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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 03/19/2001 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2001 7:00 P.M. Cummins-Grill House 13600 Pioneer Trail COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Peterson-Benike, Chairperson; Deborah Barkley,Jennie Brown, Kati Simons,Art Weeks, Mike Wroblewski STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Elise Johnson, Kathleen Luther, Christopher Pesheck STUDENTS-AT-LARGE ROSTER: Isabelle Chan, Paul Hanna, Corbin Hilgemann COMMISSION STAFF: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Chair Peterson-Benike called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. Commissioner Wroblewski and Student Representative Kathleen Luther were absent. All three Students-At-Large were present. Betsy Adams, whose term as a commissioner begins on April 1, was present. Councilmember Jan Mosman was present at the beginning of the meeting to make a report. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Peterson-Benike said Councilmember Mosman would make a report under IV. Reports and Requests. Peterson-Benike added a discussion on implementing a history capsule into each meeting, under VII. New Business. Weeks added a discussion on CIP budget recommendations for the historic houses, under VII. New Business. Elise Johnson asked to discuss a potential use of the More House, under IV. Reports and Requests. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Barkley, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —February 26, 2001 MOTION: Simons moved, seconded by Weeks, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held February 26, 2001, as published. Motion carried 5-0. IV. REPORTS AND REQUESTS A. Peony Garden at Cummins-Grill House—Councilmember Jan Mosman Councilmember Mosman wanted to communicate that the Council appreciates hearing directly from the HPC about what it is doing, and she encouraged the Commission to make occasional presentations to the Council. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES March 19, 2001 Page 2 She has talked to the president of the Eden Prairie Garden Club, who said the Garden Club would not be taking part in the peony show at the Cummins-Grill House in June. The City received an estimate from a gardening firm to maintain, care for, and fertilize the peonies for $8,000 a year. The Garden Club was doing all of that,but it had become too much work to do on a volunteer basis. There are over 400 peony plants. Peterson-Benike said she would call the University of Minnesota's School of Agriculture and the Arboretum to see if they know of any persons who may be interested in volunteering to look after the peony garden. Brown suggested also contacting the County's Agricultural Extension Service. Another suggestion was for the City to hire a professional to work with a group of volunteers. Gertz said the City's crew had cleared out brush from around the garden in the fall. Mosman said they should start doing maintenance as soon as the snow melts. This subject will be on the agenda for the next meeting. B. Anderson School Update— Councilmember Jan Mosman Councilmember Mosman said School District Superintendent Bill Gaslin is very interested in restoration of the former Anderson School building, but is not sure where it can be permanently located after it is restored. Mosman said one suggestion would be to use a portion of the Oak Point School property that is available. Gertz suggested school-owned property on the other side of Staring Lake where there is a parking lot. It was agreed this would be a good location, although difficult to keep secure because it is quite isolated. Gertz said it is planned to move the old school from its present location to Hennepin Technical College for restoration by students. C. Use of the Smith-Douslas-More House as a Coffee Shop—Elise Johnson Elise Johnson said she has been talking to students at the high school, who expressed a lot of interest in turning the More House into a coffee shop and a place to hang out after school. The coffee shop would be on the main floor and help with homework upstairs. There could be an entrance fee. The kids believe there are opportunities for corporate sponsorship to pay the cost of renovations and converting the house into a coffee shop. Johnson has started gathering names of people willing to help with the renovation work. She had an appointment to meet with City Manager Chris Enger about it, but the meeting had to be rescheduled. She asked for direction from the HPC. Peterson-Benike said there are organizations looking for projects to work on and help fund. The coffee shop could be staffed by volunteers and partially restored by student volunteers. Johnson said everybody at school is required to do volunteer work. It should have adult managers,however. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES March 19, 2001 Page 3 Mosman asked if Johnson was thinking about a corporate sponsor leasing the house. Johnson said she was, and suggested Starbucks as a corporate sponsor. Weeks said he would talk to a person he knows at Dunn Brothers to see if they would be interested. Mosman said the Depot Coffee Shop in Hopkins was very successful for a while but is not doing well now. Johnson said there are several problems, including drugs, and it is no longer a popular place for kids to go. Adams said it would be foolish not to go through every problem the Depot has had and address it. Simons said she would want to keep the historic integrity of the interior of the house, and make that part of the appeal. Mosman said if Elise Johnson were to write up a synopsis of what she wants to do at the house, it could be presented to the Council separately, or together with the rest of the information about renovation of the More House. Johnson said she would do that. She has a story coming out in the school newspaper explaining this idea. Peterson-Benike asked Johnson to bring a copy to the next HPC meeting, along with information on how many teens are interested in the idea. Mosman asked Johnson to come to the next Council Forum and present her ideas. Simons suggested having the coffee shop open all day so other people could use it. For example, it would be a good place for a book club to meet. Hilgemann said the more open it is, the more support it would have from the public. V. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Update on CLG Grant Projects Gertz showed draft copies of the interpretive panels. He plans to have a full-scale black and white copy made of each panel. They will be available by the end of the week and anyone can come in and look at them. In about a week, a CD Rom will be prepared and sent to Pannier Graphics to use for making the interpretive panels. The panels will be built to National Park standards, so they would be very durable. It will be another two weeks before Pannier sends full color drafts to review. The Parks Department looked into fabricating stands for the panels; however, it would be very expensive for them to do that, so the stands will likely be ordered from Pannier. It is expected they will be installed in June at the various sites. Regarding the Lookout Park Wayside Rest nomination, Gertz has notified Rolf Anderson of his selection to prepare the nomination and has notified the State Historic Preservation Office. Anderson said he will start work in about a week. Gertz said he would be dedicating some of his time to assisting Anderson. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES March 19, 2001 Page 4 B. Update on Lookout Park PAM Listing as Endangered Property Gertz said Lookout Park has been included in the final group of historic properties being considered for PAM's "10 Most Endangered Properties List", and he has heard it will likely make the list. Gertz will notify MAC by letter. Being on the endangered list brings publicity for the site and should bring statewide support. C. Update on Re-Roofing Project at Eden Wood Camp Award of the contract to Rayco Construction will be on the Consent Calendar for approval by the City Council on Tuesday, March 20. Gertz said he will fax the signed quote to Rayco on Wednesday morning. Rayco is expected to begin work by April 1 and should be done by May 1. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Cummins-Grill House Restoration Project • Review of Current Restoration Plans Gertz said that over the years there have been different plans for restoration of the house. Miller-Dunwiddie Architects prepared a preservation feasibility study for the City in 1979, together with a plan. Gertz suggested looking at the Miller-Dunwiddie plan and consider if it is feasible. He and Weeks will go through it to bring it up to date. At the April HPC meeting the Commissioners could adopt the plan. Gertz explained that when trying to interpret the history of the house and the property, it is necessary to have a date in mind and not have anything in the house later than that date. The kitchen, added about 1914, forces the decision to look at it as a 1914-era house. Nothing in the architecture changed until then. Restoration recommendations were put together by MacDonald and Mack Architects in 1999. They provided preliminary cost estimates, but they did not provide a master plan. • Review of Restoration Tasks The Commissioners walked through the house to see what restoration work was needed inside. The list of items were distributed prior to the meeting. Gertz recommended that all of these things be done. Gertz said the HPC could start working with the budget they have for this year, which is $11,000. The kitchen needs a lot of work; painting, lighting, etc. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES March 19, 2001 Page 5 • CIP Budget Recommendations Gertz said the City Council should be asked to consider the restoration of the house as a project that needs to be done in a fairly short period of time. The HPC should ask that the full amount needed to rehabilitate the house be included in the CIP budget, as well as establishment of an annual maintenance budget. It was suggested that if the Council approves the work, it would be best to bid out the whole project, both design and construction work. If approved, they could begin this spring. Weeks asked if they should talk to Miller-Dunwiddie about making a current cost estimate. Gertz said he could contact them and ask them to provide him with an estimate for a list of things that need to be done. The total could then be compared with Mack's estimate. Weeks said he believed it was necessary to verify Mack's amount before submitting it to the Council. Gertz said he would recommend the HPC make a motion to present the existing estimate from MacDonald and Mack to City staff for review and submittal to the City Council by the end of March. He would like to meet with Miller- Dunwiddie to get a second estimate. Gertz asked Weeks if he would be willing to attend a meeting or two with Miller-Dunwiddie. Weeks said he would. Gertz will try to arrange a meeting with them later that week, preferably at the Cummins-Grill House. At the April HPC meeting, the Commissioners could review the estimate before sending it to the Council for final approval. MOTION: Brown moved that the Heritage Preservation Commission adopt the cost estimate for rehabilitation of the Cummins-Grill House. Weeks asked to amend this motion by adding "subject to confirmation of costs presented in the report of MacDonald and Mack Architects." Brown accepted the amendment. Barkley seconded the amended motion. Motion carried 5-0 B. CIP Budget Recommendations for Other Historic Properties Weeks asked if there are any emergency repairs that need to be done to the Cummins House, More House and Riley-Jacques Farm. Gertz replied, with regard to the Riley-Jacques Farm, there were none. Elaine Jacques is contributing money toward restoring the barn so it can be used. She made that contingent on the City matching the amount of her contribution. The Parks Department is taking over that project, and the HPC would guide the work to make sure nothing is damaged. Weeks asked what items on the list of work for the Cummins House have the highest priority, in the event the City Council doesn't accept the whole list? Gertz HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES March 19, 2001 Page 6 replied the items listed by MacDonald and Mack Architects are all important. He would rather go to the City Council asking for the whole list than giving them an "A and B" list. Weeks agreed with that and said if the City regards this property as valuable to the City, they need to approve the whole list. Gertz said it is a good idea to focus on the Cummins property because the Council would reject a request from the HPC for the full amount for all three properties. If the Council doesn't want to do the whole list for the Cummins House, they could ask for a prioritized list. Gertz said, with regard to the More House, the HPC has to wait to see what will be done in terms of a partnership to rehabilitate the property. Until a use is determined, the Commission can't do anything. However, if the Council doesn't take action soon, the HPC should make a recommendation that the porch be repaired. There are urgent issues with this house, and the Commissioners should be prepared to go to the Council and ask for a budget to take care of that work. The exterior is most in need of attention right now. Weeks asked if the HPC needs to look at select areas of rehabilitation on the More House for the CIP budget. Gertz replied everything that is listed in the Adaptive Reuse Proposal for the More House is considered important to bring the house up to a level where it can be used — for a coffee house or anything else. The total cost to do this is $206,000. Adams asked if Gertz planned to request the total amount for both the More House and Cummins House at the same time. Gertz replied that when the Adaptive Reuse Proposal was submitted to the Council in June 2000, the HPC wanted them to adopt the whole proposal. However, at this time he is just requesting funds for the Cummins-Grill House. Adams said it would make sense to finish one of the houses and have it as an example of what a finished project is like. That is the best way to gain the support of the community. Gertz said the Cummins House is closer to being finished than the More House and it is a recognized landmark in the City. C. National Historic Preservation Week Gertz said National Historic Preservation Week is May 13-19. This year's theme is "Restore, Renew, Rediscover Your Neighborhood Schools." It was suggested the HPC find out if the Eden Prairie School Board would be willing to sponsor a program about what has been happening with regard to consolidated schools. Gertz said the local HPC is always invited to be involved and present a program. He said he would talk to Councilmember Jan Mosman and see if the Council would be interested in co-sponsoring an event. Peterson-Benike said she would be willing to help. D. Barn Preservation Workshop Gertz said the workshop, which is sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society, is scheduled for April 21 at the Kelly farm in Elk River. Because the Parks HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES March 19, 2001 Page 7 Department is involved in restoration of the barn on the Riley-Jacques farm, Gertz said he would inform Bob Lambert about this workshop. E. History Capsule Peterson-Benike postponed this discussion to the next meeting due to time constraints. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Barkley moved, seconded by Weeks, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Peterson-Benike adjourned the meeting at 9:25 p.m.