M E M O R A N D U M TO: FROM: DATE: Historic Landmark Commission Historic Preservation Office staff August 19, 2021 SUBJECT: Senate Bill 1585, 87th Legislature (Regular Session) Texas Local Government Code § 211.0165 provides authority for local historic designations, including landmarks and historic districts. In 2019, the Texas Legislature amended that authority through House Bill 2496, 86 (R), which introduced a supermajority requirement for landmark designation over owner objection. During the 2021 regular session, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1585, 87 (R), which introduces two clarifying amendments to the supermajority requirement. This legislation goes into effect on September 1, 2021. Specification of a single commission to approve designations The 2019 legislation added a requirement that, unless a property owner consents, historic designation must be approved by a ¾ vote of the zoning, planning, or historical commission and a ¾ vote of the governing body of the municipality. The City of Austin interpreted this as requiring an affirmative vote of ¾ of the members of either the Historic Landmark Commission or land use commission (Planning Commission or Zoning and Platting Commission, as applicable), followed by an affirmative vote of ¾ of City Council to designate a property over the owner’s objection. For bodies with 11 members, this ¾ supermajority requires an affirmative vote of 9 members. The number of affirmative votes required may be reduced if there is a vacancy or recusal, but not in the case of an absence. The 2021 legislation clarifies that a municipality must specify a single commission as the entity with exclusive authority to approve historic designations. In Austin, this is the mission of the Historic Landmark Commission. As such, if a supermajority of Historic Landmark Commissioners do not vote to recommend historic zoning, the case will no longer advance to the land use commission for consideration. Conversely, if a supermajority does vote to recommend historic zoning, the case will follow the current process: it will be heard by the land use commission and, regardless of that commission’s recommendation, will advance to City Council for consideration. It is worth noting that no properties have received historic zoning over the owner’s objection during the two years these requirements have been in effect. Further, no cases that failed to reach a supermajority at the Historic Landmark Commission subsequently received a supermajority at the land use commission to advance the case to City Council. In …
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Dave Kilpatrick Thursday, August 19, 2021 3:17 PM PAZ Preservation 2502 park view dr. Follow Up Flag: Flag Status: Follow up Flagged *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Hello, I am writing to express my sincere opposition to the demolition of 2502 park view dr. I do not doubt that this home has no significance for the current owner, but given its provenance with regard to Architect and inclusion in the “air conditioned village” it would certainly have value to many other potential homeowners. It would be a terrible shame to lose this home and introduce a new house which is most likely over-scaled within its context. Respectfully, Dave Kilpatrick, AIA 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. 1
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Subject: Shirlie Sweet Friday, August 20, 2021 8:57 AM PAZ Preservation 2502 Parkview Dr Follow Up Flag: Flag Status: Follow up Flagged *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** I am very familiar with Air Conditioned Village, as I grew up at 2505 Parkview. These houses are quintessentially Mid‐ Century. They were designed and built by the Austin builder Fabricon with a nod to the Frank Lloyd Wright esthetic. The component parts ‐ trusses, walls, storage modules, etc were all built off site at Fabricon’s headquarters and building center in south Austin and transported to the building site….an early modular concept. We had a home magazine photo shoot at our house (2505) within a year or two of moving in, which was 1954. I do have that somewhere and if you are interested, I will find it and email it to you. The family who lived at 2502 Parkview the longest was Gerald and Nancy Kelly and their two daughters Sheryl and Jill, who grew up in the house. Nancy was an artist ‐ an abstract expressionist painter who had studied with Michael Fearing at UT art school, and Gerald was an engineer. The house was decorated with danish modern furniture, much original artwork and mid century decor, very much the taste of an artist in that era. I spent many many hours of my childhood and young adulthood at their house. I surmise, since there is a movement to preserve this house as a significant example of mid‐century modern architecture, that there is some danger of it being torn down. I so appreciate the efforts to save it and pray that you are successful in being able to preserve it. Shirlie Ashworth Sweet 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. 1
3009 Bowman West Austin Case 1 Overview Request: Recommend against historic zoning. Code Criteria (Must Meet Two) 3009 Bowman Architecture Historic Association Archaeology Community Value Landscape Feature ? ? ✖ ✖ ✖ Staff Report: “[I]t is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building.” 2 A Question of Integrity: Architecture Staff Report: “[T]he new addition to the south dwarfs [the original part of the house] so there is a question of integrity here that the Commission needs to decide as to whether the house meets the architectural significance criterion at this point. 3 A Question of Integrity: Architecture Staff Report: “[I]t is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 4 Site Footprint 5 Original Significantly Altered Not Original Most of the façade is not original or is significantly altered. 6 Original Most of the façade is not original or is significantly altered. 7 Staff Report: “It is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 8 Staff Report: “It is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 9 Staff Report: “It is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 10 Staff Report: “It is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 11 Staff Report: “It is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 12 Staff Report: “It is unlikely that Rev. Barclay would recognize the current building as the home he and his wife occupied for over 20 years.” 13 Historic Association Historic Association: Rev. John Barclay • Pastor at Central Christian Church when LBJ was in the congregation. • Offered a prayer at the inauguration of LBJ/JFK (1961). Policy Questions for Consideration: • While Rev. Barclay, like many local leaders, knew LBJ, does this connection warrant historic designation? • If connection to LBJ is sufficient for historic designation, such a decision – when applied consistently – would likely result in designation (and tax exemption) for various other West Austin homes. 14 Condition: Lead Paint The …
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Subject: Carla Penny Saturday, August 21, 2021 3:04 PM PAZ Preservation GF-21-103669 *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** I support protecting this historic house in Allandale from demolition. It's a lovely example of mid‐century modernism in home design use of newly deployed technologies. This home deserves preservation. It is also reflective of the mid‐century vibe of this particular part of Allandale. It would be a terrible loss to our community if it were not preserved. I live in a 1954 house a few blocks to the north of this property and have managed to update the interior without destroying the original design and aesthetic of the house. I believe this is possible at 2502 Park View as well. I would hope a commercially viable solution could be found that preserves the character and design of this important structure. Carla Penny 2500 Albata Ave, Austin, TX 78757 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. 1
Historical Commission Case: A.2 • PR-2021-064188 Aug.23rd 2502 Park View Dr Joseph Reynolds 2611 West 49th Member Allandale Zoning Committee Commissioners, I support full historic recognition and designation for 2502 Park View. 2502 Park View was one of the experimental houses used to determine how residences could/should be air-conditioned. The experiment was to try various ways to install air conditioning, to determine what life effects it would have, to measure the electricity used to cool the houses - A/C was a change that resulted in housing booms in hot climate. Let me share my perspective. First, I have experience with experimental housing. During the mid-1960s I was leading a software effort at Tracor [Austin’s first ‘technology’ star and first ‘native’ Fortune-500 company] to use computer graphics to show what a future house would look like when inside/outside. At the time architects drew sketches of a building, and made detail ‘mechanical drawings’ of the structural elements. The computer graphics would be a big improvement over just showing a client plan-view drawings, and much cheaper than the sketches, or cardboard models in use. Computer graphics could be interactive. Tracor had professors from UT Architecture School consulting. That work got me involved in a 1969-1970 project called Ice City. Life-size experimental buildings were more useful than cardboard models, and could have ‘organic’ shapes. But, they needed to be discarded, and that was expensive disposal. So, Ice City would build the life-size models during freezing winter from ice-foam, which would just melt when the weather warmed. In 1970 we were doing what is now called 3-D Printing, but on a life-size scale. We also worked on ‘responsive rooms’ which was an attempt to have the building support activity occurring inside. We built instrumented rooms at what is now part of the Pickle Research center. My second perspective is that I’m old enough to have lived ‘before’ and ‘after’ air- conditioning. I was born December 1941. Our milkman in Dallas drove a horse-cart to deliver. By 1945 mom had a Servel brand ‘gas’ refrigerator; a little ‘pilot flame’ heated a bubble pump that compressed the refrigerant. To cool the house [best at night] there was a big fan in the ceiling of the hallway that sucked air in through the windows, and blew it out through the attic. The only cool buildings were department stores and movie theatres. Some still blew air across blocks of …
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Subject: Sheryl Kelly Ginsburgh Saturday, August 21, 2021 9:42 PM PAZ Preservation 2502 Park View Drive *** External Email ‐ Exercise Caution *** This was my home for 60 years. It has a gorgeous backyard. I was told that the new owners were not going to raze the house, and that was why it was sold to them. Maybe they re‐sold it and the new owners decided to raze it. The people who bought it from the builder got it for a good price because they said they were not going to tear it down. Again, maybe they re‐sold it. The home was old and did have issues. Please check City Council meeting records for details. One minute it was a Historical building, the next it wasn’t. PLEASE check Council Council meetings for the full story. Enter: 2502 Park View Drive, Austin Tx 78757 Austin City Council or some variation. It worked for me. It was a hotly debated topic. My vote is to try to keep the house and do necessary renovation. But I’m not the one paying for that!! Lots of good memories. The development was called Edge Wood because it truly was the outer limit of Austin! Please do not contact me. Sent from my iPhone 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. 1
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Subject: Carolyn Croom Saturday, August 21, 2021 11:09 PM PAZ Preservation; Little, Kelly - BC; Koch, Kevin - BC; Tollett, Blake - BC; Featherston, Witt; Heimsath, Ben - BC; Wright, Caroline - BC; Valenzuela, Sarah - BC; McWhorter, Trey - BC; Castillo, Anissa - BC; Larosche, Carl - BC; Myers, Terri - BC Concerning 2502 PARK VIEW DRIVE (GF-21-10366) *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Dear Members of the Historic Landmark Commission, I support preservation of the Mid‐Century Modern home at 2502 Park View Drive. As an excellent Modern residence, designed by a well‐known Austin architect, this house has significant historic and architectural value. In addition, it’s the best‐preserved home in the proposed Austin Air Conditioned Village Historic District and is also representative of the entire proposed District. The Austin Air Conditioned Village experiment was the first large‐scale and also largest project of test houses built in the 1950s to test the feasibility and affordability of air‐conditioning in homes affordable to middle‐class buyers. According to Preservation Austin, in comments to the Historical Landmark Commission, the Air Conditioned Village was not only a nationally‐significant study but also "an internationally‐renowned experiment in building innovation and social science." The residence is definitely the most modern in its design of the Air Conditioned Village houses, closest to the International Style of architecture and Arts & Architecture magazine’s Case Study houses, with a nearly flat roof and a very simple, clean execution. Other elements of mid‐century design in the house include site‐specific passive cooling strategies, clerestory windows, exposed roof beams, an asymmetrical, paneled facade, and distinctive patterned‐brick screening walls. The house is an early, outstanding example of architect Fred Day, who made a substantial contribution to Austin’s development. According to Preservation Austin, his "involvement in this high‐profile, and much celebrated project was an early victory in his 40‐year career.” A graduate of the UT School of Architecture, his contributions include the award‐winning Faulk Central Library, the Teachers Retirement System of Texas building, the Austin Doctors Building, the pro‐bono master plan and drawings for Laguna Gloria, and renovations to the UT Law School and Student Union. Notable buildings he designed outside Austin include the Visitors Center at the McDonald Observatory and the Hooper‐Schaeffer Fine Arts Center at Baylor University. He was president of AIA Austin and awarded an honorary Life Membership on the UT School of Architecture Advisory Council. He …
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Subject: Kevin Smith Sunday, August 22, 2021 12:01 PM PAZ Preservation 2502 Park View Dr Demo Permit *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Commissioners and City Staff, I am writing today to express my support in preserving 2502 Park View Dr. This is a unique home, not only for its excellent architecture (which was designed by local architect Fred Day); or it exceeding the requirement to meet two of the five criteria for local landmark status. It is unique in that this proposed local landmark has National significance through its association with the Austin Air Condition Village experiment which was sponsored in part by the American Association of Homebuilders and the results of the Village help guide Federal lending practices to provide mortgages to homes with air conditioning. In addition to help preserve this home; it will also help preserve an affordable home. The last redevelopment that occurred on Park View Dr, sold for almost 5 times its original purchase price. I believe doing a partial rehabilitation of the home’s historic features coupled with the using entitlements offered through the code, to build a substantial addition (sympathetic to the design of the home) is a win‐win scenario and would offer a buyer a truly unique one of a kind property. Respectfully, Kevin Smith 2500 Park View Dr 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. 1
Allen, Amber From: Sent: To: Kevin Smith Sunday, August 22, 2021 12:03 PM PAZ Preservation *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Commissioners and City Staff, As we are back in COVID‐19 Stage 5 restrictions, the volunteers and I did not feel it was prudent to potentially risk exposure by collecting signatures opposing the demolition of 2502 Park View Dr in person. Instead, like a lot of other things during the pandemic we turned to digital solution. We created a change.org petition, to help safely gather signatures. We also asked for the signatures of the petition to include their zip code so we have an idea of where the support for saving this potential local landmark with national significance. An added benefit of collecting signatures in this manner is it dove‐tails nicely with one of Local Landmark Criteria‐ Community Value. From the over 450 signatures of the petition, Thank you for your time and consideration. Kevin Attachments (2) 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. 1 Name Carolyn Croom City Austin Megan Jones-Smith Austin 78756 US 78757-2103 US TX TX State Postal Code Country Commented Date 8/18/2021 8/18/2021 Comment "I live a few blocks away, at the same zip code as this wonderful home, 78757!" "We are already losing too much of Austin’s history in the push to develop and grow." Joe Reynolds Austin TX 78731 US 8/18/2021 "The houses of Air Conditioned Village are iconic artifacts of an important study, how to effectively include air-conditioning in single family homes. At the time of the study, air conditioning was limited to large places, like department stores, or movie theaters. Freon? Ammonia was the fluid used. Water cooling towers were needed to condense and recycle the refrigerant. How best to dispense the cool air around the house? How to insulate? There were many architecture and engineering issues. After the experiment more modern systems were designed, no more water towers; costs fell, soon A/C could fit into a window. The southern climate was conquered and life there changed.The houses are the equivalent of 1800s steam locomotives, or early 1900s airplanes, or 1958 transistors. They deserve national recognition and publicity." "This was a time in our country when hope and …
