September 1988 GHPA Newsletter

FOR rRESER\;;,TION NEWSLETIER OF THE GREATER HOUSTON PRESERVATION ALLIANCE September 1988

GHPA CALENDAR OF EVENTS Sunday, October 9, 1988, 2:30 p.m.

A Walk Along Texas Avenue - Tour guide will be Stephen Fox of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas. Meet at the Texas Commerce Center, Main Street at Texas Avenue.

Texas Avenue is Downtown Houston's principal east-west thoroughfare. This guided walk will include a history of commercial buildings, churches, hotels, residences, and the significant role which transportation played in the history of the avenue.

Monday, October 17, 1988, Noon GHPA Board of Directors Monthly Meeting, 712 Main Street.

GHPA members are invited and encouraged to attend.

Monday, November 14, 1988, Noon GHPA Board of DIrectors Monthly Meeting, 712 Main Street.

GHPA members are invited and encouraged to attend.

December, 1988 GHPA Christmas Event Thursday, January 19, 1989 GHPA Annual Meeting

VISIT THE FARMERS MARKET AT MARKET SQUARE EACH FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 8:00 am until 5:00 pm

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GHPA SUBMITS TWO CIF GRANT APPLICATIONS GHPA volunteers have worked countless hours preparing grant applications for the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Critical Issues Fund. CIF assistance Is being sought for historic preservation projects In the Main Street/Market Square Historic District and also In the Freedman's Town and San Felipe Courts historic districts.

A CIF grant for the Main Street/Market Square District would be part of the funds being raised for the development of a master plan for the district, focusing upon the Market Square area. The GHPA Is an active participant In the consortium of groups working to preserve and enhance the historic resources in downtown Houston.

The GHPA's Fourth Ward and Allen Parkway Village committees have jointly submitted a CIF application to support the preservation of both the publically-held and privately-owned lowIncome housing units In historic structures within the Fourth Ward's two historic districts - the Freedman's Town and San Felipe Courts National Register districts. The GHPA committees are coordinating preservation actions In the area with local community-based organizations.

GHPA volunteers who prepared these excellent applications are to be commended for donating their time and expertise. Word on funding Is expected In November 1988.

acceptable recreation of the upper floors and preservation of the ground floor cast iron facade. The City Partnership has stated Its Intention to see that the building is restored.

The Houston Municipal Airport Terminal is a welcome site for preservationists who find themselves at Hobby Airport. The original Houston Municipal Airport terminal building has recently benefited from a much needed exterior restoration and interior stabilization carried out by the City of Houston Aviation Department. GHPA board member Barry Moore, FAIA, was Involved In planning the restoration job. Thanks to the Aviation Department for the foresight to preserve this Important historiC public building.

The Sixth Ward/Sabine lost two historic houses to the wrecking ball. The Greek Revival cottage and a shotgun house were placed on the City's Dangerous Buildings list, prompting the property owner to tear down the historic houses. Preservation minded neighbors Bill Weatherford and Bill Gay worked with GHPA members Charles Maynard, Barrie Scardino, and Mike Davis to develop an emergency strategy to move the buildings.

Unfortunately, the owner's decision to demolish the houses was not reversed. However, the event has renewed the GHPA's Sabine Committee efforts to pursue housing preservation plans for the historic district.

SABINE UPDATE HISTORIC BUILDINGS UPDATE The Pillot Building was again In the news in June. The bulldlng, now referred to as a "Houston Landmark" by local reporters, suffered additional damage when the remaining roof structure collapsed. Building officials feared that the walls would fall and that the building was a threat to public safety.

Doug Crosson, Development Manager for the City Partnership, the redeveloper of the building, worked with Mark Denton of the Texas Antiquities Committee to arrive at an agreement for limited demolition of the structure. As a result, the walls were demolished down to the first floor level. The A. U. Davis Company worked tirelessly to save as much of the cast iron and bricks as possible. Cast iron pieces from the upper two floors were retained and are being preserved for use in the building's planned restoration.

Preservation Alliance members Barrie Scardino and Nla Becnel were among many preservationists who watched the situation and offered assistance. Although demolition was regrettable, the concerted efforts of the developer, contractor, and preservationists resulted In a compromise situation that keeps the door open for an

The Sixth Ward Park, located adjacent to St. Joseph's Church, was dedicated during the St. Joseph's Mulit-Ethnic Festival on September 24. GHPA Past President Minnette Boesel worked with the developer of the park, the Multi-Ethnic Cultural Arts Committee (MECA), in fundraising and in locating donations of landscape design and engineering services. GHPA member Scott Slaney, of the Slaney Santana Group, donated landscape design services.

The park is a major community revitalization project for the Sixth Ward/Sabine Historic District. The Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association hopes that this investment will encourage revitalization of housing in the area.

The neighborhood association and the GHPA continue to plan for historic preservation in the district. The recommendations Included in the Old Sixth Ward/Sabine Preliminary Preservation and Revitalization ~ remain the basis for organizing neighborhood projects. The GHPA's Sabine Committee is currently evaluating ways to leverage existing housing rehabilitation funds to support as much rehab work as possible.

If you would like to work with the Sabine Committee, please call Mike Davis, at 739-4615.

3 HERMANN HOSPITAL BUILDING REHABILITATION Shrouded in scaffolding since late summer, the original building of Hermann Hospital, at Fannin Street and Outer Belt Drive in the Texas Medical Center, is undergoing restoration of its exterior and portions of its principal interior public spaces. This is part of a $40 million, 3-year rehabilitation project involving the three buildings that together comprise Hermann Hospital, the oldest institution in the Texas Medical Center.

Melinda Hill Perrin, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hermann Hospital Estate, the foundation that owns and operates the hospital, is responsible for winning the board's approval for the restoration activity. The Cullen Pavilion, as the 63-year old Spanish Renaissance detailed building is now known, was slated for remodeling as part of a general hospital improvement program. Mrs. Perrin recognized the architectura1historical value of the original building and the loss entailed, not only to the hospital, but to the community at large, if the integrity of its distinctive architecture was undermined by insensitive alterations. She secured the appointment of Austin architects Bell &Hoffman as restoration consultants in 1986.

Under the direction of principal David Hoffman, a manual of design standards has been prepared to guide future alterations, furnishings, and maintenance of the Cullen Pavilion. Hoffman is overseeing restoration of the exterior, which involves repair of the clay tile surfaced roofs, restoration of the original cypress-framed windows, repairs to the building's south-facing tier of balconies, and the waterproofing of its stucco-faced exterior walls. His firm is exploring possibilities for the rehabilitation of the entry foyer, a brilliantly decorated sequence of vaulted spaces featuring exceptional art tile work.

NEW MUSEUM EXHIBIT ON ARCHEOLOGY

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The Houston Archeological Society's exhibit HOUSTON ARCHEOLOGY: OUR HERITAGE UNDERGROUND opens at the Museum of Texas History, located downtown in Sam Houston Park, 1100 Bagby, on October 9, 1988, running through November 14. Museum hours are Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m., and Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The exhibit illustrates 10,000 years of the lifestyles of Native Americans in prehistoric southeast Texas, of early settlers in the region that would become Houston, and of nineteenth century Houston itself. On view from local excavations are numerous artifacts never before pub1icaly exhibited, including prehistoric tools and utensils of everyday life, personal ornaments made of bone and shell, and a thousand-year old bone flute. Artifacts and results of excavations into early nineteenth century Houston demonstrate the contribution of archeological research into historic period sites.

Group tours are available through advance reservation on an as-space-is-avai1ab1e basis.

Several related events are scheduled at the Museum of Texas History: Demonstrations on pottery making, flintknapping, and American Indian fo1kcraft will be given on October 16, 23, 30, and November 6: Forensic sculptor Betty Pat Gatliff will recreate the face of a female member of a Galveston Island Indian tribe, October 25-30: Archeologists will discuss various local projects in Gallery Talks at Noon on October 26, November 2 and 9.

Architectural standards and building code requirements affecting the hospitals are not always congruent with the imperatives of restoration and historically attentive rehabilitation. But Hermann Hospital's Cullen Pavilion is just the sort of landmark building that makes confronting and resolving such challenges worthwhile. By respectfully rehabilitating its architecturally and historically important properties, the Hermann Hospital Estate is setting a valuable, and badly needed, precedent for other institutions in the Texas Medical Center. Environmental well-being is a legitimate extension of a health care institution's public responsibility to contribute to good health. It is heartening to see that the Hermann Hospital Estate discharges its responsibility with such seriousness.

The 59th Annual Meeting of the Texas Archeological Society will be held October 28-30 at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Houston. Archeologists from the Houston area and throughout the state will be discussing results of recent projects. Several papers on the 1987-99 Houston excavations by Texas A&M University along White Oak Bayou will be presented. A cocktail reception, museum tour, and banquet are on the Saturday evening program.

This year's special banquet speaker will be Dr. David Hurst Thomas, Curator of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Registration is open to the public.

Exhibit sponsors are the Houston Archeological Society and the Harris County Heritage Society. HOUSTON ARCHEOLOGY: OUR HERITAGE UNDERGROUND is being funded in part by grants from the Texas Committee for the Humanities and from the City of Houston through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston. Ms. Gatliff's work is being sponsored by KPRC-TV. For more information, contact Margie Elliott, 682-3556.

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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS Thank you to these new members who have recently joined to the GHPA: Mr. Cary Pasternak Ms. M. Ellen Cruse Ms. Julie White Ms. Joan Denkler Ms. Patty Gay Ms. Lorraine Gibbons Ms . Dominique Brousseau Ms. Harriet Bedudue, Cherry House Moving The Golden Eye Mr. and Mrs. C. Breck Kean Mr. Meyer Goldberg Ms. Laurie Domingue Ms. Martha Green Ms. Donna Duplichan Mrs. Henry Harding Ms. Karen Haigler Mr. Henry Harrison Ms. Karen Rose Mr. Jeff Horowitz Jeff and Kathy Taebel Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Lee Mr. J. Haggood Tighe Mr. Mark Meyer Ms. Janet Anderson Mr. Frank Mustachia Mr. Jeff Baloutine Linda and Terry Ott Mr. Stephen Brooks Ms. Mara Porper Mr. E. H. Carothers Mr. David Rosenberg Ron and Carolyn Crockett Mr. Joseph Rosenberg Ms. Betty Purcell

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FOR PRESERVATION is published as a membership service of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. Editor -Mike Davis