C.4.0 - 1510 W 24th St — original pdf

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C.4 - 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION PERMITS IN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICTS MARCH 22, 2021 GF-2021-014474 1510 WEST 24TH STREET OLD WEST AUSTIN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT PROPOSAL Demolish a contributing outbuilding and construct an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS 1) Demolish a ca. 1953 carport with attached storage shed. 2) Rebuild existing retaining wall. 3) Construct a new ADU. The proposed ADU is two stories, with an open carport on the ground level and living space above, supported by exposed steel beams. It is clad in board-and-batten siding. The compound hipped, shed, and gabled roof is clad in standing-seam metal, and exposed rafter tails are visible at north, south, and east elevations. A metal guardrail surrounds the covered porch and elevated walkway. The east elevation includes a screened porch. RESEARCH The house at 1510 W. 24th Street was built in 1946 by Major General Arthur Balfour Knickerbocker, Texas State Adjutant, after his resignation as leader of the Texas National Guard. An Odessa native, Knickerbocker helped to organize the state guard there and served as commander until his 1942 appointment by Governor Coke Stevenson. After leaving the Guard in 1946, Knickerbocker and his family left their Camp Mabry living quarters and constructed this home in Pemberton Heights. The carport and attached storage shed were built in 1953 by subsequent owner-occupants Raleigh R. Ross, a physician, and his family. Dr. Ross served as chief of surgery at Brackenridge Hospital before climbing to chief of staff and, for a time, interim superintendent. During the 1950s and beyond, Ross chaired the State Board of Hospitals and Special Schools. Ross also served as president of the Travis County Medical Society and sat on the Board of Trustees for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children, among other hospital boards. In a 1980 American-Statesman article, Ross is credited with helping to modernize Austin’s medical system after World War II. Linda Steck Ross, daughter of reporter and banker Lena Riddle Steck and local printer E. L. Steck, was president of the Junior League and participated in numerous other charity societies. STANDARDS FOR REVIEW The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation are used to evaluate new construction projects in National Register historic districts. Applicable standards include: 2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided. A contributing outbuilding will be removed, and a noncontributing outbuilding constructed in its place. 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 proposed ADU is differentiated from the main house by its smaller size, sunken ground floor, vertical siding, and detached placement on the lot. Its massing, size, scale, and features are compatible with the primary contributing building. While the ADU will be visible at the main elevation, it appears to be partially obscured by the site’s topography. 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. If the ADU were removed in the future, the remainder of the property and the district would be unimpaired.  C.4 - 2 STAFF COMMENTS The property contributes to the Old West Austin National Register Historic District. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The outbuilding and primary building are over 50 years old. 2) The outbuilding appears to retain moderate integrity. 3) Properties must meet two historic designation criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that the outbuilding does not meet the required criteria. a. Architecture. The carport does not demonstrate architectural significance. b. Historical association. The property is associated with Major General Arthur B. Knickerbocker, state adjutant of Texas, and Dr. Raleigh Ross, Brackenridge Hospital surgeon. The carport was built by Ross during his tenure at the home. c. Archaeology. The house was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The house 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. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Comment on and release the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package.  LOCATION MAP C.4 - 3  PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos C.4 - 4  C.4 - 5  C.4 - 6 Occupancy History Directory research unavailable for this property. Biographical Information Source: Applicant, 2021 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Dec 30, 1941  C.4 - 7 The Austin American (1914-1973); Dec 20, 1942 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Mar 3-4, 1943  C.4 - 8 The Austin American (1914-1973); May 21, 1944 and Feb 19-20, 1945  C.4 - 9 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Sep 14, 1945 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Oct 16, 1945 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Apr 24, 1946  C.4 - 10 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Nov 1, 1946 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Jan 7, 1948  C.4 - 11 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); May 18, 1950 and The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); May 10, 1950 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Oct 19, 1950  C.4 - 12 The Austin American (1914-1973); Jul 8, 1951 and The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Nov 1, 1951 The Austin American (1914-1973); Sep 16, 1951  C.4 - 13 The Austin American (1914-1973); Nov 14, 1954 The Austin American (1914-1973); Dec 5, 1954  C.4 - 14 The Austin American (1914-1973); Mar 20, 1955 and May 15, 1955 The Austin American (1914-1973); Nov 18, 1956 and The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Feb 14, 1957  C.4 - 15 The Austin American (1914-1973); Dec 15, 1957  C.4 - 16 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); May 22, 1957 and Jun 11, 1957  C.4 - 17 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Feb 28, 1958  C.4 - 18 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Feb 20, 1958 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Mar 11, 1958  C.4 - 19 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Feb 13, 1959 and Mar 4, 1959 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Dec 4, 1970  C.4 - 20 The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Jun 22, 1973  C.4 - 21 The Austin American Statesman (1973-1987); Oct 1, 1980 https://tmd.texas.gov/texas-state-guard-commanding-generals TEXAS STATE GUARD. William C. Wilkes and Mary M. Standifer. The Congress of the United States, on October 21, 1940, amended the National Defense Act to authorize local ad interim defense units during  C.4 - 22 the absence of the National Guard in federal service. By the end of 1940 173 companies, comprising approximately 500 officers and 6,000 enlisted men, had been unofficially organized in Texas. On February 10, 1941, the Forty-seventh Legislature authorized the Texas Defense Guard. The name was changed to Texas State Guard in May 1943. The state's emergency appropriation of $65,000 for the guard in 1941 was supplemented by city and county donations, as well as by individual and group contributions. The governor served as commander in chief, while the state adjutant general, appointed by the governor, acted as the administrative head. Fifty battalions were planned and activated to protect public utilities, transportation arteries, and war plants; to maintain law and order; to suppress subversive activities; and to repel invasion if necessary. Battalions consisted of four to six lettered companies with headquarters and service companies and a medical detachment. For the entire state there was a camouflage company and a training and research unit. Total authorized strength was 23,075 officers and men. No pay was provided except for active duty. By regulation, each unit was to be sponsored by a civic or patriotic club. Men aged eighteen to sixty were eligible to enlist in the guard for terms of three years. Later in the war the minimum age was dropped to sixteen years, with parental consent required for the enlistment of minors. Several women's auxiliaries were organized but not officially enrolled in state service. The Austin auxiliary, composed of employees of the Department of Public Safety, trained in first aid and the operation of motor vehicles, while the Fort Worth and Corpus Christi groups helped their local guard units with paper work.The guards drilled in schoolyards and on vacant lots with makeshift weapons until July 1941, when the War Department issued them some surplus rifles. The rifles were recalled in May 1942, and shotguns issued shortly afterward. In 1943 the shotguns were replaced with a full issue of Enfield Rifles, and the units were issued trucks, jeeps, half-tracks, and machine guns. The Eighth Service Command held training schools at Camp Bullis in September 1942, July 1943, and July 1944. In 1945 regional mobilization training schools were held. In 1946 regional rifle matches were held in Paris, Corpus Christi, Dallas, and Austin, and a statewide match was held in Austin. Units of the guard held training maneuvers at their own expense and performed several tours of active duty. Guard units were present during a riot at Beaumont, a storm at Houston, a tornado at Livingston, a train wreck in New Braunfels, and in several flood areas. They conducted searches for escaped prisoners of war, escorted a convoy of United States troops across the state to maneuver areas in Louisiana, and worked in the Texas City disaster in April 1947. During its first 6½ years of existence, a total of 94,640 individuals served in the guard. From August 1943 to May 1951 the Texas State Guard Association published The Guardsman, a monthly magazine containing information about state guard and national guard activities, as well as items of general military interest. With the return of the Texas National Guard from federal service, the TSG was disbanded by General Order 21 on August 28, 1947. The Texas State Guard Reserve Corps, established by legislation approved on May 22, 1947, was activated by order of the adjutant general on January 26, 1948, under the command of Lt. Gen. Claude V. Birkhead. The TSGRC originally had an authorized strength of 18,000 officers and enlisted men; this figure was reduced to 12,700 in December 1950. The TSGRC, headquartered in San Antonio, was organized similarly to a division, with a commanding general, a deputy commander, a chief of staff, and a general and special staffs. The organization was composed of three brigades, each brigade having four regiments. There were, in addition, a total of thirty-six Internal Security battalions, each battalion having four companies. An advisory board, to be composed of ten TSGRC officers appointed by the governor, was established to set policy together with the adjutant general and the commanding general of the Texas National Guard. In the 1950s the Signal Corps of the TSGRC embraced 500 radio stations statewide. These provided valuable communications assistance to civil authorities and the Red Cross in times of natural disaster. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-state-guard  Permits C.4 - 23 Building permit for primary building, 10-31-46 Water tap permit for primary building, 12-9-46  C.4 - 24 Sewer tap permits, 9-9-47 Addition and carport permit, 5-22-53 Repair permit, 7-6-77