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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 01/23/2023AGENDA EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY JANUARY 23, 2023 7:00 P.M. Heritage Rooms – City Hall HPC COMMISSION MEMBERS: Rod Fisher-Chair; Paul Thorp-Vice Chair, George Maxwell, Robert Bowes, Steven Schumacher, Andrew Scipioni, Andy Ludowese STUDENT MEMBERS: Avik Garg, Sophie Lunda, Mary Margaret Mellen, Ilhaam Mohamed, Jash Parekh, Suweda Said, Siri Tangeti COMMISSION STAFF: Beth Novak-Krebs, Staff Liaison Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL II. READING OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING ON DECEMBER 19, 2022 V. NEW BUSINESS A. DEBRIEF OF COUNCIL DISCUSSION OF 2022 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2023 WORK PLAN (BETH AND ROD) B. STUDENT PRESENTATION ON THE SHPO HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION TRAINING MANUAL (MARY MARGARET) C. DISCUSS POTENTIAL WOMEN FROM EDEN PRAIRIE THAT COULD BE FEATURED FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, WHICH IS MARCH (BETH) D. REVIEW LIST OF PROPERTIES ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER, THOSE THAT ARE LOCALLY DESIGNATED AND THOSE THAT HAVE A HERITAGE SITE PLAQUE (BETH) VI. OLD BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON CEMETERY RECORDS MANAGEMENT (BETH) VII. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF VIII. REPORTS OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY A. GENERAL UPDATE – (PAUL/BOB) IX. FYI ITEMS X. NEXT MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2023 XI. ADJOURNMENT UNAPPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 19 2022 7:00 P.M. 8080 MITCHELL RD HPC COMMISSION MEMBERS: Rod Fisher (Chair); Paul Thorp (Vice- Chair); George Maxwell; Steve Schumacher; Robert Bowes; Andrew Scipioni; Andy Ludowese STUDENT MEMBERS: Avik Garg, Sophie Lunda, Mary Margaret Mellen, Ilhaam Mohamed, Jash Parekh, Suweda Said, Siri Tanget COMMISSION STAFF: Beth Novak-Krebs, Staff Liaison Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Fisher called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Absent were student members Mohamed, Parekh, and Said. Mike Rogers joined the meeting. II. READING OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT Fisher read the land acknowledgement statement. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Schumacher moved, seconded by Bowes to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Bowes moved, seconded by Schumacher to approve the minutes of the November 21, 2022, minutes. Motion carried 6-0. V. NEW BUSINESS A. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSS OR INTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS FOR SMITH COFFEE WITHIN THE SMITH, DOUGLAS, MORE HOUSE (ALEX SCHUSTER) Novak-Krebs introduced Schuster, the owner of the Smith Coffee House. Schuster displayed a PowerPoint and detailed his plans for the remodeling. The “café side” EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 19, 2022 Page 2 had already been completed, and the “house side” or dining rooms side needed updating. There were four segments: new furniture, new wall paint, new light fixtures, and some ceiling trim work. Nothing of historic merit would be altered or removed. [Maxwell arrived at 7:11 p.m.] Schuster displayed the existing and planned seating, including the additional “soft seating” in the stained-glass window nook. The tabletops would be of wood. He would be using the existing wooden chairs. The light fixtures would be new chandeliers in new locations to center the room and light it better. There was not a lot of natural light in the space. Supplemental lighting sconces would supply fill illumination. Novak-Krebs explained that interior changes such as lighting did not require a Certificate of Appropriateness and did not alter the character of the home or the features that made the building historic. There was no requirement for the furnishings to conform to a certain style. Schuster displayed the ceiling trim style he would add. He explained he was not trying to “modernize” but keep a classis or timeless look. He showed how one room had no overhead lighting and explained he was responding to the needs of customers. He had updated the place when they started leasing the building and grounds, but this was the first time he had retained an architect to look at future designs. The walls would be repainted, and a mural added. Schuster displayed a layout of the ceiling trim (box and circle around the light fixture). He also displayed the plan for the mural placement. New tables would also be installed upstairs but the chairs would remain. The Large Conference Room would get a new table, and the Small Conference Room would get new draperies and a rug. He displayed the art choices and foliage. He stated the flow would be more natural; this was a difficult space to furnish without blocking a door, et cetera. The architect had suggested commercial artwork, although he wished to incorporate a map of Eden Prairie and perhaps some text from old letters. Maxwell suggested a rotating PDF display, perhaps on iPads. Schuster displayed the booths styles and construction details. At least one would be custom built for the space. In some rooms the wallpaper would remain. Fisher commended the plan. Schumacher remarked this would be a more attractive room and Fisher agreed. Mellen asked for the timeline, and Schuster replied it would begin in the spring. The work could take a few weeks, but he hoped to shorten that as much as possible. The commission members thanked Schuster for his presentation. B. DISCUSS THE 2022 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2023 WORK PLAN (NOVAK-KREBS) EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 19, 2022 Page 3 Novak-Krebs explained every year the commission completed an annual report and a work plan for the next year, to be presented to the City Council. The 2023 Work Plan would be presented by Novak-Krebs and Fisher at the workshop on January 3, 2023, and the student commission members were invited along with the commission members. Novak-Krebs went through her presentation. The first part was dedicated to 2022 accomplishments such as the Citywide Open House, the Harvest to Halloween event and the discussion surrounding possible uses for the Dorenkemper House. Other accomplishments were joint meetings with the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission and the Eden Prairie Historical Society, the reflections on the 1968 Comprehensive Plan initiative, the Heritage Preservation Awards, the Flying Red Horse project, and Commissioner Bowes attending the Preserve Minnesota Conference in Duluth. Novak-Krebs highlighted goals for 2023, which included student presentations on the SHPO Heritage Preservation training manual, another joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission and with the Eden Prairie Historical Society, updating the Eden Prairie website, pursuing local designation of the Depot site and a tour of the pump house, the Peoplefest event, a tour of Camp Edenwood, and a visit to the Mdewakantonwan Cultural Center. Discussion followed on additions to the Work Plan and accomplishments. Mellen suggested taking advantage of social media beyond Facebook, such as Instagram. Schumacher urged mentioning the website with the oral histories and different map layers. Discussion followed on social media accounts. Maxwell suggested Thorp’s research on the Otherday family as an accomplishment from 2022. Fisher suggested meeting with the Human Rights and Diversity (HRDC) commission. Novak-Krebs offered to include the suggested changes and to speak to the staff liaison with the HRDC commission. MOTION: Thorp moved, seconded by Maxwell to approve the 2023 Work Plan with the changes. Motion carried 7-0. C. DISCUSS THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL AND REQUESTING LOCAL DESIGNATION (THORP) Thorp stated he was cautioned about restrictions that would come with potential designation by Davd Lindahl. Discussion followed on the pros and cons of local designation. Thorp stated the site needed recognition of some kind if designation was not pursued. Novak-Krebs added being locally designated could require Certificates of Appropriateness for certain work proposed for the property. Discussion followed on a possible plaque or other award idea. Mellon asked if a created award could be similar to an HPC Award. Bowes echoed the idea. Fisher stated he wished to have all existing designations and Thorp offered to pull one EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 19, 2022 Page 4 together. Novak-Krebs replied there was a list of all nationally designated, locally designated, and plaque-awarded local sites in Eden Prairie, along with properties the HPC was keeping an eye on. Maxwell stated he would like to have information on the Depot Site to avoid possible desecration, such as a sidewalk being built over remains. Discussion followed on the advantages of publicizing local sites in this manner. D. DISCUSS STUDENT PRESENTATION ON THE SHPO HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION TRAINING MANUAL (FISHER) Mellon briefly described the project: two chapters would be given to each student representative, and a presentation on these would be given at each HPC meeting. Mellon would present the first on January 23. Although not a formal agenda item, there was a discussion about making cemetery records available to the public. Mike Rogers stated his grandfather lived in the More House. He grew up on the Eden Apple Orchard and his family had owned everything from Pioneer Trail to Carver County line. His grandfather had been the first 32-year member of firefighter department, and his father was a charter member. In 1998 his father was diagnosed with cancer, while he was running the Eden Prairie Cemetery, and therefore Mike Rogers had learned the business. In the process he had put a great deal of cemetery information in a database, and ultimately bought a $7,000.00 (Ponton Cemetery Software) program to manage the cemetery’s data. Carol Kissner helped with finding out data on the cemetery’s north section. This program had the ability to associate text and photographs with any specific grave. He turned the cemetery over to the City in 2022. The original cemetery was quite small, but as of 2022 he was managing 30-40 burials per year, and also scanning in obituaries and deeds from the sale of graves. The data had the ability to be shared with Find A Grave, et cetera. Since this project would be overwhelming for City staff, it might require volunteers. Rogers also had three legal size fireproof cabinets, with another file cabinet to enter into the database. The database and the files contained yearly business meetings from 1897 to the present. He was concerned about the program being updated and maintained for the historical information in it. He had over 400 graves left to enter. Discussion followed on how to support this project. Novak-Krebs stated she had met with Jay Lotthammer about how to make this information accessible, such as linking it with Find A Grave. Lotthammer was going to research Find A Grave and come back with suggestions. Maxwell suggested adding this to the 2023 Work Plan. Fisher asked for and received confirmation the Eden Prairie Historical Society had no oversight of the cemeteries. Maxwell suggested inviting Carol EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 19, 2022 Page 5 Kissner to a future commission meeting. Fisher suggested pulling up the written articles about Rogers’ work, and Schumacher suggested putting this on the agenda of a future meeting. Mellen suggested bringing on the Parks and Recreation Department as an arm to diversify the workload. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON INTERVIEWS RELATED TO THE 1968 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (NOVAK-KREBS) Novak-Krebs stated she interviewed Dean Edstrom and Roy Terwilliger in early December. She would schedule her remaining two interviews in January. VII. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF VIII. REPORTS OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY Maxwell stated the Optimist’s Club sold more Christmas Trees than in any year and donated the remaining seven to charity. Santa proved very popular with the kids. IX. FYI ITEMS Mellen stated she was part of the history club for high school with 25 members and asked if any commission members would be willing to talk after school (around 3:30 p.m.). Mike Rogers offered to speak to the students. X NEXT MEETING The next HPC meeting will be held on Monday, January 23, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room. XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Thorp moved, seconded by Scipioni to adjourn. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 p.m.