Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-07-09 18-277 ORDINANCETitle, Ordinance CITY COUNCIL ACTION Council Meeting Date: July 9, 2018 Item No: 18-277 Responsible Dept: Planning Action Requested: Ordinance 18-277 7/9/2018 Map/Lot: 041-062 Amending Chapter 148, Historic Preservation, Section 148-5, by adding the land and building at 29 Franklin Street, also known as the Pierce Block, to the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District. Summary This ordinance amendment would add the land and building at 29 Franklin Street to the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District. The building at 29 Franklin Street, also known as the Pierce Block, was recently purchased by Cressey, Butler & Cohen, LLC. This firm wishes to convert the building from professional office to mixed commercial and residential, and will be making extensive renovations to the building. The applicant intends to restore the historic character of the fagade of the building, and hopes to receive a Historic Preservation Tax Credit for the work they are performing. In order to be eligible for these credits, the building must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, or be included in a local historic district which is included on the National Register. The Great Fire of 1911 Historic District is one such district. Initial investigation indicates that the building was constructed in 1912 in the aftermath of the fire by noted local architect C. Parker Crowell, and directly abuts other properties in the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District. The building is also of a significant and unique architectural character. The property is therefore appropriate for inclusion in the district. Committee Action Committee: Historic Preservation Commission Action: Staff Comments & Approvals Meeting Date: July 12, 2018 For: Against: City Man er City Nicitor Finance Director Introduced for: First Reading and Referral CITY COUNCIL ORDINANCE Date: July 9, 2018 Assigned to Councilor: Graham 18-277 7/9/2018 ORDINANCE, Amending Chapter 148, Historic Preservation, Section 148-5, by adding the land and building at 29 Franklin Street, also known as the Pierce Block, to the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District WHEREAS, the present owner of the building at 29 Franklin Street has applied to add their property to the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District; and WHEREAS, the building in question was built in 1912, in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1911, by noted local architect C. Parker Crowell, directly abuts other properties in the district, and is of a unique and significant architectural character; and WHEREAS, the above facts support the property's inclusion in the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District; BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BANGOR AS FOLLOWS, THAT Chapter 148 of the Code of the City of Bangor is amended as follows: § 148-5 Historic districts, historic sites and historic landmarks designated. The following described lands, buildings or structures or areas of the City are designated historic districts, historic sites or historic landmarks, as follows: A. Historic Districts. (7) Great Fire of 1911, Historic District. An area generally bounded on the east by Park Street and French Street, on the north by the properties on the northeasterly side of Harlow Street, on the west by the properties on the northwesterly side of Central Street and Franklin Street, and on the south by the properties on the northerly side of State Street and the properties on the northerly side of York Street, said area being described more particularly on a plan entitled "Historic Districts - Great Fire of 1911 Historic District" on file in the office of the City Clerk. Additions are underlined, deletions str-wek-thfeugh. BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BANGOR AS FOLLOWS, THAT 18-277 7/9/2018 The plan entitled "Historic Districts — Great Fire of 1911 Historic District" on file in the office of the City Clerk is hereby amended as shown in Exhibit A attached hereto. 18-277 JULY 09, 2018 18-277 JULY 9, 2018 APPLICATION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE AMENDMENT RE Co' E i V To the Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Bangor, Maine: JUN 2 0 2018 l I (We) Cressy, Butler & Cohen, LLCM , & Elid Flaiiriirig Name(y) of 7 Spencer Street, Orono. ME. 04473 Full Mailing Address hereby petition to amend the Historic Preservation Ordinance of the City of Bangor, Maine by Z ADDING TO D REMOVING FROM the established historic districts, sites, and landmarks, the property shown on the maps attached hereto, which are part of this application, and described as follows: 1. ADDRESS OF PROPERTY: 3. DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY: 4. HISTORIC DISTRICT OR LANDMARK: (if applicable) 5. NAME AND ADDRESS OF OWNER OF RECORD 29 Franklin Street Bangor, ME 04401 Map 041 Lot 062 Building at 29 Franklin Street, known as the Peirce Block Great Fire District Cressy, Butler & Cohen, LLC 7 Spencer Street Orono, ME 04473 Please attach map and narrative describing the requested change and justification for adding or removing the building / property from the historic district or landmark. Signed Please see §148-4,for further Adds on the Date u bol 19, for establishing historic districts, sits & Ondmarks RETURN THIS FORM TO THE STAFF COORDINATOR IN THE COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPAR TMENTA T BANGOR CITY HALL 15 P11.1111 C.A-R TE IR Architectur'7f Design LLC 18-277 JULY 9, 2018 ijesign, LLC ,Suite 66 4401 June 20,11, 2018 Scan Gambrel, GISP Planner & Historic Preservationist City of Bangor 73 Harlow Street Bangor, ME 04401 RE: 29 Franklin Street — Great Fire District Amendment Sean, I am assisting Abe Furth, Heather Furth and Roy Hubbard (collectively Cressey, Butler & Cohen LLC) with their plan to develop the building they have recently purchased at 29 Franklin Street to be new apartments that will serve the downtown Bangor rental housing market. Part of their development plan is to obtain National Register Status for the building so that the project can have access to state and local historic preservation tax credits. As a first step to achieve National Register Status, we are requesting that the building be added to the adjacent Great Fire Historic District as a contributing structure. When it was constructed in 1912, the building was designated as the Pierce Block, so named after its owner, Anna Hayford Peirce. The Peirce block was one of a large number of downtown business buildings constructed in the aftermath of the Great Bangor Fire of 1911, which is why we find it directly adjacent to the Great Fire Historic District among buildings of similar style and vintage to those that are situated within the district.I.,ocal architect C. Parker Crowell received over a dozen post -fire building commissions, the Peirce Block and the EasternTrust Buildings (also erected in 1912) being his two major projects as part of the immediate recovery effort. The Peirce Building is a particularly fine example of the commercial architecture raised in Bangor during the great rebuilding of 1911- 1915. 911-1915. Like much of Crowell's work, the building defies stylistic categorization. The unusual device of wreaths hanging from the cornice brackets is vaguely Beaux- Arts. Tying the tops of each bay -panel together with horizontal tracery was a feature commonly used in Romanesque Revival buildings, although the bays in this case are segmental and flat rather than arched. The apparent thinness of the front faqade's wall, caused by shallow recesses in the pilasters and window -panels, as well as the large amount of glass area in the facade, give the wall the effect of a 18-277 JULY 9, 2018 screen, which is a hallmark of Chicago Style architecture. The structure is singular for combining so many architectural influences so successfully and is indicative of Crowell's unique design skill. For a brief time in 1983, the building had National Register Status as a result of an application submitted to the Park Service by one Donald T. Cohen (no relation to the current building owners), when he purchased and developed the building to be office and retail space, a project which he completed in 1984. The building was added to the register based on the historic quality of Crowell's design, Unfortunately, 29 Franklin Street lost its National Register Status and was removed from the fist a year later as a result of Mr. Cohen's renovation, which added a two-story atrium space across the front of the building. The purpose of the atrium was to provide access to the basement level and the spaces that were developed there for rental to various restaurant businesses. While the atrium may have made economic sense for Mr. Cohen's building development plan, it also had the effect of obscuring and disrupting the architectural integrity of C. Parker Crowell's design, by blocking visual and physical access to the facade and the storefronts located there, Also, the fenestration of the existing historic storefronts was removed and replaced with large interior windows that overlooked the atrium, which further disrupted the historic nature of the property. Today, the building remains largely unchanged since the atrium was added in 1984. The building has no historic status, whether on the federal, state or local level. Cressey, Butler & Cohen's plan to renovate the building contemplates removing some or all of the problematic features wrought by the 1984 renovation in order to re-establish historic status for the building. In working with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission (MHPC) to understand how the property needs to be changed to achieve this goal, we have come to understand that an -long the possible paths to National Register status, the most direct route is to request the addition of the property to the Great Fire District which, as mentioned above, is located directly adjacent to the Peirce Black and its site. The building would be added as a contributing structure, emphasizing its importance to the overall historic context of the district, instead of the distinctness of its architectural design. We understand that some effort must be made to undo some of the changes that caused the building to lose its historic status previously. Specifically, some aspects of the atrium changes must be removed to get the building closer to its original configuration. At this point, the extent to which the atrium must be altered is unclear. We are pursuing further discussions with the MHPC to clearly define how the building must be changed to satisfy their concerns. That is clear after our initial discussions.is that the glass greenhouse enclosing the atrium will need to be removed from the building no matter how the project is 18-277 JULY 9, 2018 ultimately configured. That step has already achieved a successful design review from the Bangor Historic Preservation Commission (BHPC) and will be underway shortly. The next step of this process is to get the building added to the Great Fire District by the City of Bangor and follow up this process, by working with the MHPC to obtain National Register Status for the building after the building is added to the district on the local level. Once that process is complete, we expect to understand all of the requited changes we will have to implement at the Peirce Block to allow the project to move forward as an historically significant property. Therefore, we request that the Bangor City Council and the Bangor Historic Preservation Commission grant our request to add the Peirce Block to the Great Fire District as a contributing structure, where it rightly belongs as a result of is history, it's massing and its design. Many thanks for your kind consideration of our project. Matthew G. Carter, AIA, NCARB, LEEDA" Maine Licensed Architect Carter Architectural Design, LLC Enclosed: Great Fire District Amendment Map, dated 06/20/18 cc: Abe Furth, Heather Furth, Roy Hubbard, Michael Goebel -Bain A$ MAIN STREET -"--WEST MARKET SQUARE 0 0.03 0.06 0.12 in! HISTORIC DISTRICT HISTORIC DISTRICT 1 N ., ., � I 0 U5 ol 0,2 km 18-277 JULY 9, 2018 EXHIBIT A: PLAN ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK GREAT FIRE OF 1911 DISTRICT R T E; jazoa3m Apt>rrior,4 2.9 S-ME'El- oil W� IN CITY COUNCIL JULY 9, 2018 COr 18-277 FIRST READING AND REFERRAL TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING ON JULY 12, 2018 4,0 CITY CLE IN CTTY COUNCIL JULY 23, 2018 COr 18-277 MOTION MADE AND SECONDED FOR PASSAGE VOTE: 9-0 COUNCILORS VOTING YES: DAVITT, GRAHAM, NEALLEY, NICHOLS, PERRY, SUPICA, TREMBLE, WESTON, SPRAGUE COUNCILORS VOTING NO: NONE PASSED 4.0g ,e0.24.4.44). CITY CLERK