicuous area, and will research and test other methods if this does not meet building preservation and environmental standards. See also the test cleaning report from the Seaholm Power Plant. The project meets this standard. 9) New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment. The new door at the primary entrance will be differentiated from the historic construction through modern fully-glazed doors and slightly differentiated sidelights and transom lites. The added entrance will be differentiated through modern metal doors and a simple railing. The project meets this standard. 10) New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired. Most of the new proposed construction could be removed without impairing the historic building’s form and integrity. Removal of the new west entrance would require infilling the wall at the new door opening; this would not be a high-impact change. The project largely meets this standard. The proposed project meets the standards. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Not reviewed. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the plans.