Nov 2012 - Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association

page 4 the wedge November 2012 November 2012 the wedge page 5
Opinion
Historic Preservation, Conservation District or Do Nothing
Time To Choose
By Kathy Kullberg
For the last forty years
that the LHENA organization
has been
in place, the words ‘Historic
Preservation District’ have
brought both hope and belligerence
into any conversation
about preserving the
‘Wedge’ homes. Trying to
keep the status quo and to
appease both type of residents,
LHENA has put the
subject on the back burner
many times. To do nothing
is not the answer. The
time has come to decide.
Two homes on the corner
of 24th Street and Colfax
Avenue are now in peril.
(See page 1) Are we going
to save our cache of vintage
homes or are we going to let
the developers buy them up
and make Lowry Hill East
into another run of the mill
bedroom community of six
story steel and glass apartments.
Forty years ago, in the mid
1960’s, Lowry Hill East
(LHE) was on the downward
slippery slope of the once
trendy and hottest places to
live in the early twentieth
century. The once beautiful
Victorian mansions and
gingerbread trimmed residences
of the upper classes
were dirty and in decay.
Yards where once elegantly
dressed society matrons
and dandily dressed gentle-
Music for Medicine
men feted the elite families
of Kenwood and Lowry Hill
were littered with debris,
broken glass and abandoned
cars. Airy porches were now
closed in with aluminum
windows and made into as
much rentable space as a
landlord could create. Absentee
landlords were the
norm. Drug syringes dotted
the alleys.
The once beautiful homes
that sold from $5,000 to
$20,000 when built by well
known architects like William
Purcell, Henry Parsons,
Henry Ingham, and
master builder T.P. Healy
were now selling for almost
the same prices as when
they were built a half century
earlier. No one wanted
to buy them or invest in
their upkeep. But then some
young urban families began
to buy the affordable broken
down homes. Families like
the Tuthills, Bodes, Romanishanns
and Martinezes had
a vision. Close proximity to
good schools, easy access to
public transportation, the
city lakes for recreation, and
downtown at an affordable
price once again made LHE
an exciting place to live.
Ironically these were the
same reasons the first residents
sought to build homes
here, 60 years earlier.
Photo by Bruce Cochran
“tom baskerville on piano and dave gillespie on bass warm
up the crowd at Neighborhood involvement program’s
(N.i.p.) annual Music for Medicine. the october 21 benefit
for N.i.p. at temple israel presents a buffet, silent auction
and concert featuring members of the Minnesota orchestra.
More info at www.neighborhoodinvolve.org.
The newcomers formed the
Lowry Hill East Neighborhood
Association (LHENA)
and began to make inroads
in rebuilding liveable beautiful
spaces with sweat equity
one house at a time.
By the 1980s LHE was once
again a thriving trendy
neighborhood. So much so
that developers soon saw
the writing on the wall and
the clink of money in their
purses. But they also struck
like an eel on the attack and
began to demolish homes
and businesses on corners
where the zoning and absentee
landlords were ripe
for the picking. Up went
the three story walkups
within the blink of an eye,
with no thought to design
or traffic congestion–just
a squeeze-as-much-persquare-foot-as-you-can
mentality. Property values
went up dramatically.
Gradually the residents became
aware they were losing
again and they had better
protect themselves from
more destruction and wanton
alterations. Formal historic
preservation was being
discussed, some avenues explored.
The “Lowry Hill East
Historic Context Study” was
contracted in 2005 through
Mead & Hunt, Inc. to provide
a framework for evaluating
the structures within
the neighborhood boundaries.
Only 140 properties out
of the 3700 examined were
deemed valuable and considered
for local landmark
status. As of 2012, there are
still only two historic registered
structures by the HPC
– the John Gluek House and
the Gluek Carriage House at
25th Street and Bryant Avenue.
Again in 2008, residents
briefly discussed historic
preservation districts when
the City wanted to update
the zoning and encroach
further into the potential
historic district. R6 zoning
(multi-family housing) was
moving further towards the
center. After much bantering
back and forth, the City
and LHENA were no fur-
ther ahead and the plans for
zoning changes were put on
hold.
Further discussions with
residents for historic designation
were also at loggerheads.
Just the mention
of the words historic preservation
brought fear and
disdain to many a home
owner. The traditional understanding
of an historic
district rang of forced restrictions
on height, remodeling,
exterior paint colors,
window and siding repairs.
Every potential maintenance
project and repair
had to be brought before a
committee for approval. No
one wanted to hear of these
guidelines. No one wanted
to be told what they could
or could not do to their own
home. Horror stories from
other cities and historic districts
put the potential for
preservation on the back
burner.
Local Prospect Park residents
after exploring the
Historic District concept
found that requesting and
enforcing exact requirements
‘were not good preservation’,
said Prospect Park
resident and architect Bob
Roscoe. Even necessary improvements
like wheelchair
ramps were denied. Many
tears fell over denied applications
for much needed
variances and requests.
Residents felt they needed
something but not what the
HD offered.
And then along came the
Central Corridor University
Avenue Light Rail Project
which threatened the very
existence of its businesses
and homes. Vacant lots were
snatched up by developers
and the next to go were
the homeowners willing to
sell out. Rapid infill of six
story apartments were now
almost a monthly occurrence.
The red flags went
up. The neighborhood association
had already applied
for and been placed on “interim
protection.” At least in
the interim, changes to the
outside of structures needed
the approval of the Min-
neapolis Heritage Historic
Preservation Commission.
But that was not the answer
for all the residents. There
was still a rumbling of discontent.
Another solution
had to be found.
Then residents this summer
learned of another possibility
slowly beginning to rise
out East in cities like Philadelphia
and Boston – the
Conservation District (CD).
Conservation districts have
a much broader interpretation
of preservation and
have allowed for more flexibility,
sometimes deemed
“preservation-lite.” A CD
is much more relaxed and
its main emphasis is on the
culture and the community
that has been established
over the decades in an area.
However, defining a CD
is more difficult in that as
much as one community
is different from another
then the guidelines and ordinances
may be different
from another. The architectural
styles and preserving
them are not as important
but rather how that structure
presents itself among
the rest is what is important.
Presently there are only two
conservation districts in
Minnesota: one in Stillwater
and one in Red Wing. Steve
Kohn, assistant planning director
for Red Wing stated
in a recent article in MIN-
NPOST, that “the Conservation
District in Red Wing
only deals with demolition,
new construction and additions
to the exterior facade...
if people want vinyl siding...
they can have vinyl siding.”
Minneapolis currently does
not have any guidelines in
place for defining a conservation
district. Council
Member Cam Gordon is
working with several communities
and planners to
create an ordinance which
may be months away. However,
progress is being made.
With the help of the University
of Minnesota’s Assistant
Professor and Director of
Heritage Conservation and
See HISTORIC page 5
HISTORIC from page 4
Preservation Greg Donofrio,
it is getting closer.
“People don’t like that they
can’t do whatever they want.
The downside is there are
encumbrances. The upside,
is maintaining the community,”
said Prospect Park
resident, Joe Ring.
Conservation District
versus Historic
District
Similarities
• Both a CD and HD are defined
by the local city regulatory
processes providing
guidelines for residential
remodeling of exteriors in
public view only through
building permit review.
• City ordinances establish
its regulatory and/or advisory
role in various processes,
principally in building
permit review.
• CD and HD are typically
authorized under State of
Minnesota enabling legislation.
• A single ordinance would
apply to all CDs, as they do
HDs within a city, while
each district has its own
guidelines addressing that
district’s characteristics.
Differences
In Conservation Districts:
• The CD establishes guidelines
for review of design
changes to promote good
neighbors in terms of general
architectural features.
The guidelines would not
allow disruptive alterations
LOOKING from page 2
for the Tennessee Whiskey
Cake next time: apple caramel
cake covered in a Jack
Daniel’s whiskey glaze. Yep.
Doin’ that.
All in all, we’d come back
again. The food was excellent,
the service was good
for the most part, and there’s
but allow change with flexible
outcomes.
• CDs may have potential
for introducing creative approaches
to design that contribute
to the streetscape
and community.
• CDs often seek some level
of maintaining historic resources.
• CDs consider stability of
community values as their
most important public role.
The are regarded to have
more flexibility in addressing
change.
In Historic Districts:
• A local city regulatory
process provides guidelines
for residential remodeling
of exteriors in public view
only through building permit
review. The HD establishes
guidelines for adherence
to changes affecting
recognized architectural
styles of historic resources.
Character-defining features
critical to the design are
strictly reviewed to maintain
their integrity.
• HDs by their nature do
not encourage creative approaches,
as a general rule,
but sometimes encourage
creative solutions depending
on certain circumstances.
• HDs seek to maintain historic
resources.
• Historic Districts consider
stability of community values
as their most important
public role. They require the
exercise of firmness in addressing
change.
The Stillwater CD Design
a surprisingly large outdoor
patio we’re interested in trying,
with half-moon booths
and fire pits. And although
it’s having an identity crisis,
Bar Louie seems to be finding
its way just fine.
(Beth Marsh is taking a
month off. Her column will
return in December.)
Letters to the Editor and
Community Voices and Opinions
We value your insights and points of view.
Please send letters to the editor or longer opinion
pieces to weg612@hotmail.com
Guildelines states: A Residential
CD has been established
to help protect and
preserve the unique character
of Stillwater’s residential
neighborhoods, by
regulating and providing
Design Guidelines for new
infill development within
the District. Its purpose
is to conserve the traditional
neighborhood fabric,
guide future infill development
within the district,
and discourage unnecessary
demolition of structures
that contribute to the
district’s historic character.
A Conservation District
helps preserve local character,
neighborhood pride,
and property values. It also
helps promote and sustain a
diverse and affordable range
of homes, and the general
economic vitality of the
area. Looking to Stillwater,
LHENA may have finally
found a solution.
Want to hear more about
how a CD for Lowry Hill
East can help preserve further
erosion of our century
structures while providing
for flexible and creative solutions
to building problems
that work for the whole
neighborhood? A LHENA
meeting is being planned for
after the winter holidays. A
team of experts will present
the differences as well as answer
questions. Hopefully by
that time City Council member
Cam Gordon will have
updates on the ordinance’s
status. For more information
you may contact Kathy Kullberg
at 612.374.4456.
Kathy Kullberg is an historian
and lives in Lowry Hill
East.
Compliments
Opinion
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I’ve been so impressed
lately with the quality of
writing and quality of information
put out by the
paper and its writers.
Please pass along my compliments
to the following
contributors:
Kathy Kullberg, our historian
for her passion about
neighborhood history and
wonderful writing skills
in giving us so much we
wouldn’t otherwise know.
Rebecca Harnik, Environmental
Coordinator, for
Mingling at Rye
“I love being on the
school board. I will
continue to work
tirelessly on your
behalf towards seeing
that every community
has great schools and
every student
has great teachers.”
— Carla Bates
giving us the skinny on
what we need to know to
live more sustainably on
Mother Earth in our city
lives.
KTK9 for reminding us of
the common sense many
of us don’t use regarding
dog ownership, and doing
it in no-nonsense language.
Very effective.
And kudos to Caroline for
her constancy and a job
well done all these years.
She is the glue.
Linda Huhn
Lowry Hill East resident
Photo by Bruce Cochran
“Monday Night Mingle participants connected with neighbors,
enjoyed complimentary appetizers, and checked out rye delicatessen
and bar, 1930 Hennepin ave. Everyone enjoyed the
Uptown association’s evening of new foods, drinks, friends and
business connections. see www.uptownminneapolis.com for a
calendar of upcoming events.
Educational Experience
Expertise
Excellence
RE-ELECT
carla
bates
for minneapolis school board
DFL ENDORSED
Prepared and paid for by the Carla Bates for Minneapolis Schools
committee, 2504 37th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55406