D.4.0 - 800 W. 12th Street — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS AUGUST 23, 2021 PR-2021-104341 800 W. 12TH STREET D.4 – 1 PROPOSAL Demolish a 1940 building. ARCHITECTURE Mid-century Modern Humble Oil & Refining Company service station. The flat-roofed building’s form consists of a central volume flanked by two angled wings. Horizontal banding extends along the top of the walls. The canopy over the gas pumps has been removed, leaving a gap in the banding and an angled brace supporting the remaining roof overhang at the central portion of the building. The walls are roughly textured stucco. The central door is flanked by partial height storefront windows, which are boarded over. On the front of each wing, three narrow windows are high on the walls. The end walls of the wings are infilled overhead door openings, with diagonal wood siding and stone added around the east opening. The back of the building is a solid wall without fenestration. RESEARCH This Humble Oil & Refining Company service station was constructed in 1940, simultaneous with the construction of Lamar Blvd. to the west and redevelopment of this portion of W. 12th St. from residences to neighborhood-scale commercial buildings. The Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) A Field Guide to Gas Stations in Texas, 2016 update, shows a smaller footprint as representative of Humble service stations built from 1940–1950. The typical design, with or without a canopy over the gas pumps, lacks the angled service bay wings of this building. Stucco or porcelain enamel metal panels as cladding and a red and blue band just below the roofline are common characteristics. PROPERTY EVALUATION The Historic Resources Survey for Old Austin Neighborhood Association (HHM, Inc., 2020) lists the property as contributing to a potential West Downtown Historic District, recommended as eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and as a local historic district. This building is noted as lacking integrity for local landmark designation. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building retains a moderate degree of integrity. Alternations outside of the period of significance include removal of the canopy and infill of the overhead service doors. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (Land Development Code §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it does not meet two criteria: a. Architecture. The building is a midcentury gas station more elaborate design than typical Humble Oil & Refining Company stations of this era. However, due to alterations accompanying a conversion to office use in 1977 and other subsequent changes, the building lacks sufficient integrity to meet the criterion for architectural significance. b. Historical association. Apart from the building’s operation as a gas station in central Austin during the historic period, there are no known historic associations that would meet this criterion. The HHM survey identified another, more intact service station at 1308 Lavaca St. as significant in the areas of community planning and development and transportation, representing broad patterns of history, but the Historic Landmark Commission recently declined to initiate historic zoning on those grounds. c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The property 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. Preservation Texas named historic gas stations statewide to their 2017 Texas’ Most Endangered Places list. Austin currently has no gas or service stations designated as historic landmarks. However, due to modifications and a lack of significant historical associations, this building does not meet the criteria for landmark designation. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Release the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package, consisting of 8.5 x 11” photographs of all elevations printed on photographic paper, a dimensioned sketch plan, and a narrative history for archiving at the Austin History Center. D.4 – 2 LOCATION MAP D.4 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos D.4 – 4 HHM, Inc., Historic Resources Survey for Old Austin Neighborhood Association, 2019 D.4 – 5 Historic Preservation Office Staff, August 10, 2021 D.4 – 6 Occupancy History City Directory Research, Austin History Center By City Historic Preservation Office July 2021 Humble Products Service Station No. 294 Humble Oil & Refining Company Service Station No. 294 Humble Oil & Refining Company Station No. 294 Humble Oil & Refining Company Filling Station No. 294 Humble Oil & Refining Company Filling Station Humble Oil & Refining Company Filling Station Humble Oil & Refining Company Filling Station Marvin Miers Humble Service Station Marvin and Dorothy L. Miers, 1416 Newfield Lane 1959 1957 1955 1952 1949 1947 1944 1942 1941 Address not listed Historical Information Excerpts from “City Plans Start on Lamar Way,” The Austin Statesman, Dec. 19, 1940 D.4 – 7 Austin City Directory, 1942 Listing of Humble service stations, Austin City Directory, 1957 Permits D.4 – 8 Building permit, 1940 Remodel permit, 1977 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps D.4 – 9 The 1935 Sanborn map shows houses on the site of the current building. The filling station appears on the 1961 Sanborn map.