December 1989 GHPA Newsletter

FOR PRESERVATION NEWSLETTER OF THE GREATER HOUSTON PRESERVATION ALLIANCE

THE PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

T

his has been a I.andmazk year for historic preservation in Houston and for the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance.

Members of GHPA assumed leadersbip roles at the state level, representing us at the Preservation Texas Alliance. GHPA projects were recogniud on the national scene, in Preservation News. and we were participants at this year's National Preservation Conference in Philadelphia. GHPA board member Harriet Latimer has been elected to the national board of Preservation Action. Some of the most exciting news is that Texas Commerce Bank. received a 1989 Preservation Honor Award as one of the nation's most outstanding efforts in historic preservation.

Locally, our projects continue to focus on Houston's historic structures and districts. We

have provided grants and technical assistance to encourage community-based preservation efforts in inner city historic neighborhoods and have stepped up preservation planning for the Main Street/Market Square Historic District. We helped celebrate groundbreaking for the Pillot Building reconstruction. And, even as we were anguishing aver the devastating fire at the W. 1..

Foley and Kennedy Corner Buildings, we immediately began planning ways to ensure new uses for these and neighboring buildings.

Progress in local preservation is directly attributable to the dedication and support of many members and volunteers. Please join me in expressing appreciation to our board of directors for many hours of hard work and to Texas Commerce Bank. for generously allowing us to share their home.

Barrie Scardino

1989 PRESERVATION HONOR AWARD GOES TO TEXAS COMMERCE BANK RESTORATION

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS December 6 Annual GHPA Holiday Party, 1802 Harvard, 5:30-8:00 p.m.

December 15 Houston Archeological and Historical Commission, Call Nell Lindquist, 247-1238 December 18 GHPA Board Meeting, 712 Main Street, Suite 110, 12:00 noon.

December 20 GHPA Walking Tour, Main Street/Market Sq_ Historic District, 12:00 noon, call 236-5000_ December 24 Christmas Eve_ No walking tour scheduled.

January 15 GHPA Board Meeting, 712 Main Street, Suite 110, 12:00 noon.

January 17 GHPA Walking Tour, Main Street/Market Sq. Historic District, 12:00 noon, call 236-5000.

January 19 Houston Archeological and Historical Commission, Call Nell Lindquist, 247-1238 January 25 GHP A Annual Meeting and Good Brick. Awards. Houston Heights Main Street Project Area Reservations required. Call 236-5000 for infonnation.

January 28 GHPA Walking Tour, Main Street/Market Sq. Historic District, 2:00 p.m., call 236-5000.

January 29 Preservation Texas Alliaru:e, Austin, call Mike Davis, 739-4615.

TEXAS COMMERCE BANK RESTORATION RECEIVES 1989 NATIONAL TRUST PRESERVATION HONOR AWARD The only Texas recipient of this year's National Trust Preservation Honor Award was Texas Commerce Bank Houston, with Sikes, Jennings, Kelly & Brewer, for the outstanding restoration of the historic Gulf Building. The thirty-five story building, constructed in 1929 by Houston financier Jesse H. Jones,

was designed by Houston architect Alfred C. Finn and New York architect Kenneth Franzheim It is the foremost example of an Art Deco skyscraper in Texas.

Texas Commerce Bank exhibited an enlightened regard for the high public esteem in which this building is held in deciding to renovate according to the Secretary of the Interior's standards for historic building restoration. They have preserved externally and internally one of Houston's premier landmarks and furnished an important model for restoration of future historic commercial properties in Houston.

The Greater Houston Preservation Alliaru:e salutes Texas Commerce Bank for this incomparable gift to Houston!

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HOUSTON CITY HALL, LANDMARK OF NEW DEAL

ERA, CELEBRATES 50TH

by Stephen Fox Houston City Hall celebrates the 50th anniversary of i~ dedication in December 1989, an occasion marked by the nomination of the City Hall and Hamann Square to the National Register of Historic Places by the Texas Historical Commission's Board of Review on September 30.

1be nomination application was prepared pro bono publico by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance and the Houston Archeological and Historical Commission at the request of Mayor Kathryn J. Whitmire.

Designed by the well-known Houston architect Joseph Fmger, the 10-story City Hall is an excellent example of Modernistic architecture, the modem style of the New Deal era. Like many public buildings erected in Texas during the 19305 and '405, it is faced with Texas Cordova shell limestone and decorated inside and out with sculpture and painting. The Beaumont sculptor Herring Coe, assisted by Raoul Josset, executed the sculptural figures and plaques on the exterior of City Hall Daniel MacMorris, a decorative painter from Kansas City, was responsible for the plaster relief ~rk and nickel medallion in the main lobby. 1be lobbies, the Bagby Street stair hall, the Council Chamber, the Mayor's offices, and the Council Members' offices all contain notable Modernistic detail Hermann Square, the block of property in front of City Hall, was bequeathed to the City of Houston in 1914 by George H. Hermann as a public park. It was completely redesigned by the Kansas City landscape architec~ Hare & Hare with i~ present shellstone retaining walls, terraced lawns, encircling live oaks, and reflecting basin in conjunction with the construction of City Hall 1be removal of city offices to the Civic Center in 1939 ended the l00-year-Iong ascendancy of Market Square as the center of local government in Houston.

Houston City Hall was one of many public buildings constructed across the U.S. with assistance from the Public Works Administration (J'WA), which was authorized in 1933. In Houston, Mirabeau B. Lamar and Stephen F. Austin high schools were built with PWA subsidies, as were the Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall, the now-abandoned Jefferson Davis Hospital on Allen Parkway, the San Jacinto Monument, the now-demolished FIre Alarm Building in Sam Houston Park, the Science Building, the first building on the campus of the University of Houston, and the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal and Hangar at what Other New Deal is now Hobby Airport. depression-relief programs are represented in Houston. Houston Gardens on Homestead Road in northeast Houston was one of the earliest projec~ of the Suburban Resettlement Division of the Resettlement Administration when it opened in 1935. Under the auspices of the United States Housing Authority, four "slum clearance" housing complexes for low income families were built by the Housing Authority of the City of Houston: Cuny Homes, Kelly Courts, Irvinton Courts, and what is now the San Felipe Courts Historic District.

Sma1ler-scale programs included the Public Works

The PWA and i~ allied agencies changed the American landscape, politically as well as architecturally, and their artifaru constitute important historical landmarks. As landmarks of "recent" history, however, their importance is easily underestimated if not overlooked.

Nomination of Houston City Hall to the National Register should awaken Houstonians--and especially the city and county governmen~, school board, housing authority, and other relevant agencies--to the value of these properties and the necessity of planning for their preservation and continued use.

mSTORIC PRESERVATION AND THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S ARCHEOLOGICAL AND mSTORICAL COMMISSION

by Patricia D. Knudson, Acting Director Department of Planning and Development

Art Project of the Civil Works Administration,

responsible for the series of murals painted in the Julia ]deson Building of the Houston Public Library by three Houston artists, Emma Richardson Cherry, Ruth Pershing Uhler, and Angela McDonnel Another was the Historic American Buildings Survey, directed in this region by Birdsall P. Briscoe. HABS prepared measuring drawings of four Houston buildings, including the Kellum-Noble House and NicholsRice-Cherry House, both now located in Sam Houston Park.

Texans held a number of key administrative positions in different federal relief agencies. The most prominently placed Houstonian was the developer, banker, and publisher Jesse H. Jones, who served successively as chairman of the Reconstruction Fmance Corporation and as Secretary of Commerce.

The Houston Archeological and Historical Commission will be putting on a new face for 1990, reflecting a face lift the Department of Planning and Development has gone through during the last 5 months. The most notable change relating to historic preservation is the reestablishment of a staff position assigned to work with the Commission. Nell Lindquist, whom many of you already know, will be occupying this position and will be ~rking with the Commission full time. ]n this capacity, she will be re-assigned to the Comprehensive Planning Division of the Department where she will be responsible for the development of the historical/archeological research for the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Houston. The Department has also instituted a formalized internship program, in cooperation with several of our local universities. We hope to

attract students with an interest in historic preservation who can assist in the development and growth of our preservation activities, including the completion of the survey of historic structures in Houston.

The assistance of the Commission in the development of the historical/ archeological section of the Comprehensive Plan will be requested. The preservation of Houston's historically significant structures, documentation of Houston's past, and the education of Houston's residents on the value of historical properties is important to the City. The Commission should have a voice as the City moves to the 1990's, and we hope it will participate in the development of a meaningful plan that can be implemented. A comprehensive strategy for the historical/archeological development of the city is critical as a plan for the city to achieve its goals. 1990 will be an exciting year for the Commission and the Department is looking forward to continued partnership with renewed spirit.

If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions or comments regarding Houston's Historical and Archeological Commission, please feel free to contact the Department. You may call Patricia D. Knudson, Acting Director, or Nell Lindquist, Planner II. The mailing address is P. O. Box 1562, City Hall Annex, 4th Floor, Planning and Development Department, Houston, Texas 77251.

HEIGHTS MAIN STREET PROJECf

by Angela Kerr Smith The Houston Heights Main Street Project, formed in 1988 as a private/public partnership between the Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Houston, is a revitalization program for the historic commercial district of the Houston Heights.

Although several years will be required to fully

reverse the effects of a neglected area, through widespread community support and involvement much has been accomplished in the last two years.

One of the ways to track the success of the Main Street Program is through private sector reinvestment in the district. Since January, 1988, 29 buildings have been rehabilitated; 24 new business initiated, relocated or expanded into the district; and approximately 148 new jobs created.

The total private sector reinvestment to date is $1,852,851.

Early in the project, seven area financial institutions pledged their support for the program by establishing a low interest loan program to encourage facade and roof renovation. The pool of $140,000 is available for commercial buildings located within the district only. Loans are available from $2,500 to $10,000 at 5% and require both financial and design approval.

In 1988, work began on an analysis and comprehensive plan for public improvements for the district. The Main Street Design Commission, chaired by Kelly Thompson, worked with Slaney Santana Group to develop the "Heights Now!" plan to plant street trees along major thoroughfares into the district, and add angled parking, a public plaza, street trees and furniture to 19th Street. In addition, the plan calls for the redevelopment of Nicholson from an old abandoned railroad street to a beautiful tree路lined boulevard complete with hike路and路bike trail.

pocket so significant to the development of Houston!

For more information on the Houston Heights Main Street Project, please call Angela Kerr Smith, Executive Director, at 713/861-6735.

MAIN STREET/MARKET SQUARE HISTORIC DISTRICT TASK FORCE In 1988, the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance joined representatives from the Downtown Houston Association, Central Houston, Inc., the City of Houston's Archeological and Historical Commission, the Market Square Association, and others to form the Main Street/Market Square Task Force.

The goal of the Task Force is to create strategies for preserving and redeveloping Houston's Main Street/Market Square National Register Historic District as a vibrant, urban historic area. Toward this end, the Task Force has undertaken several projects.

A walking tour brochure about the historic district has been completed and will be available for distribution early in 1990. This brochure will complement the Preservation Alliance's twice-a-month walking tour of the district.

Phase I of "Heights Now!" is a tree-planting project called Trees for Yale. Trees for Yale (in conjunction with Trees for Houston) will plant 675 live oak trees from North Loop 610 south to Washington Avenue. Planting will begin this month and should be completed by March of 1990.

Task Force participants have completed surveys of property ownership in the district and of consumer attitudes and awareness about businesses and attractions located within the district.

The most exciting accomplishment of the Heights Main Street Program is the increased awareness of the district by Heights residents, both past and present. Many people living in the area are rediscovering this quaint historic

Information has been compiled about public and private financial incentive programs relevant to the district. A series of design charettes were held for the purpose of identifying new development possibilities.

In September, the Preservation Alliance contracted with Team HOU, Inc. and Euclid Street Studio to produce a marketing brochure, "Main Street/Market Square Historic District, The Birthplace of Houston. " Grants and funding for this brochure and related marketing products have been received from the City of Houston through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, the College of Fellows Fund of the American Architectural Foundation, and the Downtown Houston Association.

Houston's next National Register Historic District. The Willow Street Pump Station was Houston's first municipal incinerator and part of the city's first sewage-treatment system, remaining in service as a wastewater booster station until 1984. All three buildings are constructed of dark red, pressed brick with thin mortar joints, exemplifying fine turn-ofthe century architectural design for industrial buildings. The molded brick arches of the pump house are especially good examples of brick detailing of the period.

The brochure will be used to promote the potential of the Main Street/Market Square Historic District as an important asset to the city, a unique resource that can be developed as an attraction for both residents and tourists, providing economic benefits to property owners and businesses in the district and to the city at large.

Aside from the architectural interest of the structures, the site itself is believed to be the historic location of the 19th century Allen Steam Mill, operated by the family of Houston's founders, Augustus and John Kirby Allen. The location offers a commanding view of the skyline of downtown Houston and of the Art Deco style University of Houston Downtown, known historically as the Merchants and Manufacturing Building.

Throughout the coming year, the brochure will be used in presentations by the Task Force to property owners, potential investors, and business and government leaders.

A partnership must be developed between public and private entities in order to leverage the private investment required for successful preservation and redevelopment of Houston's only commercial historic district.

REUSE OF WILLOW STREET PUMP STATION PROPOSED BY CACH A new arts center at the 1901102 city-owned Willow Street Pump Station may soon become part of the revitalization of Houston's historic waterfront. The Cultural Arts Council of Houston (CACH) has applied to the National Endowment for the Arts for funding to create an arts center in this vacant three-building complex at 821 San Jacinto, located near Allens Landing at the confluence of White Oak and Buffalo Bayous.

The complex is an important contributor to the historic significance and overall ambiance of the Warehouse District, which may become

The CACH proposal envisions the main building of the Willow Street Pump Station complex as a performance facility. the warehouse structure as an exhibition space, and the pump station itself as a small cafe with a rooftop terrace. A recently abandoned railroad bridge across White Oak Bayou adjacent to the complex presents an opportunity to develop a pedestrian bridge between the arts center and the University of Houston Downtown, proposed as the location of a future Metro station.

The Willow Street Pump Station arts center would be a significant revitalization project in the Allen's Landing area, where several other publicly funded projects are being built, including a waterfront park at the foot of the new Harris County Jail and a hike-and-bike trail along White Oak Bayou. The presence of Houston Studios, the recently relocated DiverseWorks, and artists' lofts and studios within the Warehouse District attest to the validity of the CACH project as an interface among the arts, preservation and neighborhood development.

FROM THE DIRECfOR In October, I was fortunate to be able to attend the National Preservation Conference in Philadelphia The National Trust for Historic Preservation chose the national housing issue, with its special problems and opportunities, as the focus and theme of this year's conference_ For two days during this four-day conference, housing specialists, leading preservationists, neighborhood activists, government leaders, and others came together to discuss strategies of providing affordable, low- and moderate-income housing through renovation and continued use of existing housing stock in older and historic neighborhoods. These sessions offered substantive, in-depth studies of some of the challenges our nation faces in providing housing for all its citizens.

Speakers represented local, state, and national perspectives. Case studies were presented from both urban and rural settings. Site visits were made to a variety of project types in the Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey area. 100 applications of federal rehab tax credits, federal low-income housing credits and other financing techniques were examined and discussed GHPA secretary Mike Davis was a participant in one of these sessions.

Excerpts from his presentation will be included in the next issue of & Preservation.

The conference addressed ~ other preservation issues, including local preservation planning and protection, community organizing and advocacy, and heritage education.

Texas Commerce Bank was the only Texas recipient this year of a Preservation Honor Award, being recognized for the outstanding restoration of the historic Gulf Building.

The award is well deserved Drop in and take a look for yoursel(

M tmlie Elliott

• . VOL UNTEER We are still taking names of volunteers for our speakers bureau. Several people have expressed an interest in taking part, and we'll be getting together a list of subjects after the first of the year. This is an enjoyable way to meet new people from organizations that may not be familiar with historic preservation.

We also need additional volunteers to help out with our twice-a-month walking tours of the Main Street/Market Square District. Kathy Wild and

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other members of the Tours Committee have already developed this tour and are standing by to orient new docents and help them get started.

Please give us a call If you are interested in volunteering in any aspect of historic preservation in Houston, call the GHPA office at 236-5000. We have some interesting committee activities coming up in 1990!

1990 ANNUAL MEETING The Program and Awards Committees are at work on plans for the January Annual Meeting.

Plans include an intimate candlelight dinner, a very brief business meeting, presentation of Good Brick. Awards, and nationally recogniud speaker. Announcements will be mailed in early January, so watch your mail carefully. Advance reseIVations will be available on a first·comefirst-seIVed basis; space will be limited.

NON-PROFIT ORG.

The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance 712 Main Street, Suite 110 Houston, Texas 77002-3207

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