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Home My WebLink AboutHPC agenda 112801 s Orange County Environment and Resource Conservation Department P . O . Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 2 72 78 Phone ; (919) 7324181 or 967- 9251 , x2583 fig Fax : (919) 644-3551 ® ,; Eina11 : CT11oo1J@CC? . O1"ange . 71C . us MEMORANDUM TO : Historic Preservation Commission FROM : Tina Moon, Preservation Planner SUBJECT : Historic Preservation Commission Meeting, November 28 , 2001 DATE : November 21 , 2001 COPIES : Dave Stancil , Environment and Resource Conservation Director Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 28 , 2001 at 7 : 00 p . m. in the Planning and Agricultural Center . I understand that the SHPO has mailed the annual CLG report materials , however, as of November 21 st (the time of our agenda mailing) I had not received them . To ensure a quick and accurate response I would like to take a few minutes to go over the report with you and make sure that I have all of your information . Please review your preservation activities over the last fiscal year and be prepared to report dates , times etc . Please also review your historic resources map and consider possible driving tours for the County ' s 250t" celebration display, and come ready to discuss . Finally, per our discussions last meeting, I have scheduled two winter field trips for the HPC . We will visit the Cate Farm on Sunday December 9th around 100 PM and the Little River Park and Natural Area on Sunday January 13t" . Rich Shaw is planning to join us so please mark these dates on your calendars . I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, November 28 , 2001 . t AGENDA ORANGE COUNTY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION FOOD LAB - PLANNING & AGRICULTURAL CENTER 306 REVERE ROAD HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA November 28 , 2001 TIME PAGE AGENDA ITEM 7 : 00 i . CALL TO ORDER 2 . CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA 7 : 05 3 . CHAIR COMMENTS 7 : 10 01 4 ., APPROVAL OF MINUTES a . October 24 , 2001 7 : 15 5 . ITEMS FOR DECISION a. Schedule for field trip(s) b . Annual CLG Report c . December meeting schedule 7 : 50 6 . ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION a. Activities for County ' s 250`h Celebration b . Heritage/Scenic Corridor Program 8 : 30 7. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a . The Alliance Review b . Selections from Presewation 8 : 35 8 . ADJOURNMENT IF UNABLE TO ATTEND THIS MEETING, PLEASE CALL THE ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT AT EXTENSION 2583 (NUMBERS LISTED BELOW) , STAFF CAN THEN DETERMINE IF QUORUM WILL BE PRESENT FOR THE MEETING. HILLSBOROUGH - 732- 8181 CHAPEL HILL an 967 -9251 MEBANE - 227 -2031 DURHAM 68 & 7331 r` Q1 DRAFT MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION October 24 , 2001 Members Present : Rob Golan , Chair Carolyn Connor Dale Georgiade Heath Aldridge Renee Price Betsy Underwood Members Absent : Chuck Cooper , Vice Chair Staff Present : Tina Moon , Preservation Planner , and Carol Melton , Administrative Assistant AGENDA ITEM # 1 : CALL TO ORDER Golan called the meeting to order at 7 : 00 p . m . AGENDA ITEM #2 : CONSIDERATIONS OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA AGENDA ITEM # 39 CHAIR COMMENTS Golan welcomed everyone and asked for any additions to the agenda . Moon asked Connor and Golan to report on recent conference participation . AGENDA ITEM #4 : APPROVAL OF MINUTES a . September 26 , 2001 I MOTION : Golan moved approval with one change of the September 26 , 2001 minutes . i Georgiade seconded the motion . VOTE : Unanimous , AGENDA ITEM #5 : ITEMS FOR DECISION a . Lands Legacy Action Plan for 2002 =2003 i Moon reiterated the importance of advisory board input into the Lands Legacy Action Plan process and overall program goals . The Annual Action plan identifies natural and cultural areas that the County will work on protecting through land acquisition or other means during fiscal year 2002 - C 2003 . Once the various advisory boards identify and recommended specific projects , ERCD staff develop a draft Annual Action Plan for the Board of County Commissioners as part of their retreat materials in December . Subject to the BOCC ' s review and revision the Annual Action Plan is expected to be adopted concurrent with Capital Improvement Project discussion in May 2002 . Since its adoption in April 2000 , the Lands Legacy program has protected sensitive cultural sites and provided valuable information for interpretation . Moon reviewed the conservation objectives as listed in the current action plan : Draft October 24 , 2001 HPC minutes Page 1 of 3 02 t 1 . Continue efforts to accomplish preservation of cultural and archaeological sites associated with parkland acquisitions during this timeframe . 2 . Develop a plan and identify acquisition priorities for proposed " heritage corridors" in central Orange County , a multi -year objective of protecting colonial and pre- colonial historic sites and roadway corridors , such as St . Marys Road , Indian Trading Path , John Lawson Trail , historic Grayfields , prominent Revolutionary War battlefields and other areas . 3 . Conduct or support research on possible location and significance of Grayfields , site of the first County of Orange court — in preparation for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the County ( 2002 ) . Moon noted that HPC input the Lands Legacy action plan for FY 2002 -03 could be in the form of specific projects or general guidance . The recommendations should be finalized and adopted at the HPC ' s October meeting . Last year the HPC recommended that the County work with the owners of the Chatwood and Faucette Mill historic sites to protect the combination of cultural and natural features on those properties . Staff has initiated some actions along those lines even though they were not included as specific projects in the 2001 -02 plan . The HPC also recommended preserving historic and archaeological sites through parkland acquisition , whenever possible . Possible recommendations identified at the previous meeting for consider were noted as : ➢ Continue efforts to accomplish preservation of cultural and archaeological sites associated with parkland acquisitions . ➢ Identify the protection of Faucette Mill historic sites as a specific priority project on the 2002 -03 list . ➢ Identify the protection of the Smith - Cole house as a specific project priority . ➢ Protection for the Halls Mill property (documentation of the main house ) and dam . ➢ Establish a fund or budget line item within the Lands Legacy program to cover the costs associated with preparing a preservation plan for historic structures on acquisition sites , including maintenance . ➢ Set up a framework in the Lands Legacy program for the HPC to prepare comments about the use/significance of historic structures on acquisition sites . Moon presented a draft memo of recommendations for the LLA 2002 - 2003 in the agenda packet for HPC review , revision and formal adoption . The HPC discussed the Specific Sites of Cultural or Archaeological Significance and concluded that the Faucette Mill area , including Chatwood and its surrounding property is a urgent project for protection due to surrounding development . as The Smith Cole House was designated as a second priority along with its adjoining properties (within a 2 mile radius ) . The third designated priority was the Dam site and surrounding ruins at the Halls Mill House . The General Points of Consideration recommendations were agreed as ( 1 ) Protection and preservation of cultural and archaeological sites whenever possible , such as the Murphy School and , (2 ) Protection of " heritage corridors" particularly those with scenic value including the St . Mary' s Road Corridor . New Areas of Focus addressed appropriate stewardship for buildings on County- owned property . The HPC encourages the acquisition of property with historic structures so long as those structures are appropriately preserved and maintained , in a way that retains their historic character . The HPC would like to see the following items incorporated into the existing Lands Legacy program to ensure the proper stewardship of historic structures : • A framework to provide the HPC with the opportunity to formally visit sites with historic structures and prepare comments about the significance of the buildings and their future use , particularly if demolition is being considered . The establishment of a fund or budget line item within the Lands legacy program to cover the costs associated with preparing a preservation plan for historic structures on acquisition sites . This plan would include the costs associated with repairs for continued use or adaptive reuse and long -term maintenance . • The HPC would also welcome the opportunity for a seat on the planning committee for those sites that retain one or more significant structures . Draft October 24 , 2001 HPC minutes Page 2 of 3 03 b . Schedule for field trips The HPC discussed potential times for site visits to the Cate Farm property and the Little River Park and Natural Area . Once the HPC has visited the two properties it can prepare recommendations regarding stewardship for the various historic structures on the two sites and send those recommendations to the appropriate park workgroup . The dates of December 9th at 2 * 00 for the Cate Farm and January 13 ' for the Little River park were agreed upon . The HPC requested to ask Rich Shaw Land Conservation Manager for assistance in site visits . AGENDA ITEM # 6 : ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION a . Activities for County ' s 250th Celebration Moon asked the HPC to think about developing preservation - related brochures for distribution at the 250th celebration . Ideas included possible driving tours similar to the Little River Tour prepared by the Eno River Association along with a general pamphlet describing the HPC and its mission . Moon asked the HPC to consider significant historic sites that would be suitable for a driving tour brochure . AGENDA ITEM #7 : INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a . Heritage/Scenic Corridor rridor program progress report Moon reported on the success of the Town of Cary in developing an open space and historic resource reservation program , Part of the report shows p p g p the use of computer technology to located views e p gy h ds based on contours . The ERCD GIS team is going to pursue the computer viewshed approach for the St . Mary' s Road project . Once the viewshed is identified , staff can overlay the areas that the HPC determined were the most significant . b . The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Connor reported on the publishing of her journal "A Small Corner of Orange County — An Orange History: Reflections of Robert Davis and Others " c . Little River driving tour i ADJOURNMENT : Meeting adjourned at 8 : 35 p . m . II i Draft October 24 , 2001 HPC minutes Page 3 of 3 0: " : 4N H + E : 1 '.- L * L1. Pie following information was taken from recent issues of the Weekly Legislative Update for SRPOs and Preservation Action Legislative Watch, publications from the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers and Preservation Action. period. The Trust' s semipostal stamp proposal would benefit the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home (USAAH) and the President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument, The former is a living monument to the sacrifice and honor of NEW CHAR OF HOUSE RESOURCES PARKS America' s veterans - 1 ,000 retired and disabled enlisted men SUBCOMMITTEE and women currently reside there . The latter is a historic mono Representative George Radanovich (R- CA) was appointed ument that is in dire need of funding to properly restore and chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks , Recreation, interpret the site and its association with President Abraham and Public Lands by Resources Chairman, James Hansen (R- Lincoln, the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. UT) . This change is the result of some committee shuffling The Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee will meet in October following the recent death of Representative Floyd Spence (R- to review the many proposals received for semipostals , and SC) , who served as chairman of the House Armed Services render a decision on the winning proposal by the end of the Subcommittee on Military Procurement. Representative Joel year. More information on this effort will be available on the Hefley (R- CO) , former chairman of Parks Subcommittee will website for the National Trust for Historic Preservation at fill an empty chairmanship on the Armed Services Military www. nthp . org . Readiness panel . Representative Radanovich represents the 19th district of California, a large agricultural community CARA SUMMIT POSTPONED which includes Fresno and Yosemite National Park. After Due to the attacks of September 11 , the CARA receiving the chairmanship Representative Radanovich Summit originally planned for October loth and released a press statement stating " as an individual raised just 11th in Washington, D . C . has been postponed. outside of Yosemite National Park, I am eager to address the A reschedule date has not been determined at this time . It is concerns of those who live closest to the land, and ensure that unlikely Congress will take action on any major conservation common-sense policies are applied and adhered to in our parks measures before the end of the year. However, please continue and public lands . I believe it is essential that we do everything to inform your member of the importance of the Historic in our power to make certain the owners of our public lands - Preservation Fund (HPF) in his or her district. Updates on cur- the American taxpayers - have open access to them for their rent and proposed projects in your area will remind your mern- enjoyment . As Chairman, I will work with this perspective and ber that funding is necessary for the protection and preserva- with the advice of communities that surround our parks and tion of our communities . The historic preservation community federal lands . " needs to have its supporters in Congress ready to act for CARA when Congress is ready to begin consideration of legis- - = NATIONAL TRUST GOES SEMIPOSTAL lation. Proposal for a Semipostal Stamp to Benefit Lincoln Cottage The National Trust for Historic Preservation has submitted a proposal for a semipostal stamp benefitting Lincoln Cottage , U. S . Soldiers' and Airmen' s Home , in Washington DC . The proposal was submitted to the U. S . r„. Postal Service' s (USPS) Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee which selects the nation' s next semipostal stamp . A semipostal :> is a postage stamp that is issued by USPS , and sold at a price above the first-class mail single-piece first- ounce rate , to help ' `°<: : provide for funding for a cause determined by the Postal % . Service to be " in the national public interest and appropriate . " The Semipostal Stamp Program was created by an act of Congress (P. L . 106-253 ) in the 106th Congress and authorizes ` ' the USPS to sell and issue semipostal stamps for a ten-year 14 NEWS from the NATIONAL ALLIANCEofPRESERVATION COMMISSIONS a 05 S T E. N E w S Q T Z S Part of the following information was derived from a residential area containing National Register eligible homes collection of statewide and local newsletter into a commercial district; and used the media to hightlight a community' s disagreement over a proposed Walgreen 's in historic Westside . HLFI has been at the forefront of the Maryland ' s historic preservation tax credit chain drugstore issue in Indiana, and has saved nearly 70 program, already one of the nation' s most pro- gressive, was improved, simplified and made historic buildings from demolition . more accessible during the 2001 legislative session. Changes to the Maryland Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Hawaii AL oft The success story of Kaniakapupu, Program include refundable tax credits, which will allow o the ruins of King Kamehameha III' s summer property owners to receive the full 25 percent tax credit in palace, started with a failure . Historic Hawaii one year. If the tax credit exceeds the amount of income Foundation (HHF) was involved with the lease tax owed, they will receive a refund check for the balance . and renovation of an 1899 pumping station to be used as an The tax credit program has also been expanded and is education center ' and HHF office . The project was halted available to non-profit 501 c 3 organizations rehabilitatingand HHF withdrew, leaving $400 , 000 worth of donated P ( ( ) ) g historic properties , money in HHF ' s hands . Over half of the money was returned to donors , $ 100, 000 was given to the National Connecticut State Superior Court Judge Socrates Trust' s Western Office to establish a Hawaii Preservation up Services Fund ant and the remaining was to be held the right of the Local Historic g money Mih.zlzk� s up District Commission to deny an application for used on a bricks and mortar project, vinyl siding within the district. The First Church of Kaniakapupu was one of the sites researched for a Christ, Scientist of Ridgefield was denied permission to possible project, but plans would have required community and state support . Workin public officials and com- install vinyl siding on its colonial revival church building . PP g with P ffi The church appealed the Commission' s denial, claiming that inanity members , it was decided to use the grant money for it was unjustified because the application of vinyl siding a low impact stabilization of Kaniakapupu . Bishop was ordinary maintenance and not a design change . Judge Museum and the University of Hawaii started things off by ;r Mihalakos sided with the Commission and quoted the using the site as an archaeological field school to research Secretary of the Interior' s Standards defining maintenance information needed before stabilization could begin. Volunteers assisted with the actual stabilization rocess , and and repair as the minimum amount of work needed to pre - P serve a building' s materials and appearance . a caretaking group , Malama Kaniakapupu, was formed to maintain the site . Indiana Five years ago, many historic neigh- borhoods and downtowns in Indiana were being New Hampshire The New Hampshire chain drugstores expanded Preservation Alliance , along with conservation damaged as several groups , local businesses , tourism associations, the throughtout the state . The Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, (HLFI) working with the Main Street program and the SHPO formed the National Trust, responded to this threat by creating partner- largest advocacy coalition in New Hampshire history to ships with local residents to develop creative strategies to encourage the establishment of a state preservation and land beat the developers . They called these strategies conservation fund. In addition to circuit riding with a slide " show, op- ed pieces , polling and post card campaigns, the Prescriptions for Success . " HLFI and its partners have used local preservation ordinances and the legal system to coalition developed and implemented a very successful stall eventually change) plans to build a CVS where town meeting campaign, and used the Internet to communi and eventua ( Y c - g ) P six historic houses currently stand; encouraged grassroots cate with community members . The coalition succeeded in action to persuade a developer to abandon plans to rezone a securing $3 million for preservation and conservation. TAR I#hL:e �v,�cr12G0> 11 : ty a' • Rim, • • • a It IFVA � • • ml Veto Mob Vli IT 1J , H Mir L ti: �'i1rr .F Mr It It .I { _ .,h.,1 to � �'r L `,y�� ,.' ri..,•, K 1 •, �. • 1.. `aA'� �� 41 � � '+ TIM NIL Ito' IT ot 41 tit; . _ r •++ Y .�- tf ♦ ' per, t i t % - 4 Vol NiI •• s r 3u•m lot IF too to I MI It r At MI ME If MIk ot or left gm orl� low I It Mor-lb t Im?AII Ado I.As Nt 1 to Il # r i . 7yog T rr LIMIT too It. dTb✓• toAt AT Moll. W 1 y t . Vi �. - - =- w Ir AT d 3T 17, I '"'"-t, - r ot •_ oal IIIk • • AM • 44 i —. oft, lop Itop,I# MIX 41 It - t , i ax • , • • . ' • • • f �• o"Mor , y olo At aq tat p TOM too It JAI j } I • 1 • " • • • • ' * • IPT low 1 T? MM • ! • t F +' •AM IN Its Ala. w . . Ito off • • . • VOW � � • • • • • • " 1 • • • . • • • • • • ' • GO OF GOV • • • • 1 t ' " • • • t i i • - • • • • ! 1 • — • • . • • • 1 • 1 . M i • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • , • t , • " • • i / - - PRES)ERVA110hrNEWS 07 flagged buildings was in imminent danger laws . Their representatives worried about Trust, put up $ 10 ,000 each for seed money of collapse, said a spokesman for the engi- damage not only to the city's 67 individual to kick things off. One of the city's most neers . "Those old buildings held up better landmarks below Chambers Street but significant Revolutionary War-era monu- than the new ones , " he said. "They were also to other significant buildings , old ments, the General Richard Montgomery overbuilt . " All of the damaged buildings and new, that are more at risk of being Memorial Tablet, commissioned by Ben" can be repaired, he said, `but that doesn't condemned and torn down . jam ' Franklin when he was living in mean that their owner might not decide, "We've got to look at all the historic Paris , "will need immediate attention," for economic reasons , to tear them buildings down there," said Frank Sanchis, said Bonnie Burnham, president of the down . " Even before the engineers executive director of the Municipal Art World Monuments Fund , reached their verdict, the Ford Foundation Society. "We've got to look at the interiors, After initially centering on damage pledged $ 10 million to address the crisis , which are not covered by the city land- to the buildings , gravestones , and monu- including an undetermined amount for marks law unless they' re publicly acces- ments , concern expanded to the debris , "the built environment . " sible . And although their structure may which contained an unknown amount The World Monuments Fund con- not have been damaged, there are a lot of of asbestos and other harmful dust. "The vened a meeting of preservation groups, buildings open to the weather ; a lot of preservation community is being called including the National Trust, the Munic- roofs have been pierced. " upon to come up with a plan for removal ipal Art Society, and the New York City On Sept. 26, preservationists met to set of the dust, concrete, and gypsum , which : Landmarks Preservation Commission , up an international relief fund to assess, will not be washed away but only made the city agency charged with designat- and possibly to help repair, damage to his- harder by the rain, " Burnham said. There ing landmarks and enforcing landmark ton' cbuildings . Five groups , including the were reports of buildings being power TRANSITIONS l L0 S T 1850s Greel<-revival County Courthouse, Boise, house New Orleans gutted b Idaho: could be restored or y rt " g y ' `� µ . suspicious fire third in 10 years to demolished and replaced with damage the Lower Garden new facility, depending de pendin on %% ' Historic District building, center of appropriation by state legislatureI If Er, property dispute S AVE D View in Fowlers Mill, ;:44 = :`; 'A_. _ ` % 11 THREATENED c. 1803 H.H. Ohio: Nextel agreement to : ' Richardson House, Brookline, dismantle 250-foot-high cell '` ► - 7. .� Mass. : architects last home and tower erected among historic office, which he didn't design but buildings ends legal battle renovated and added to, could be sold as teardown ) ) 1939 Ada REST 0 RED 1908 District Building, Washington, D.C.: four- Superfund site, stripped of honor log ' year, $68.5 million effort on Aug . 28 recaptures Beaux-Arts splendor of city hall ( ( 1894 Fillmore County SOLD ON e B AY 1926 j Courthouse g y Geneva Neb.: Lucille's Filling Station, Hydro, a: ttil�l j ` '= I �rl restored/renovated after Okla.: Route 66 landmark, H ' ( ' countians vote 34 in favor of It operated by Lucille Hamons from = � : 1941 until she died last year, i '' � ' C ` ;. - DESIGNATED [ bought by California businessmanY 'r U N D E S I G N AT E D 1935 San- for $35 ,600 ( ( Jim HendrixpI `{ >.. t ' itary Landfill, Fresno, Calif. : as house, Seattle: l-story, 2-bedroom breakthrough in urban sanitation house where rocl< guitarist lived as methods, announced as National a teenager, bought by Michigan 1V N.H. Richardson House, Brooklln6, IV, Historic Landmark on Aug . 27; as man for $33, 853, must be moved 08 washed, increasingworries that historic . � y' ., ' , !"Irk- a features , such as terra-cotta ornamenta- `. _ ,• r " . 4 '. . • ` ;� lion, would be undermined and that the , ; l * ), A & ; dust would spread even farther. The disaster also exacerbated some ' �� . � `+r5 r' • � fit . .'� - : •� existing problems, most notably in Federal .r a ,1• ' 1 Hall where 1 ,000 refu ees from the Trade ' . ;a. .,. SSS _ Center fled. Existing cracks in the foun- . i. � �'' ' ° j dations of the 1834 Greek revival temple t y ~ have widened said Roger - = . on Wall Street �t �.y - � at Lang, director of community programs at ' �, aaL i the Landmarks Conservancy. (Two weeks after the attack, the U. S . I. Department of Defense continued to Y - ' _ I . assess damage to the Pentagon. Estimates _ M to repair the building, which opened dur- IV�"`' ing World War II and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1992 , Confederate heritage groups protest at Alabama!; old capitol reached as high as $ 500 million. "We will have to consider how to handle future • memorials on the site , says Peter Boice , O t Southern Discom rt conservation director for the defense sec- t ' f retary and how to incorporate them °Irt� a t , �� Ej �' ittt � ttal • E' I: �r ) t ; ,'t.s ft? t' tt ) tIc � r' ( I BY JAMES L . NOLES JR . into the building restoration." ) ind0 idualstructures , preser- MONTGOMERY, ALA ,—"Thus has been offices in the old quarters . A six-year Beyond vationists worried about neighborhoods . a magnificent epic , " Confederate Gen . restoration completed in 1992 returned t Within the last decade , Lower Manhattan John Breckenridge observed in 1865 as the building to its former grandeur, but neighborhoods—Battery Park City, the Union troops closed in on the Rebel not the grounds . Last year, the Alabama ' Financial District, and TriBeCa particu- capital of Richmond. "In God's name , Historical Commission, caretaker of the larly—had become the city's hippest let it not terminate in a farce. " property, received a $ 5 . 8 million trans- places to live . Besides the artists' lofts of Today a seemingly well-intentioned portation-enhancement grant from the a TriBeCa and the glossy, if somewhat effort to renovate the grounds of the Federal Highway Administration to focus `. W bleak„ towers of Battery Park City, hun- first seat of the Confederacy, the 1851 on the grounds . The proposed changes t dreds of smaller loftettes had been carved Alabama State Capitol, has stumbled include regrading the front slope , plant- out of old buildings that were no longer into a controversy that, if not a farce, is Mg trees and shrubs, and narrowing Bain- Cc viable as offices on Wall Street and in its certainly raising eyebrows. Officials say bridge Street along the western side of I ,; canyonesque environs . that the grounds need sprucing up, but the building to eliminate on-street park- t i Although TriBeCa was humming and Confederate heritage groups smell a ing. Although historical records of the Battery Park City was rolling along before move to deemphasize or remove Con- grounds' appearance in 1861 are sketchy, the disaster, real- estate experts were federate monuments or to introduce the project will likely create a sight more already wondering whether the Finan- civil rights memorials . familiar to Jefferson Davis than the rows cial District had lived up to its promise . A Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as of parked cars there today. A plan should CL few grocery stores, largely subsidized by the provisional Confederate president be finalized by February. I w develo ers had o ened but New York's on the ca itol's front ortico in 1861 The South is "a land where the past p p P p W newest neighborhood was , to many, still and returned 25 years after Montgomery is not dead, it isn' t even past," Williamco i a bleak and slightly forbidding place . The fell to Union troops to lay the corner- Faulkner observed, and so when word of Financial District, as a place to live, had stone for Alabama' s Confederate Mon- the landscape project surfaced , local W not lived u to its own hype . In the weeks ument, In 1940 , a statue of Davis himself Confederate heritage groups protested. } o P YP . g g P after the World Trade disaster, real- estate was erected on the grounds , joining 22 Fifty miles away in the spring, Selma had Wexperts wondered if it ever would. M other statues and memorials. moved a bust of Nathan Bedford For- d State legislators moved to a new rest , a Confederate hero and Ku Klux U) Trade Rozhon is a reporter at The New York statehouse across Union Street in 19862 Klan founder, from the grounds of its CL Times . but the governor and his staff still keep Smitherman Historic Building to Old NOVEMBERIDECEMBER 200I I � . . � . . . c • j1• . . _ , V told 4 a I, or If i ' h� ry '`�•3 r t?� fci7Ali ,1M�w•Y. Nb ? �t . Itt IV �+ �. fI or - •5�1.•' A� yt{+i�'f,� i J� r a ii F. r • "'� Ira • i i s �(Q. -• y+ / J�Tt-� 'tfdoo •' X ', .�. � IN a ' �+ * .a �if I IV � P'.' • = • - • • - •k ' . L ! C ~ I� L tz w ' !I ei . I$a Vitalll ,,•� 1 .QQ�" 7 . L f" f•, ',� ` r Va. fartiall- or • • • • f . • _ FRJ , lit%a IVa lid red. I at- l . I . 1'•- tY, fhb IVam 1•0�i7'. ad i — rto IS rN �1 y I ad i _ F Ira did law TJ�/I ut • • 1 - • • • • i. - a •; • � • • ad I VIL - � _ _ _ ^ IN It IV at II dill, Ird of dial- t Li • . • nj • • • • 6 !1 v �s ImAal te Italia.�. - M1do l y — IV , 21 REDEEMER MISSIONARY • • r f • BAPTIST CHURCH • • • fad • • • • • • • f . • M , IN1 1 OF a • • . • • • • • • - • . • • • r a • • • f • • . • • a • a • • 1 a • . • • • / 1 I I � i • I ' / , . . r . ., INCol N .Food _. . .. toll . . .a , . .Y. 10 L O U I S E DU PONT THERESA BROWN technology upgrade , and restora- C R O W N I N S H I E L D AWARD Washington, D.C. I For 30 years , she tion of its architectural character. has championed LeDroit Park, a Victorian neighborhood and REDEEMER MISSIONARY _ GEORGE AND CYNTHIA MITCHELL g BAPTIST CHURCH Galveston, Tex. Texas husband-wife team acquires, rehabilitates, home to African-American f � ; and operates 17 historic buildings in Strand National Historic leaders. Minneapolis See previolts page. - Landmark District, DELTA HERITAGE MUSEUM Atlanta I Volunteers restore 1940 NATIONAL TRUST / HUD SECRETARY ' S AWARD Ship 41 , Delta's first DC-3 in reg,, i H O N O R AWARDS ular service , to mint operating NOTRE DAME ACADEMY - � condition . Cleveland I Famicos Foundation REI FLAGSHIP STORE statewide conservation and converts 1914 Catholic school i Denver I Recreational Equipment, preservation group ( 1891 ) owns PARKER WESTBROOK into affordable elder housing. Little Rock, Ark. ( Founding Inc. , renovates 1901 Tramway or protects more than 34 , 000 resident of the Historic Power Co. Building. acres of land. P TRUSTEES AWARD S Preservation Alliance of UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PORTLAND OBSERVATORY Arkansas is full-time OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN Salt Lake City Olympics Portland, Maine J Greater Portland preservation volunteer. PUBLIC POLICY IF preparation includes renovation Landmarks restores the only KIMO THEATRE D extant ma Douglas. WELLINGTON WEBB " { historic buildings at Fort KIMO signal station Albuquerque, N.M. � Interior Denver I Three-term mayor D ( 1807) in the United States, advocates measures to meld I ' restoration of city-owned 1927 RELIANCE BUILDING preservation into civic CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY pueblo deco movie palace g , Chicago I City / developer / New York City ( The group has coincides with downtown consciousness . architect team converts 1895 completed scores of restorations revival' landmark office building into ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE and since 1998 has managed and PRESERVATION MARYLAND hotel . g STEAM PLANT SQUARE ; . . maintained the ark. Baltimore Founded in 1931 � ' P Spokane I Boiler and warehouse -_ SEVERANCE HALL PRESERVATION SOCIETY buildings, c. 18904916 , become nonprofit adapts to changing I I " Cleveland I Cleveland Orchestra's REVOLVING FUND retail, office , entertainment concepts of preservation needs . 1930 home gets new acoustical Providence Fund administers center. STEWARDSHIP OF HISTORIC SITES shell and is enlarged and made A more efficient. HUD money for affordable hour- EDWARD LEE MCCLAIN KENTUCKY SHAKER VILLAGES Mg and homeownership HIGH SCHOOL Pleasant Hill and South Union THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS opportunities in inner-city neigh- Greenfield, Ohio + Worn-out 1915 efforts save Shaker R�Beverly, Mass. America's first borhoods, building receives renovation, architecture and landscapes. - -. Flu ;!t,, - - - I: '- ' , •.xr '_ ::� t. [-:hr^jcl'zS,.Fy'7;:f�FI-::l�kc.�n ,- = •.'mY t._. gyp , . - .. � - t - . r'e - - _ '.. . Co ti M • d 'F'. I - fir', i ' ff' f 7� /.f�. -'f t . 3' -f,:atc,C�., p _ — 1d7 � . g K i 9- Tom. AI r FI Ott , i . °�x'„ i, ;6: ��t�u �, . " _ .� .�.••:an:`III ' I IN Co. _ t -. ; w: e+r ? ' it s No Co I NO t :* : I NI U 1 tf r i. t R � - _ _ to ! � KIMO THEATRE DELTA SHIP 41 CENTRAL PARK RELIANCE BUILDING - I IF 1998 , backed b local philanthropists and nea olis architect Robert by p p p Mack, replaced diversity, and crime is falling. foundations and architecture enthusiasts the mechanical systems ; replicated orig- "We opened our doors to the Tub- - from around the nation, Redeemer final light fixtures ; repaired large stained- man Center when we didn't have much launched a $2 .3 million capital campaign glass windows ; and rehabbed the pews ourselves," says Johns . "We waited, were IF to restore the church. "One philanthropic and the organ. Today things look good prayerful, and here we are today. " board member and her husband came for the church and for the neighborhood. The restoration has earned Redeemer : up with a list of names," says Johns. "We'd Redeemer has grown, and its facility can Missionary Baptist a 2001 National Preser- ar : call them up, give them a tour, have alit- support more outreach programs. Lyn- vationAward, The other awards, to be pre- 11I IF de lunch, and money just poured in. " dale property values are rebounding, sented at the 55th National Preservation -( ` , The project, put to by Min- without upsetting racial and economic Conference in Providence, are above. 1 No IF NOVEMBERlDECEMBER 200I 13 „ ' Lot +.'-�A-`z ter',: ; ? �^x, - . " r. £. - `-'^�, '„�` w.,-'�=_-'�. 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A '�` r7 a �' v . c a ` Arl d t¢-• t' rt { • - : ;f - { ! if r r - y..5ir 2 { ? �!"t Cs >s S o oi4irs a'`,'+< r j< - 3 I � 1 -' . • '. . . . . • ,.: n a t , . . y}h, _�: , '.�"`' \ . 3`k •-.:may>..,.. r _ }'' / to Lao 4COaP , 4too Alt *1 AP 10 I F • • . }� y • " � j��N % .. ce�,t - _' ';a,"'• y�;1•+t :� ; < •. �. y ' � may. r j to �� • �� ,a - �,ti.• •dt �} : . � YAM 2, _ � r_, u4 , y •h �'? X , ' :.7 4 * 14 IW ,~ 'rye � t d_ Ilk to . J% ,. It 1P .:_ : . It dig jem too i +^ Y _ ` o 3+�>tsae .,'w►H, �� '' _ '.i ""'C'6 '-` it ♦ - �-ate - I III • - _ _ _ . • ...+.;_ _ _ '"^ -" -�...-�._ "'-r'_ -�... . • ' ..::^vim -:f1 _ 4 ry� :t.n jat4y wWIMP I ; The 100 block of North Arnaz Drive, • the first historic district in Beverly Hills ng G block predates the condo proposal . In t A battle over a Beverly Hills apartment coniplex • 5igitals 1997 they approached the city to seek 5 a growung regard for the. old.. ' + BY I ERRI WESTENBERG protection for - their historic buildings , made distinctive by lead-glass picture windows , second-story balconies , and BEVERLY HILLS , CALIF.—It's not easy apartment complexes that reach to the red-tiled roofs . They found that Beverly getting old in this land of film, fads, and sidewalk, allowing no green space, have Hills , as the only municipality among fashion. There are more plastic surgeons altered other city streets . But they have neighboring cities that does not have a f per capita here than almost anyplace in the somehow passed over the 100 block, and preservation ordinance, offers no local nation. Even the architecture relentlesslythe conservancy found ' - � ' cy its residents trying recognition of historic buildings or neigh torn down and replaced with new styles, is to ward off a three-story, 221Nun1t condo- borhoods . That's among the first prob - "in a constant state of face-lift," says Ken minium complex that would wipe out lems the fledgling Beverly Hills conser- Bernstein of the Los Angeles Conservancy. four apartment buildings original to the vancy hopes to fix . Two years ago a loose-knit but ardent street. Now the conservancy and resi- "Beverly Hills aspires to be a world- } band of citizens intent on persuading their dents are allied in a court battle to reverse class city and promotes itself with an city government of the historical and the city council's approval of the condo image of cultural sophistication," says Narchitectural significance of local buildings project, which residents a ruin the will ru the Denise Roberts, a writer and film and TV decided to incorporate as the Beverly Hills friendly, graceful ambiance of their street, producer and the president of the con- W Architectural Conservancy. Clearly, they "This is the last block in Beverly Hills servancy, `but it is still an unsophisticated W have a hard sell, except on a lone block of that hasn't been chewed up by develop- city in the arena of historic preservation." U North Arnaz Drive. There , behindfull-fig merit, " says Chaim Pelleg , who has Ignored by the city, the Arnaz Drive ,mmicared sycamore trees and flashy bougainvil- owned his pink, Spanish-revival duplex for residents, with the conservancy's help, total lea, stand duplexes and two-story apart- 16 years. turned to the state . California responded Uj ment buildings built in the 1920s and '30s His wife , Dalia, says , "If we lose this by listing the one-block-long, 25-prop- Uj N in revival Spanish, French, and Tudor block, what will remain of the old charm erty area as a historic district on the state FEW styles . Monster mansions that are out of of Beverly Hills?" register of historical resources. That made scale with other houses and oversized The residents' appreciation for their North Arnaz Drive the first historic dis- NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 200I irj t IF 13 _. .. _ . IN . . . I I ., . -._.. .. .,.. .- . ,.- � I, , . , . . " :_ .. n,.. . %k, . . . , . � .1N I, IN 4 1 4 t, 9 1 4 N . . , r � ..-� . .._ . . . _. . � I N 1 1. . . ,. . .; ,.* oN74 �. >..-c�-��-. ..n r.. >�� .. ti,+•. . . . . . .r _.. .. . PRESERVATION NEWS trict in Beverly Hills . The state listing describes North Arnaz Drive as a rare example of historic regional architecture W H 0 S and "an early 20th century Southern Cal- ri ifornia prototype which is rapidly disap- N E W S fearing within the city under the pres- ks sures of high-density development." Says Chaim Pelleg, "The decision was r unanimous . They fell in love with us . Selma Savior f Meanwhile , the city council Was MICHAEL VAUGHN SIMS Was 15 debating approval of the condo project, to when he first saw the Pleasant Hill be called the Chateau Arnaz, and even- Presbyterian Church near Selma , tually voted 3 -2 to allow its construction. Ala . , and it was 130 , Awed by the The developer, Gerald Marcil, says wood-framed church's 14-foot win- his $ 15 million building will enhance the doves and its perfect proportions, he felt frustrated by its deterioration. Fifteen I neighborhood. "The top story will beset years later, in 1997, the set designer for Broadway shows was home visiting his back so that it will look like it is two sto- parents when he drove by the church again . This time he began a campaign ties tall from the street. It will match the to preserve the 1852 structure, which hadn't seen a congregation since 1923 . rhythm of the street. " Sims , 36 , had taken architecture classes in college ; now, he did a set of meas. Arnaz Drive residents and business ured drawings `just for my own satisfaction" and sent them to the state his- people who, along with the conservancy, torical commission , which soon awarded him a $22 , 000 matching grant. The disagree filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles church, and an association formed in the 1970s to maintain it, had a savior. With County court to reverse the decision of the help of families with ties to the church, the brick piers it stands on have been the council. An environmental impact rebuilt, and planning has begun to work on the roof and install new trusses . le report prepared for the state by an rode- After that. windows, shutters , the original slave-made plank pews , and new pendent agency states that "the project landscaping. No plans yet for how the church will be used. Sims will continue would result in a substantial adverse s _ r to oversee the project but vim,tie change in the significance of the North .ki intends to keep his day job It Arnaz Apartments Historic District" Still, % , � in New York, ANA live a judge ruled that the project could pro- � ' J. ring AIL Geed; the decision is under appeal. Seeing Win or lose this articular case , .h P y the Forest Roberts admits that preservation in Bev- ion, erly Hills has "a long way to go, but there ONE NIGHT, A YEAR AFTER is a groundswell of support, especially as sh he retired from the US . ial demolition of old buildings r to increases . " Forest Service , Jim Holm,, 1Y in Pelleg strolled down North Arnaz = , .k , , brook read something in itals , W Drive one recent sunny day with David ; : ,,,hh an old book that made W :` Dtels Y Blanco , whose family has owned and him sit up in bed. In his 33 UJ occupied one of the historic buildings for years as a forester in western North Carolina, he'd never noticed anything spe W30 years . Pelleg, who greeted his neigh- vial about a grove of red spruce trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway near nd o bors by name , reflected on the old build- Waynesville . But the book said the trees were a memorial, one for each ;n - o in that are disappearing from Beverly soldier North Carolina had sent to 'the Confederacy. The 125 , 000 trees , ie Hills . "These are beautiful and affordable planted in 1941 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, had been gift i houses , but this city only cares about marked with a big stone and a bronze plaque, both now long gone . When m - N celebrities' homes , " he complained. Holbrook discovered the forest's significance , he suggested a new sign. The n o "They don't even care about those ,' Sons of the Confederate Veterans helped him raise $ 400 , and a rededication Blanco responded. `A few years ago, the = ceremony was held in August at milepost 422 on the parkway. "Ma' am, I am city even let Jimmy Stewart's house be proud, " says Holbrook, who will oversee the memorial. "But the big thing demolished. " is , walking in that forest is like walking into a cathedral. The trees come together, the sun filters through. It makes you appreciative of the folks who Kerri Westenbergis a writer in Santa Monica, established the forest andwho it's dedicated to . " ANN OLDENBURG CL Calif. NOVEMBER ` DECEMBER 200I 17 w 4 " .� "9,_'4 Y let art d . , . " r' • ..i� �' ++� x' a. . Ai • +i .."t } � ' ''1 a -' T I q X },^. ✓ y- ' t (1,jA'k Ai s +��7' � c ��+ � .1 : •F _ � f . ? � « t a • i' f .1. e X a �.,� '° - .. ; 4 1 , . 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'ir �No "' 111,r �''x''-,r`, s1Nor `^. {•. • expansive Y t wk�r 'i r1'?t 4 0 Noj kµ � r •+ :� �r ' r. ` ^yiI Nor Alto.Air1mr At di AM t t e j r w Y t LNA u., ai, ;l - lrr 1, S S l 46 �. •9 } .y f Y 1 1 r 1 p,Cv 1 . AiAN t( F�� i�' •�3.qsg r Nt�ir rr. ; }'_A{r xi`oa VT Sor So}u � i is 1 - ",.v „ '>I rix •4At 4 ;�-tr t �� . � '.; {A• 3- POD • • - • • - • 'SN1 T ^ e'�,•i� y � . • ^•�jYyy+ • iµ'1r1�' t�3 , +!ram _; . -' 4 S rR- �, .. rr+e _.� y , - • i AN Not"Al No Ag in I A I, sketching the scenery. Later, back Manhattan, he ir No I;r,:T %irroo No I I I A rev M 4 41 completed three pami =iggs from his travel sketches �. •�Gh..,: 0� and placed them for sale $in the window of a bookAw �- 3�' • � 1„S . , ._ Mir No MAP IN .11 " d Coleman's Literary Emporium , AN . WoNIAMI No Ago , To yr r£ t y �6 . r? tH �.lr may r^ r-•r. •�•'r l�r+�w� wh ere they soon captured the attentionof John I Arg , IN y A Nor or, Air IN 4t' Q I I -A 4 t; 4 Trumbull, president of New York s trendsetting No „y " . • " of y • • • . bought • r3' - ror t IN I Art canvas , others , • arranged forjournahsts to praise Americago new artist, first native painting moveft,p ment, which would later • " called the Hudson River School, had begun . x • captured • • for a new F _ •: r , A A AN Arrow AgIr A AN A class of Arneiicans grown rich by exploi the MMI * 4 4 A very resources that he romanticized. These men 14 1 It 'A, A IN 4 of the railroad, the telegiocaph, and the steamboat I • t' j " trot IMA _ +6 A! &A ?"No - I 1 4 4 AN CI I IN I . hungered for natural subjectsommmooma. retreat from the I IN No I r - \ wo industrialhelped • of ` i ` � ! ti AM • countless • • • • • • •• AM Air P rig I , . w • r iark • • • • followed • 'into • • p '- Air 14 Valley *in search • the wild and the sublime, • • importantseveral American - • • an the Hudson River landscapes made ous by America 's first schooi of paint- i BY WILL YANDIK 1 g survive a new wave of development? 16 .. ,� �:T YLi Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe . Artist i their proposals are sited near historic areas . They ' re essentially colonies sprang up around the small river towns like cattails . allowed to build wherever they choose ." And most po\ver corn - Zoda • another movement is sweeping across the Hudson ' panics choose to site their coal - and as - fired plants along } P g � P g' P b the .- F : . River Valley-- ione of de \lelopment and industry: A newspaper Hudson , attracted to the valley 's proximity to New York City ' recrclin ; facilic} , a cement plant, and eight power plants seek to power grid and to railroads , underground gas pipelines , and rive ' build on the landscapes made famous by the Hudson River water for industrial coolincir systems _ is School . Though the Hudson has a long tradition of industry, ; Only one of the eight power- plant projects vying to build some argue that this new wave of development will destroy the the Hudson Valley has been formally accepted . The U. S . Army_ Ali ' natural scenery and end a nest•, and groNving, source of income-- Corps of Engineers , the administrative body responsible fo lit r ' r ;r tOUTIS111W The 125 - mile stretch of river between New York and assessing project's impact on historic and natural resources , gave Albany shelters 46 National Historic Landmarks, making the final approval in May for the first plant since deregulation . PcaEv - region the largest National Historic Landmark District in the National Energy Group, based in Bethesda , 1\ Id . , will construct t ; countr }r isitors to these sites—marl \r of them the studios and a 1 , 080- megawatt natural -gas-tired plant in the town of Athens , homes of the Hudson River School painters—infuse more thaci a few miles east of Pine Orchard , the mountain ledge that r - ` 5100 million annually into upstate New York 's weak economy. launched the Hudson River School . PG & E has already cleared r- The push to build power plants emerged after New York State trees and created access reads for the plant, which will occup}r 20 deregulated its electricity market in 1996 . Like California , Ne \v i acres t\vo Holes \ crest of the river, and \will erect three 1S0 fact - :' -=y i -. lurk hoped to lower prices for consumers . The logic was simple : = smokestacks , a 90 -foot-high housing complex with cooling taw Break up old utility monopolies and a tree market will compete I ers , a four- million - gallon back - up oil storage tank, and a pump to build new- plants , givingcorlsumers the opportunity to shop for t house . risible fi om nines aw,r\; it will bc'. .one of the largest gas :. 'f the lowest electricity rates . But demand for power rose faster than fired power plants in the United States. _Y the state could develop new supplies . " No one c .\p- ected the 'demand to rise in the 90s as quickly as it did , ' says (ten Klapp of { { t tie\v York's Independent S } stem Operator, the agency that man- TH EN� s WAS Fov ;� tr t: rn in the 17 th century as a i ages the state 's power supph: " We 've already eaten through Dutch market town c� n the west bank of the river. =.1. most of our power reserves , and we ' re strongly urging the con - after the Erie Canal opened in 1825 , extending the _ ` struction of more power facilities to avoid a crisis. " This June , Hudson through the Appalachian Mountains to the expanding spooked by California 's power problems and fearing blackouts , + western territories , Athens prospered as a trading port . X/Toney - i = the New York Power Authority rushed to install I I temporary � to build its sturdv brick Federal - style houses came from the diesel - turbine generators around New York City to keep the j to\vn 's three shipyards , nine icehouses , brick and potter \ _ lights burning bright through the summer. foundries , mills , and tool factories . - l T6 encourage private companies to build power plants , the Today Athens in quiet and feat} —anvtllittgbut a commercial state has simplified its siting la\\ Article 10 . Under the revised pub- powerhouse . Most of the Federal facades on Athens ' main com lie service law, power plant projects larger than 80 megawatts are mercial street , Route 385 , stand empty; the it "Indows frosted \\ ith i exempt from the State Environmental Quality' Review Act, dust. Like many Hudson River Valley towns , Athens sta *rnated in � i Which requires developers to consider several sites for a project , i the ?0th century: Economic depression froze it in time, no one had VINT \vei htng the potential impact of each on the environrnent and i enough money to alter structures or even tear them down . Now a historic sites . i z after years of decay: tnoner lr l Builders of 1 .ur �Te power fr slo\\ ly trickles back as Man - - F - j ✓ t gh � . plants must still perti� rm - _ _ 5 hattan couples hunt for sec - Ix_l_ �; impact studies , but many � t � _ �, and homes or hope to set up Ne\\rlurkers belie ve the taw -_ _ _ -_ . _ _ _ = - _ - - b s ' ` , � t u . ine. ses in _ ) 0 - year- old t t unfairly favors the interests t ._ houses that sell for five fir;- of developers o\ c� r presrr - ores . a 1 v:itionists . ' Article 1t► ; rants Carrie Feder and Randall industry an advantage at Evatls moved fiorn Brooklyn every step of the siting to Athens 13 Fears agn , found ;n pt' c, cess , " says Pvter lung i ing a historic - restoration busi - of Friends of Hudson , an cr � ? Hess and reruavatin an Ism 1 � ) In* lot All environmental 1lonprofit , sal tboxfor the nlselvest " ��'`hen " P ( mllc- r companies are nut we visited Athens . " Feder tells forced to seriously consider mc , " 1 said to my husband , ; v_ �y - . thernate locations when "Phis is the place . ' 1 couldn ' t is 36 r ,irsen A N; 17N lit 71 It ;AR4 It It yF,[L I =' • �,ti -JtI/p - - ?` ~'., i 3 ,,av :1 ' 'S=i'.1 i"Zy.j•, a •&'�:'r+- ;;iti t. '04 �.''. 66 ItAolt I. I It It It ,, + I , + 1 ; CARRIE FEDER AND RANDALL EVANSCITIZE ABOVE, ARE ACTIVOPPOSING IN A „ I thought i t was a joke , CITIZENS GROUP OPPOSING THE ATHENS POWER PLANT. IN 18271 THOMASCOLEPD%M" "VIEWSIM says Carrie Feder. " We thought ; THE ROUND-TOP," OPPOSITE I something that monstrous j believe the number of cheap houses begging for restoration. " could n ever b e built i n a p ri st i n e Today, other newcomers pour thousands into failing Georgians, area I i I<e this . Greek revivals, and Queen Annes. As fresh coats of paint surfaced i throughout the village , some hoped the town would become a new center of the arts—until a small legal notice in the back of the I local paper in the fall of 1998 revealed a plan to drag Athens back "Who will come now to preserve the houses that won't see . to its commercial past. PG & E announced its proposal for the the next century without help?" Feder asks , "If no one comes F Athens Generating Project in the Catskill Daily Mail. here to save these buildings , it's the same as destroying them . "When I read it, I thought it was a joke, " says Feder. "We Who will want to invest in these buildings next to one of the E thought something that monstrous could never be built in a pris- largest power plants in the country? tine area like this . When we attended a public hearing and saw actual maps of where the plant would be located, it sank in. We figured we'd better do something. " The couple joined a dozen NE BRIGHT DAY IN AUGUST , Feder, Evans , and I, other Athenians to organize STOPP (Stand Together Oppose alongwith Mark Teague, an active STOPP member Power Plant) , first circulating a petition, then planning rallies, and author and illustrator of children' s books , j lobbying state officials , and finally hiring attorney Kenneth drive west from Athens toward the Catskill Mountains, past colo- McCallion, a Manhattan-based lawyer who had won $ 5 billion vial farms with wide-faced Dutch barns . As we pass each field, i in punitive damages for Alaskans after the Exxon Valdez oil spill . busy with goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace, I imagine Cole and f This June , STOPP sued the Army Corps of Engineers, alleg- his followers—Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, John Kensett I in g that the agency failed to conduct impact statements under setting up their easels to paint the mountains and river, the National Environmental Policy and National Historic "This area is not only famous for the history that hap - Preservation acts . The group also filed a motion to halt con- pened here, " Teague says . "It's famous as a landscape . With struction of the plant. A large sign in the center of town reads smokestack industry you' ll never be able to come to the Hud- `Athens Generating, It's not over yet! " but even before the son Valley and see it through the eyes of the Hudson River E court decides , Feder and Evans feel somewhat defeated. School painters ; you won't see what was here to inspire an ' i t� 1 . NOVEMBERIDECEMBER 200I t 37 I 1 • . . - r a • • • • • • • • • • • . • - • • • . • — 1 - • - • fill • • • — — • AMR i • • • • • 1 • • • • • • • • • • 1 • ' • i • 1 111 • to '. • • • • • • • • . t F . . F lI> w z,. � s r a �r� rr - r r:•! agT 'r'k r' � � 'ffi .,.r ,� : r L J t< � �. : . .1. r� P r J ' • •''r .n-? . F r YOli x r' f It" � + t "`Or ' f� • r .r 'i = w'" J Te ^kfi 4ja . .. Ly,t, 3 �•, •�- ,t' `nt ` +rrr' .;?' " •{ ]."• '•. " aS Alt t ,• . e. ,t ,,. •` rr",'.n \ ~ P ' . . sa laks r ,f -� ;k It b ., p} ( ��• j . } 'tF i s' fwj ► At It 0 it At t to Om aml, LL�„• ! .r • �� + ! .a . ItTto x`• °`r ' ' '.j' r , • ! r,tpLrry' µ., ,r • '1 •"' r J s Ago It ,`•+. ' 'F! 'lA'> t �y y'�,- ' fir , ' !` F i r • ' r frs '� i" • AT ..\ '. tk 2r?c ' • � `saT dp i •fi r:•• •It a , .•th' �s ' •All ' r }y`:.• a: } x tit to fit 14 I'll AI I At 4 4t , . ^ t , It y r+ • f 1 � J,Iftt "oo . ' + ' .� .4 ". V`g If r APO i� . y : • I ' t 016n At It JAI lo It It I AMC. I for lot I qs VIP � '! • ,• ` " may F• /. , ' � r• g1 - a + 4 � eT� 1 two 0r .,Jr Y j r•• _ t • It Y _5 of . 1 r 9 It oil AO i 4 Or 0*4 ♦ IS If � If t, 'r y r , Ittoo 7Is Ar PA *- 4At if *' fi ; FF � ' a + ,� .. r{ - r R 1 . 71 WO AM* it y . GFz PANN, It 2A Ito At of At long APJ vo �T N 4 7. Job !Jay' It It AIIIA y .rt71-trot III c.R `rF .G orIt A It - _ e _ +u`• r ing plant as proof that thee=�'1 .:_ - Indeed, the Athens proj- ' <� 3A addition of one more large <. - - . : 't ect divided the mid-Hudson industrial project would not ;- _ communities into those who Y4A*Aer,,, . be out of character with the u' ? � FF ,w, . t ' rr a4.r1,;.,rt �_��^ ( � wished to preserve the views 'f ' ' `' " ' '" "'-�_. ' ' - "` of the Hudson River School region . = e .3 - f : r;, i - On Aug . 13 , two days = and others who saw the plant IF- � after I met with sTOPP, afed- =1 1� ;=s .ar .�,�=-'--- =--s as a chance to add j C obs to the -£` ;� ' eral district court judge dis- region . The automated plant missed the group's motion , r ' . is estimated to employ 600 to halt construction of the ► ' fti� d workers for its two years of ' y � }- Athens plant . "While theAlp " sti5 construction but will supportlit ; court recognizes and appre- _ ` � . Q ► . w �, only 30 full-time jobs once it 1 � dates plaintiff s impassioned ' t begins to generate power. ] 1 jt opposition . . . " wrote the ; ' - sToPP member Mark judge , "the Army Corps per- L Teague , also on Cedar mitted and approved the Grove's board of governors, project based on its determination that . . . aesthetic impacts is less diplomatic : "I ' m ashamed. I think Cedar Grove took a would be eliminated or dramatically reduced by appropriate mit- very short-sighted view. They were so eager for funding to restore i : { igation measures . " that property that they clearly lost sight of the larger context. Cole t The judge referred to a memorandum of agreement stipu- would be rolling in his grave. His life's work was not a house in t . latmg concessions in exchange for permission to build. Acknowl- Catskill—it was a devotion to this landscape ." edging that the Athens plant would clash with its surroundings and significantly mar a historic landscape of national impor- E tance , the Army Corps cut a deal with the plant: PG & E could ORE THAN MERE PICTURES of rocks and OF build its smokestacks if it agreed to paint them green. trees , the art of the Hudson River School I The company argues that painting the industrial complex assigned a transcendent value to the land, a "hunter green" and "terra brown" will soften the plant's visual belief that contemplating nature led to spiritual enlighten- r impact, blending the industrial architecture into the surround- ment. In the early 19th century, America had few ruins , few ing hills and mountains like a chameleon . grand monuments to prove its greatness , but it did have land,,, Several preservation groups, including the National Trust, scapes vast and awful. And if the land did embody God, as the participated last year in negotiations for the memorandum of Romantics believed, then where but in America could one see agreement . Dissatisfied with the Article 10 siting process , a world more perfect, more true to God's first intentions? A I ; however, and convinced that the concessions would do little motif common to the Hudson River School is a rising sun, sym- ` to minimize the plant' s impact on the valley, the Trust bolizing the opportunity to create a new civilization from the backed away from the agreement and declined to sign as a virgin continent, concurring party. The painters who followed Thomas Cole to the Hudson Val- ; As another part of the mitigation deal, Athens Generating ley found that by the mid- 19th century much of the wilderness ; Will pay $ 2 . 5 million to local preservation groups to "enhance that had attracted them was gone or quickly vanishing. Even the scenic beauty of the Hudson River Valley." Of that money, Cole eventually encountered difficulties . He wrote in 1838 to ! . 11 $ 250 , 000 is earmarked for Cedar Grove , the estate and studio another Hudson River School painter : "I never succeed in of Thomas Cole in Catskill, four miles south of the Athens painting scenes , however beautiful, immediately on returning plant site—and the money is badly needed. The private foun- from them. I must wait for time to draw a veil over the common dation that manages Cole's handsome Federal yellow-brick details, the unessential parts, which shall leave the great features house with views of the Catskills has $ 25 , 000 in its operating dominant in the mind. " What were these unessential parts , budget. It sees the money as a chance to restore Cole' s white these common details? Were artists editing their work, brush- clapboard studio adjacent to the house . From the beginning, ing trees and cerulean skies over the river valley's brick foundries the Thomas Cole National Historic Site tacitly acknowledged and mills? Were they lying about the landscape? E that the new plant would affect historic views but never "I don't thinklyingis the right word," says Franklin Kelly, curia- s opposed the project. for of American and British paintings at the National Gallery of "We never took a position for or against the Athens power Art in Washington, D. C . , `but the Hudson River School painters plant, " says Robert Stackman, chairman of Cedar Grove's board knew their audience well . They knew that people wanted t of governors . "We couldn't. No matter what side vve chose to romanticized landscapes , and they delivered them . " come down on, we would have lost half our membership." Almost all of the Hudson River School paintings are r _ . NOVEMBERIDECEMBER 200I 39 , t i f1 t i 20 T I I r I O3ytFi 1ra. ?L: t:rea, ,t'• •fix , .t ' _ _ :art °.' :'1 Sri. r.,,R'f.-cT t.,:'u3:+ �S rya;••i ^i- `f•'t • T -�, t '{'t 1 . OFF FF OFF FIO ^/,,yy� 4- Ado f ' FF NIP < _ . OP FF IF ;,• i: i `+ . E`•C '?- :r• a:� 1!'. `, .t<_ .•t7 "d usp— J - t , C. t'+� It ifi• f}�lriry}�(�'-. �: • . ^-f:lstf,f�'i'»..�. crf`' • +y .1:�L•.lK.jfiti-,'�'. .3 ,_ l`" FF FL 4 _ • ,nr,'r .y ' ,- 1�. 'tTeYN. .rt." M - �: .::t, ..J. 4 4 'I' ' !..', .Fii ''Xi SR . Nt p , F OFF , For :a ' � ��' ' �,� _ + Ex`!• 3f - "; -`'i . 0 {41P ri is _`•r^ ` OF, IF 4 •f j �1t1 }.-� } t rt.{ -�i. ` �:'?`�• '� FF OFF, t' IOr, tt wn - O ;all .. \• . - OFF, F ' OF FFFL OF ad.- STEVE ROSENBERG, ABOVE, AT OLANA, FREDERIC CHURCHES „ Each new gene B ration must E VILLA; THE TOWER BEHHINDIND HIM WAS THE PAINTER'S decide for itself how to inter ret STUDIO , OPPOSITE, THE HUDSON RIVERFRONT PARK AT ATHENS this landscape , " says S eve Rosenberg , director of the Scenic story sawmill , but try to block out today's plant-a 400-foot Hudson Land Trust. smokestack, spewing a mile-long plume of steam , grinding out noise day and night, " i composite , fictionalized views ; none of its artists pretended CROSS THE HUDSON from Cole's modest Cedar to be documenting the land . Yet the school did begin to Grove rises the mansion built by his most illustrious reflect development in the valley. By 1850 , cows wander pupil, Frederic Church. Cole may have founded the into wild scenery. River vistas show an occasional mill or Hudson River School, but Church took the movement to the bank bridge , however picturesque . Stumps appear on the moun- at the height of its popularity. One of the most financially suc- tain peaks . Cole , a few years before his death , included his cessful 19th-century artists, he traveled widely beyond the riverval- own " common detail" : a locomotive steaming through River ley to Mexico, South America , and the Arctic in search of larger, in the Catskills ( 1843 ) . grander views . His most famous painting, Heart of the Andes , Though it's possible , as some Hudson River School scholars received a stunning commission of $ 10 ,000 . It toured London, argue , that these details were deliberate social commentary, a New York, and then smaller US. cities like a circus act. Church prow, + kind of proto -environmentalism responding to the destruction moted the painting tirelessly. More than 12,000 people paid 25 cents of nature , it is far more likely that the artists simply changed, to gape at the 10-foot-long canvas draped in curtains and buntinga admitting the possibility that architecture could lend something Church used the proceeds from Heart of the Andes to build positive to a landscape . If the Hudson River School artists Olana , an exotic Persian villa with 360-degree views of the river learned to incorporate elements of industry into their work, can valley. Now managed by New York's parks department, the we fit them into our lives as well? house museum and studio is the second most visited historic site "I've argued endlessly with some developers who point out in the valley (the Vanderbilt mansion in Hyde Park is number that the Hudson River School painters lived with industry," Kelly one) , receiving 300 , 000 visitors annually. says. "The artists even included it in their work, they say. But now Church came to Olana to enjoy and paint the scenery, but It it's a question of scale . Back then you could co-exist with a two- he also hoped to create a living-landscape painting out of the A uaFSRRVATION i 21 250- acre estate . He wrote in an unpublished letter in 1884 to mountains and river under a broad purple wash of sky. "I have "To be perfectly honest," says Rosenberg, pointing to the girl, Erastus Dow Palmer, a famous 19th-century sculptor : made about 13/a miles of road this season, opening entirely new "that's what we're working for. That's why it's so important to and beautiful views—I can make more and better landscapes in preserve these views , " this way than by tampering with canvas and paint in the studio. " I A century later, much of Church' s landscaping is over- grown with sumac and saplings ; his reflecting ponds are silted N THE EARLY DARKNESS of an August morning I pack a over, and his orchards and carriage roads are thickets. Olana flashlight, a notebook, and an umbrella into my car and stands to receive $ 750 , 000 from the Athens Generating mitiga- drive eight miles west of the Hudson to Pine Orchard. I rush tion trust, and plans to use the money to take the estate back to to reach the mountain ledge in time to see the sunrise and land- 1890 . The goal is to use the voluminous estate records and photo scape that launched Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School. tographs to present Olana exactly as Church saw it when he From the rocky overlook, several thousand feet high , the wandered out of his mansion with paint and canvas . Hudson Valley unfolds before me. Clouds stained scarlet from On the grassy spread in front of Olana, Steve Rosenberg, the morning light gather vast and luminous over ridges serrated director of the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, surveys the Hudson with pines . I feel ashamed to admit how quickly the place River in hazy, cicada-buzzing summer heat. He hopes to acquire seizes me . Under some romantic spell , I ponder the scenery— as much land visible from Olana as possible, purchasing property perfect, awesome , sublime , and development rights from farmers and other private landown- But as the sun rises red to yellow, the fantasy vanishes like the ers . Spreading a large map too heavy mists rolling off the , of the mid-Hudson on the : .Y Hudson . A raking light lawn in front of Church' s moves across the valley studio , he points to green � ! f.r revealing aline of transmis- i squares of lands , indicating d ;� .� ` sion wires that thread the the 738 acres owned or con- 3F foothills like steely sutures. A trolled by the Scenic Hud- railroad and several sprawl- son Land Trust . The Athens ing warehouses appear at the i power plant will be visible river's edge . I recognize the from Church's studio , and site of the Athens generating Rosenberg hopes to remove _ ` . _ plant and spot where St . rr land from the market to re- ° I p Lawrence proposes to erect E vent other industrial projects - = _ - - - = its cement factory. from spoiling the view, Overall the scene remains I lot He looks out at the river, beautiful. The industrial ele- ( ' a broad but gentle arc of ments would not yet prevent water curvingtoward the horizon. "It's satisfying to know that somephotographer from comin u here and sna 111 roll after ► fY g g P PP g we're preserving the scenery that Frederic Church looked out roll of picture-perfect postcards . But these details , these imperfect onto in the 19th century, " he says. "This is for posterity. " artifacts, wake me from the dream. But can one restore a landscape the way one restores a Walking back over the rocks , I notice they' re covered with I house? Can we preserve the view that Church saw in the 1890s centuries of graT'iti the names and initials of the many roman- I as he walked out onto this lawn in his slippers? More important, tic souls who climbed these steep mountain trails to view the val- should wO When does the Hudson River Valley, as a result of ley through the eyes of the Hudson River School . In their crisp (! . our protection, cease to be a living, dynamic community and serif script they read like tombstones : begin to resemble a museum, a memorial to dead painters? H. R.-1828 "Each new generation must decide for itself how to interpret J. Baily, Phil .- 1845 this landscape," Rosenberg says. "We're trying to guarantee that Lenore-1891 , future generations have that chance . Obviously, some devel. Reading over the names, I pause and wonder if the Hudson opment must be allowed to progress, but not if it interferes with Valley will ever achieve a perfect balance between its industry the character of this place . " and scenery. I wonder if one will ever be able to climb to these I A young girl , perhaps 9 or 10 years old, rests in the grass a mountain ledges and see the valley exactly as Thomas Cole saw few yards in front of us . Lying on her stomach with her legs it romantic, and wild. folded behind her, she dips a small brush into a glass canning Behind me , a raven croaks an answer. From the top of a i jar, muddy from her watercolors . In front of her, spread across hemlock, it dives with a flash of black wings , gliding low and i the grass, lie several large sheets of paper, each a scene of the heavy like a shadow over the rocks and into the valley. n I A NOVEMBERIDECEMBER 2001 41 i 1 � _ . . - .. . . . -