B.4.h - 13300 Dessau Rd - citizen comment — original pdf

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Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Subject: Mary Jackson Friday, July 23, 2021 3:55 PM PAZ Preservation Certificate of Appropriateness: Historic Case Number: C14H-2000-0005, Review Case Number: HR 21-103182 – 13300 DESSAU RD Bldg A *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Dear Historic Landmark Commission,     I currently serve as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Dessau Lutheran Cemetery Association (DLCA). I have held this position since October 2014. Previously I served as Vice-President from October 2008 until October 2014. I have been actively involved with the Dessau Lutheran Church and Cemetery for over 30 years. My mother, Margaret (Nauert) Dickens was the daughter of Selma (Wieland) Nauert and William Nauert. Selma was the daughter of Martin and Carolina (Bastian) Wieland and William was the son of Carl and Caroline (Brachwitz) Nauert, all immigrants from Dessau, Germany to Dessau, Texas in the 1850’s. They were all members of Dessau Lutheran Church, with many being married in the church. They are all buried in Dessau Lutheran Cemetery except my Mom, and as you can see, the lineage runs very deep within my blood and also with my siblings, children, and grandchildren. We are one of the most active families with the church and cemetery. We have spent countless hours working on the church, maintaining the cemetery grounds and fellowship with the members. This has been instilled in me directly with my parents and grandparents. My mom, Margaret Dickens, played a vital role in the history of the church and she saved and maintained many of the historical documents that are so valuable to the history of the church. If needed, these documents are available at your request. She truly LOVED this church and it was a deep loss when she passed away September 21, 2016.     As a child, I attended services at Dessau Lutheran Church with my grandparents, Selma and William Nauert. It was a magical place and the people were so respectful of the history of their community. I remember the pot belly stove in the middle of the church and the open windows when it was summer. And the well that was to the north of the building. It was just something else to be inside of the building, along with my Grandma and Grandpa.     As the years have gone by, the church has lost many of the older generation, including my Mom, my Grandparents, and both sets of my Great-Grandparents that helped settle Dessau, Texas from their homeland of Dessau, Germany. Many traveled here by ship, which could take up to 11-13 weeks for the journey. It is just amazing that the majority survived in that day and time. That courage lives on with their descendants who are wanting to carry on this history to so many others.     The DLCA has been facing the challenge of maintaining the church building which is only used for an annual membership meeting once a year for 2-3 hours. We were in the process of trying to determine what we should do when we were approached by Pioneer Farms to relocate the church to their property. This was truly felt by all of the board members as God’s answer to our prayers. We put it to a vote to the membership on May 4, 2019 and the majority voted for the move. This day also 1 just happened to be my Mom’s birthday (she would have been 95). So, it was truly a beautiful day for many of us.     Moving the church to Pioneer Farms would be such an honor to everyone that has been involved with the church and the Dessau community from its beginning. It would be with other buildings from this same area, and for the deep history to truly be shared among the 50,000 or more that visit the Pioneer Farms on a yearly basis. Restoring and preserving the church and its history along with providing a much safer environment for it is critical. My ancestors are not physically here to have a say, but I know in my heart that this is what they would want, such a wonderful honor! Currently there are multiple apartment complexes being built in the adjacent area which poses an unsafe situation for the church and the development goes on, which will eventually landlock the church. The sooner this can be done, the better for the church.     Please approve the relocation request and recommendation for this very important preservation project. Thank you for enabling the church and its history to be saved for the future generations to come. If we don’t preserve and teach the history, it will be lost forever. We all have to do our part to teach the past for the future.     Sincerely,     Mary L. (Dickens) Jackson   11408 Chancellroy Drive   Austin, Texas 78759     CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links  or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to  cybersecurity@austintexas.gov.   2