D.5.0 - 6801 Burnet Rd - Updated Staff Report — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION DEMOLITION AND RELOCATION PERMITS FEBRUARY 28TH, 2022 PR-2022-005907; GF-2022-016715 6801 BURNET RD. D.5 – 1 PROPOSAL ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH Demolish a commercial (café) building built in the year 1968. This commercial building was built circa 1968 and is a single-story, wood-frame construction with red-painted brick masonry veneer with a mansard, asphalt roof. The patio area was later enclosed and retains an exterior tan stucco treatment with 8 large picture windows set at regular intervals across the Burnet Street facing façade. The building has been vacant since approx. 2018 and has graffiti on the façade and sides. The Frisco sign should be noted as part of the Burnet landscape since 1976. Location of the Frisco restaurant from 2008-2018. The Frisco’s closing in 2018 marked the end of an 86-year old legacy business initially opened by Harry Akin in 1932 at the corner of S. Congress and Riverside. Harry Akin was the first Texan and the first Southwesterner to hold the position of President of the National Restaurant Association. (1) Akin is highly respected and remembered for his civil rights advocacy practiced through his restaurant chain. Aiken’s businesses were among the first in Texas to desegregate; serving and hiring black people. He was also known for equal pay to minorities and women. His advocacy earned him a spot as a civil rights adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson who was known to sneak in the back of the Night Hawk restaurant on S. Congress for a meal in the private dining room. Aiken was elected mayor in 1967 and assisted in the passage of laws prohibiting segregation in public places. (2) During this time the two biggest employers in the City of Austin were the University of Texas and the State of Texas, but The Night Hawk restaurant chain was also known as a top place to work. The businesses provided a higher standard of training, higher wages, and benefits like retirement options. Hoover Alexander, the founder of Austin legacy business Hoover’s Cooking, started as a busboy at the Night Hawk and credits the Night Hawk as where he “discovered his passion for food and where he learned the restaurant business from the ground up.” (3) In 1994, a partnership of former Frisco Shop long-term manager Lawrence Baker and the Aiken’s nephew, R. Harry Akin, purchased the Frisco Shop. The business changed hands again in 2008, when the Frisco moved one block North into what was then the former Curra’s Grill. The move in 2008 to 6801 Burnet Road was due to the demolition of the original Frisco location at 5819 Burnet Road (now a Walgreen’s). Frisco’s stayed at the 6801 Burnet Rd location until its closure in 2018. Prior to Frisco’s moving in 2008, this location at 6801 Burnet Rd was home to multiple restaurants over the decades including the following: Mr. Steak (1968), The Saxon Restaurant (1973), Jambalaya (1976), and Curra’s Grill (2003). PROPERTY EVALUATION Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The property is at least 50 years old and represents a period of significance of at least 50 years ago, unless the property is of exceptional importance as defined by National Register Bulletin 22, National Park Service (1996). 2) The building appears to retain moderate integrity. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it does meet two criteria: a. Architecture. The building does not appear to convey architectural significance. b. Historical association. The property does have significant historical associations due to it’s association with c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human Harry Akin. history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The property does 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. It is the last location of the Frisco restaurant and therefore also the last iteration of a Night Hawk restaurant. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. However, the neon Frisco Sign appears to have been an installation on Burnet road since approximately 1976 (46 years) and therefore consideration for its preservation may be given. D.5 – 2 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff has determined that the property does not meet the criteria for period of significance of at least 50 years ago or of exceptional importance. Staff encourages the incorporation and preservation of the Frisco sign on Burnet Road into new designs for the property. Staff encourages rehabilitation and adaptive reuse, then release the permit upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package. LOCATION MAP D.5 – 3 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos D.5 – 4 Google Street View, 2019 Occupancy History City Directory Research, February 2022 1959 Address not listed (building not yet constructed; Frisco Shop Restaurant listed at 5819 Burnet Road) Permits D.5 – 5 Building permit, 1968 Building permit, 1968 D.5 – 6 Building permit, 1970 Building permit, 1970 D.5 – 7 Sign permit, 1973 Sign permit, 1974 D.5 – 8 Building permit, 1975 D.5 – 9 Building permit, 1975 Building permit, 1975 D.5 – 10 Sign permit, 1976 Sign permit, 1976 D.5 – 11 Building permit, 1978 Building permit, 1978  5819 Burnet Road Permits D.5 – 12 Sign permit, 1976 Building permit, 1958 D.5 – 13 Historical information Building permit, 1957 Menu from Mr. Steak located at 6801 Burnet Rd. circa 1969 Original Frisco Location: 5819 Burnet Road Most Recent Frisco Location: 6801 Burnet Road (Seen here as the old Curra’s Grill) AD for Jambalaya Restaurant located at 6801 Brunet Rd circa 1979 D.5 – 14 Courtesy: https://historictravisheights.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/gsrc-np.pdf D.5 – 15 1-Restaurants: Woo Wives Brewer, Anita The Austin American Statesman (1914-1973); May 29, 1960: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Austin American Statesman pg. A1 2-Wood, V.B. (2001, January 26) Harry Akin and the Night Hawk Legend; The Flight of the Night Bird. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved on February 16, 2022 from The Austin Chronicle. Web site: http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-01- 26/food_fe. 3- “About Us”, Hoover's Cooking, February 16, 2022,HTTPS://www.hooverscooking.com/about