HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/17/1996, 2 - APPEAL OF THE ARCHITECTURAL REVICE COMMISSION'S APPROVAL OF THE DEMOLITION OF THE FORMER VPA AUTOMOTIVE BUILDING LOCATED AT 316 HIGUERA STREET, SOUTH OF THE HIGHWAY 101/MARSH STREET INTERCHANGE (APPLICATION NO. ARC MI 96-96). When roadside buildings have "eye-appeal"through being unique, odd or mimetic, it has been '
easy to develop public appreciation for them. (My"Ducks, Fish, Derbies and Other Remarkable
American Roadside Buidlings" of 1986 gathered a representative bibliography of books and
articles about mimetic roadside buildings. Vance Architecture Series #1676.)
It is harder to convince the general populace (including city administrators) of the value of "ugly
and ordinary" mass-produced roadside buildings.Although many professionals do appreciate
values represented by the mass produced buildings of the first auto age, the public at large still
"doesn't get it."This is where I'd urge the ARC to take responsible leadership.
Gas Stations
The VPA station appears to be a late 1930s/early 1940s prefabricated streamline modeme type
of yet unresearched provenance. (Staff should be asked to do this research, or hire someone
capable of doing it.) It dates to when it sat alongside Highway 101.
There are several published snippets that help set the context for reviewing this station. First,
John Margolies' brief summary of early gas station history (The End of the Road, Penguin 1981):
Gas stations are the most visited commercial buildings in
the United States aside from food stores.And although
they are always composed of the same three elements—
buildings, pumps,and signs—their appearance and presen-
tation have varied greatly in the continuing drama of
gasoline.They're all trying to sell the same thing—a
highly volatile,amber-colored liquid—so that any design
expression provides the sale product differentiation.
The first were "filling stations," often a pump out front
of a drug or feed store;then they became tiny separate
buildings.In the 1920s,filling stations evolved into "ser-
vice stations."Service bays were added;hydraulic lifts
replaced pits in the ground.They offered free air
and road maps.Attendants donned snazzy uniforms and
leather puttees and would offer to wash your car as well
as your windshield.And let us remember that great innova-
tion, "the registered rest room,"which replaced the
"picking-flower stops"that had been the previous neces-
sity.Euphemistically,the gas station provided a"comfort
stop"and a"comfort station"—two of the all-time great
American ostrich terms.That was in the days of innocence.
Various kinds of gas stations were built:Prefabricated
stations began to be built from the teens onward on the
West Coast, like the Hubcap Corner in Dishman,Wash-
ington(photograph 19).These had a vocabulary of pre-
fabricated elements that were put together to make
various configurations for different locations.In the 1930s
porcelain enamel panels were introduced.They gleamed
in the sun, could be made into colorful compositions, and. .
required no particular maintenance.
(Related photos on next page)
Page 3
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Left:Hub Cap Corner, Dishman W A; right: a station of the same typology as it originally appeared.
Daniel Vieyra (in Built in the U.S.A, Preservation Press 1985) points to the interrelationships
between pre-fab "functional' service station design and the "high design"world of architecture and
industrial design — and how the Modernist ideals of high design, designing for mass consumption,
and practicality were put to work in creating a building which looked "like what it was."
When first introduced, the "iunctinnal" filling statins
"ZIS hailed as a building bolt had the inestimable virtUC of
looking like what it ,.as. Frani: Ltovd Wright, Richard
Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Bertrand Guldherg ;1,J Wil-
liam Lesca=e ,vcic anion, thc• prominent architects
involved in the design of thcsC modern stations. Another
Pproach to nnudern LICSP'n ,%;IS the MOLIVme, fcanuing
uuves suggesting Speed and an :ICS[hctlC 0i 1UR1115111, :15
executed by industrial dcsi4mCn. Norman Bel Geddes,
Raymond Lot•%%y and WArcr Durkin Tcaguc all ProJucCd
Streamline ModemC Cxu;na,an_as.
The VPA station fits into this functionalist mold. But, Vieyra points out, what was once familiar,
typical and widely dispersed is now becoming a rarity:
Gas stations, o1eC Con Sldcrcd all tnu am1n1a1, arV 10v,
becomin;, nn endangered Species. dally of the c;uiv 511.111
stations ,.ithout C11CIuSCd SCIVICC h;n'S h;1ve hCCa111e
functionall obsolete. With ail conipnnics constantly
updating their mmn images and maiketin, su'atc;elrs. Veen
the 11101C I'CCC11t Sc1t11115 iaCC an uncertain furmV. A
Page 4
number of old stations have been listed in the National
Register of Historic Places. Successful rebirth through
adaptive use involves the incorporation of the station's
most prominent characteristic—its image—into the new
form. The gas station, itself the premier drive-in building,
has a history and rich design heritage of its own and is a
significant part of the built environment. *
It is this cultural and historical significance—together with the city's total ability to control this
building's future and to do the right thing in this instance, which frames the decision now before
the ARC.
Attachment: Jandl, "Preserving the Recent Past"
Page 5
-02.5
H. Ward Jandl
b
�.l
PreserAing the Recent Past
An Introduction
0 ver the past several years, when the marble veneer of Amoco's highrise head-
preservationists have finally quarters in Chicago began to fail? Or was it when
begun to devote serious attention Connecticut's State Historic Preservation officer
to the immense challenge of doc- requested a determination of National Register eli-
umenting, evaluating. and conserving cultural gibility for the Merritt Parkway?
resources from the 20th century. This attention We are faced with defending, documenting.
occurs not a moment too soon: it is clear that evaluating, and preserving resource types that did
these are the issues that preservation profession- not even exist until the middle part of the 20th
als will be grappling with for the remainder of century: the shopping mall, the network of high-
this century and well into the next millennia. ways Criss-crossing the country, the curtain wall
Plastic laminates Our predecessors in the preservation move- skyscraper, the housing development, the edge
were used not only ment fought battles to protect remnants from the city. What is the history of these new building
for countertops but Victorian age: buildings and neighborhoods that types and by what criteria should their signifi-
for storefronts
beginning in the were not widely appreciated in the 1950s and tante be evaluated?Which of the 2,800 nearly
late 1920s.This 1960s by the general public—or by many archi- identical Lustron houses constructed around the
Formica advertise- tects and historians, for that matter. While these country between 1948 and 1952 are worthy of
-hent promoted resources still continue to be at risk, at least today preservation and why?
!signs using col- there is a broad body of information and knowl- The strategies for protecting and reusing
ored and metal
inlays. edge about their history, significance, and care. these resources, while owing much to past efforts
Architectural At the present time, we as preservationists with 18th-and 19th-century structures and neigh-
Forum,Jonuary are confronting perhaps the greatest challenge of borhoods, must deal with a scale that is unique to
1937• all: how to deal with the 20th-century built envi- the 20th century: multi-building, high-rise housing
ronment. It is hard to projects, colossal airport hangars, and military
I I�II T identify the defining bases that are measured in miles, not acres. Such
CO LO rlA 1 o rj ��j o�TS moment when we rec- strategies must also include a heavy—and particu-
r �j ognized that it was lark,creative—dose of education and awareness-
time to face up to our building: why should the public care about
^7 recent past. Was it military structures built during the Cold War?
. _..:.� _
!.._.•_., . ".:.� when Barbara What is so special about mass-produced, prefabri-
�� Capitman pushed to cation houses? How can the general public be
have a good chunk of made aware of the importance of early gas sta-
_�1_ Miami Beach placed tions, bus terminals, and other roadside architec-
<�•- --"- I -F 7 I I
Z on the National ture?
° Register? Was it when Enormous challenges also face architectural
® Philip Johnson conservators, engineers, and architects who are
I decided to donate his beginning to rehabilitate and restore 20th-century
Glass House to the resources; the materials in need of conservation
National Trust for are not only the traditional brick, stone, wood,
Historic Preservation? and iron of yesterday but more complex materials
Was it when state such as plywood, fiberglass, stainless steel, and
and local preserva- plastics. Building systems are no longer simple
tionists fought to save masonry bearing wall construction or wood bal-
=_ Lockefield Gardens in loon frame but curtain wall or post-tension con-
Indianapolis, a public trete. How does one preserve 20th-century
-- _—_: otge�
housing project from materials that may be identified with significant
F O R B U 1 L B I N 6 P U P, P o 5 E 5 the 1930s?Was it health problems?
CI NI \''L&-1995 5
The serious study of the recent past is a historic resources. Together, the workbook and the
relatively new phenomenon; there have been conference will greatly expand the body of practi-
few scholarly books on the subject, and articles cal information available to preservation profes-
in professional journals are few and far sionals on evaluating and protecting the recent
between. The papers included in the handbook past.
for the national conference, Preserving the
Recent Past, Chicago, March 30 through April H. Ward Jandl, Deputy Chief, Preservation
1, 1995, have made an important contribution Assistance Division, National Park Service,
to understanding and addressing these issues. Washington, DC, died suddenly of heart failure just
The conference was organized specifically to tivo iveeks prior to the conference, Preserving the
bring together preservation professionals from Recent Past. The conference and workbook were his
North America and Europe to consider the idea and stemmed from his interest and expertise in
unique challenges of preserving 20th-century 20th-century building types and their preservation.
Bruce M. Kriviskey
S.... ing the Suburb Sixties I)J_o_e_
Historic Preservation Planning
in Fairfax County, Virginia
he notion of"historic preservation" a general store as late as the 1960s, now the com-
in Northern Virginia's Fairfax mercial hub of the county and the seventh largest
County—the most intensely devel- business district in the country,with over 20 mil-
oped jurisdiction in the lion square feet of office and retail space.
Washington. DC, metropolitan area—often taxes Archeologists might say that snapshots one and
one's credulity. Those familiar with the county, three depict the same spot and simply show the
but whose perceptions are of only gridlock and impact of the view shown in snapshot two on the
sprawl, strain to remember what is left that is past and present of a traditional crossroads trad-
old, much less historic. They recall waggish ing center.
bumper stickers that use Fairfax as a verb Of course, there are venerable sites of his-
describing an act that should not be done to toric and architectural significance in the county—
other nearby counties or, for that matter, to the Mount Vernon, "loodlawn Plantation, and
rest of Virginia. Those less familiar with the Gunston Hall, to name a few. There are also hun-
county may have read what some observers have dreds of lesser known IBth-and 19th-centum his-
written about our "Edge Cities," "Beltway toric sites scattered around the county, as well as
Bandits," and "McMansions." more than 2,000 recorded archeological sites
The history of Fairfax County can be cap- including one about 8,000 years old (properly
tured in three "snapshots."The first shows a group excavated and recorded, of course) now under a
of earnest Paleo-Indians ambushing a Wooly parking structure in Tysons Comer. Collectively.
Mammoth at the crossing of two well-worn paths these ably represent the heritage of the nation,
in the ice-age tundra. The second shows a graph state, and county.
of population change in the county since the first Needless to say, these invaluable traces of
census in the 1790s. The population level was vir- the past—traditional history, if you will—have
tually flat until the 1930s; it doubled each decade been the focus of the county's preservation plan-
from 1940 until 1980, and it doubled again over ning program since the early 1960s. But, this is
the past 14 years to over 820.000 today—an aver- history to read about, not recall; to look at, not to
age increase of 88% per decade since World War have lived. About 10 years ago, this dichotomy
II. The third is of Tysons Corner, a gas station and was recognized by those concerned with under
6 CR-NI Nag_ �• 02�
RICHARD SCHMIDT
112 Broad Street,San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 x(805) 544-4247
e-mail:rschmml ® edu
V � calPaIY4
July 15, 1996 ?10� G/
Re: Demolition of former VPA Automotive building, Higuera Street ti�os l99� 4
To Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director: V0
Responding to your advertisement regarding the above demolition, I urge you NOT TO
APPROVE THIS DEMOLITION.
As I noted in correspondence to the Council at the time of the purchase of this property, an
ethical demolition policy on the part of the city would include preservation of this building and its
streamlined canopy.
"Conservation of the historically significant streamline moderne service station. (I have
written about this before; if anyone needs a refresher about the matter, please contact me.)
Some reuse should be investigated, preferably on site or nearby. If reuse is impossible
(literally, not rhetorically "impossible"), then salvage conservation should be carried out."
We are still rather close to the era in which such mundane structures were built, but
architectural historians have long valued them because of their design qualities, and the public
will someday catch up when, for example, they begin to have the cachet that Victorian houses
enjoy today (but you are old enough to recall that in the 1960s, Victorians were not valued, and
were torn down by the thousands in the Bay Area, thus destroying a resource that later
generations would have cherished). It would be a shame if public appreciation arrived only after
we had nothing but photographs of such structures left.
The service stations of the era of this one were among the prolific products of a new generation
of industrial designers enthused by the age of the auto (and also of the streamlined locomotive
and airplane -- viz, Raymond Loewy's designs for service stations, locomotives and airplanes).
The buildings of the greatest designers were cranked out of prefabrication plants and planted by
the thousands on the roadside landscape. However, these buildings were ephemeral, and
though there were once thousands, today there are few left. The VPA building is arguably the
best streamline moderne service station we have left in town because its fundamental character
has been relatively unaltered.
Is it worth treating such a structure as a valuable historic artifact? Absolutely.
This station has stood in its present location since Higuera was Highway 101. How many people
don't understand that, and could have their appreciation of their city's history enhanced by a
reminder of the fact?
It is clear that in a context other than that in which it has existed of late (i.e., surrounded by
junky buildings and automotive junk), people would also appreciate the inherent charm of the
building.
Page 1
I'd suggest that as part of your consideration of the future of this structure, you should assign
staff to research it. Such research would include at a minimum establishing date of construction,
brand of gasoline associated with it initially, and also doing in-depth typological research (in part
based on above findings) to determine the designer/source of the building. This may reveal
more than you would suspect, and could add further valuable context to your considerations.
Then, having undertaken basic information-gathering research, I would argue against demolition
for the following reasons:
1. It is unclear that there is any necessity for demolition at this time other than administrative
convenience. What compelling reason mandates complete clearance of the site? It is my
impression there is no approved plan for use of the site at this time. If the building must be
"stored"pending repair and reuse, it would make sense to leave it in situ. Ultimate reuse at the
same location, even if it must be moved a small distance for street widening, would be the best
reuse from a historic standpoint.
2. If the site must be cleared, since this appears to be a prefabricated building, it would be
relatively easy to disassemble for storage pending reuse or relocation to another site. The city
should take stewardship responsibility for this interim storage and care.
3. Reuse -- probably not as a service station given the obvious change in needs for such
structures -- could take many forms. Some that occur to me are as a visitor center (what better
symbol for a community welcoming visitors from the highway and also wishing to signal its
respect for its more modest past), as a concession stand in a park, as a small restaurant or
snack place, among other municipal uses. In fact, it could be restored simply as an interesting
historical exhibit piece, perhaps on the Jack House or Santa Rosa Park properties, and adorned
with a period car or two.
4. If the availability of the building were made known to the public, many ideas for public or
private reuse could be generated.
5. As a last resort, the city could make the disassembled building available much as highway
departments in the Midwest make their old historic steel bridges available for adaptive reuse. (If
you haven't seen these ads in Historic Preservation magazine, you'd get a kick out of them. A
current one reads: "Niangua River Bridge available for adaptive reuse. NRHP eligible. Built
1930-31, this 1,229-ft. bridge consists of steel, rigid-connected, Warren cantilever through truss
with 2 flanking Pratt through truss approach spans and a 20-ft. roadway. It can be match-
marked, dismantled, and stored for further handling of party accepting ownership.") Of course,
the best relocated reuse would be within the city or its immediate vicinity.
In conclusion, I urge you not to approve demolition of this structure.
If you do so anyway, please so inform me, and consider this letter an appeal of that unfortunate
and inopportune action.
Sincerely,
Richard Schmidt
Page 2
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From: Jerry Kenny
To: pricci
Date: 7/31/96 2:04pm
Subject: ARC RE.-VPA - 314-350 HIGUERA
The following is transmitted per your request re: the subject property:
The subject property became available for sale, and since:
1. The City setback line requires dedication of 20 ft along the street
frontage to widen Higuera St. That would've required "purchase" of existing
buildings (or portions) within the setback and the land under same, as opposed
to simple dedication of R/W with building or use permits, etc.
2. SL Creek needs to be widened per setback lines that were prepared by Nolte
& Assoc. for the City, pursuant to standards established by the City Council.
3. Sale of the property to a private individual would severely limit
uncommitted land (net of the above) without combining all or most of the
individual lots/parcels and could've adversely affected the market value of
the property - particularly since the creek setback wasn't "officially"
adopted.
The City Council agreed to the purchase of the properties due to 1, 2 and 3
above and indicated designation for future planning of a "passive park-like"
use as "open space" via the Downtown Concept Plan.
There are no plans to develop anything on the property at this time, other
than to hydroseed the bare areas as a result of the demolition.
The City Council (CC) was fully aware of the demolition and in fact adopted
same as a CIP project on June 18th, in conjunction with adoption of the
1996/97 budget. ( I'll send or FAX you a copy of the June 16th CIP status
report update showing the item. ) The buildings already demo-ed were found to
be health and safety hazards by T Baasch, after certain critical features were
removed in accordance with an agreement between private parties and the former
property owner. The City, via the purchase agreement, was bound to honor
those previous agreements. The VPA structure was not altered and is therefore
subject to the current ARC review.
It was clear that the CC intended and directed staff to pursue the demolition
of the structures, as this was a specific point of discussion. Staff also
informed the CC of the ARC review necessary and the possibility that this
matter may be appealed during this process.
A street widening project will be pursued when it is logical and budgeted to
proceed - probably upon acquisition of remaining R/W to be acquired between
this property and the present widened section at the tire store.
The canopy of the VPA building lies within the street setback line and would
be removed as a part of the road project, should the ARC decide the building
should not be demolished and if the City Council reverses its earlier
direction for total demolition.
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_ MEE..,G AGENDA
DATE -fir' 6 ITEM #
CITY CLERK NEMORANWM _
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September 9, 1996
TO: Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Bonnie L. Gaw�ty Clerk
SUBJECT: Agenda Item No. 2 - Appeal - Building Demolition
As the September 17, 1996 agenda was being printed, the Clerk's Office received the attached
letter requesting a continuance of the Public Hearing to consider appeals by Phil Ashley and
Richard Schmidt. The appeal is of an Architectural Review Commission(ARC) approval of the
demolition of the former VPA Automotive building located at 316 Higuera Street, south of the
Highway 101/Marsh Street interchange (Application No. ARC MI 96-96).
I have spoken with Phil Ashley who has also filed an appeal of the approval (separate from Mr.
Schmidt's appeal), and he is agreeable to a continuance.
If the Council wishes to reschedule the public hearing, a formal motion is required, and that
motion should include a date certain upon which the appeals will be heard. If the item is
rescheduled, it is recommended that it be calendared for the October 1, 1996 Regular Meeting.
cc: John Dunn, CAO
Jeff Jorgensen, City Attorney
Ken Hampian, Assistant, CAO
Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director
Richard Schmidt, Appellant
Phil Ashley, Appellant
1
RICHARD SCHMIDT
112 Broad Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 (805) 544-4247
e-mail:rschmidt@calpoly.edu
September 9, 1996
Bonnie Gawf, City Clerk
City of San Luis Obispo
Dear Ms. Gawf:
I am in receipt of your letter of Sept. 5 telling me that my appeal of the building
demolition at 316 Higuera will be heard by the city council on Sept. 17.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend that meeting due to out of town commitment that
date.
If it would please the council to reschedule said hearing for sometime in October, I
would be better able to participate. Otherwise, they will have to do with the 10-page
report I have submitted to support my appeal.
Sincerely,
Richard Schmidt
RE i V ate:
SEP 7. 1996
CITY CLERK
To the City Council
From Richard Schmidt
Report supporting appeal of proposed demolition of former VPA/archaic service station
The Question before the Council is:To demolish, or not to demolish. Clearly I'd urge you to say,
"Don't demolish."This report supports that request.
FOREGROUND
At issue is the fate of the old service station at 316 Higuera, most recently occupied by VPA
Automotive.The station is a prefabricated steel and glass building consisting of office and open-
air auto repair bay, with a steel streamline moderne canopy covering the former pump area.Age
and provenance are in dispute. No significant historical research has been done on the station to
date, though there is clearly much that should be done lest this demolition take place
unilluminated by facts and enlightened discourse. Nor has the city put any serious effort into
investigating the many possibilities for preservation which are only hinted at in this report.
The purpose of this appeal is
1, to encourage the city to do the right thing by this station, and
2, in the larger view to improve upon the intelligence with which the city deals with cultural
heritage issues, particularly when they concern city-owned resources.
Response to staff report urging demolition. Since this is being prepared before the staff report
is public, and staff has not supplied me with a preview of its report, I can only guess what points
they will make. My responses are based on the staff report to the ARC on the assumption the
report to the Council will be similar. Some points:
• Thanks to staff for checking city records and determining a construction date of 1923 or
1936. I'm not about to resolve the discrepancy; clearly the earlier date, if correct, increases
the historic value of the structure, for it would have been a very early prefab station (see
below). I suspect that at least the canopy is of the later date, due to stylistic features, though
the base building could be of the earlier date.An expert could resolve this discrepancy on the
basis of physical and historical documentary evidence. (There are, of course, documentary
ways staff could attempt to establish date of construction other than from contradictory city
files.)
• Staff justifies demolition on grounds the building is in superficially poor shape (broken
windows are mentioned). Well goodness, who's fault is that?The city has let it decay, while
under city ownership, through "demolition by neglect." In many jurisdictions where historical
heritage is valued, "demolition by neglect" is a crime, and far from justifying demolition,
usually results in orders to repair to historically acceptable standards of building conservation.
Shame on the city for this sort of hypocrisy!A private owner who allowed this sort of decay to
take place would be visited by the building or fire departments, or both.
• Staff maintains there are other better extant examples of early service station architecture
in town.This is misleading if not outright incorrect.There are other interesting examples, and
they are very good examples, but this station is unique among the four examples I can think
of (the other three being John's Floor Covering directly across Higuera from the site in
question;the tiny station at Higuera and Carmel; and Landis Auto motive in the 400 block of
Marsh).All four are examples of the "functional"service stations of the early 20th century, but
they are different.The VPA building appears to be a fully prefabricated steel building,
prefabricated steel structures being one of the first developments in the mass-production of
Page 1
service stations (see below).As Daniel Vieyra, noted architectural historian of service
stations, has pointed out: "Two basic types of buildings—the brick and stucco box and the
steel-framed glass box—characterized the earliest 'Functional'stations." (Fill'er Up;An
architectural history ofAmerica's gas stations)The other two Higuera stations fall into the first
construction materials type.The Landis building is something else altogether—an example
of a family of Texaco "modem" prototypes designed in 1937 by the noted designer Walter
Dorwin Teague, and widely praised at the time in the national architectural press. Finally, the
matter before the council is a city-owned building,whose fate is entirely within your control,
not a hypothetical question about the merits of other privately owned buildings of similar
function, but different provenance.You need to keep on target, and not be led off course by
staff distractions such as this one about other"better" examples.
Response to ARC action.The ARC review of this project is puzzling. On the one hand,
according to the staff notification to me of the ARC action, the ARC found the station had no
historical or architectural significance; on the other hand, they ordered documentation of the
station prior to demolition (an action justified only if a structure is significant), and recommended
that any replacement structure on the site have historical recall.This combination of decisions is
illogical, an illogic which upon analysis reveals that the ARC in fact d�id feel there was historical
and architectural significance, but wanted to kowtow to what staff had represented as a Council
determination to demolish. It appears that had the ARC not been manipulated by this belief, it
would have been inclined to take a more overtly preservationist position.
Previous historical review. There has been none.Although the building was included in the
1983 cultural resources survey, the brief report on it shows the volunteer reviewer didn't have a
clue; furthermore, the overall survey was flawed due to lack of knowledgeable, professional
direction, and anything said there about this building (or almost any other building) should be
regarded simply as a curious tidbit, not as informed review or even as accurate information.)
believe the city has an ethical obligation to review its own historic building stock with at least the
level of seriousness it would require of a private developer, and that the Council if still in doubt
after review of my materials should order preparation of a historical review of this structure by a
competent individual or consultant prior to any further consideration of demolition.
Why proceed with this demolition? Prior to proceeding with demolition, you should ask
yourselves if this is truly necessary. Is it timely.Are there alternatives.Are they worth pursuing, at
least for now, to see what opportunities may reveal themselves when your decision-making is
less colored by perceived pressure. Here are some points:
1.There are no approved city plans for the property. (Do demolition regulations not require
that demolition must follow approved development plans?) So, there is no short-term time
constraint to push you to approve demolition. In this case demolition appears preemptive
rather than timely.
2. Widening of Higuera Street is years off. It cannot be done until neighboring properties are
purchased and cleared.That process has not yet begun.
3.The ultimate use of the property is uncertain. Within city hall ideas range from leasehold
commercial redevelopment to a"park-like place:' Since CEOA work has not been conducted
for any alternative, clearly there can be no "project"which requires demolition novo
4. Issues of creek habitat stewardship complicate any ultimate land use decision, and have
not even begun to be addressed by the city. This is perhaps the most pristine and varied
creek habitat within the city, and environmentalists are very concerned about the city's not
dealing with this issue on land that it now owns. Demolition could conceivably contribute
further to the degradation of habitat value now being fostered by the city.
Page 2
5. Until a future use is determined, nobody knows whether the continued existence of the
service station on this site is even a problem, let alone whether it is appropriate or
inappropriate.
6.There are many alternatives to demolition: leave the building in place, move it, disassemble
it and put it in storage for future re-use.This is a prefabricated building, after all.
In short, there is no compelling reason to demolish this building at this time.
Larger cultural resource questions involved In addition, this case is important because it
raises serious questions about the care and preservation of cultural resources in San Luis
Obispo, the moreso because the structure is owned by the city, and the city has total control
over the situation.The city can do the right thing, or the city can do the wrong thing. l want you to
do the right thing. To date, no city resources have been expended to investigate the proper
historical background of this building or its preservation/reuse opportunities;there has simply
been a bull-headed headlong rush to demolish, which may or may not be the best approach. I
believe it is not the best approach.
BACKGROUND
These facts being the case, I'd like to concentrate here on the broader, more generalized issues
of preservation presented by this case, and to try to persuade the Council that a more thoughtful
and leisurely approach to the future of this service station is in order. (The Council should already
have my initial letter to Arnold Jonas arguing for non-demolition at the time of his initial hearing. I
shall not repeat it here.This document supersedes my communication to the ARC.)
My discussion is divided into two parts: 1, the general issues concerning preservation of the
recent past, and 2, issues pertaining to the building type at hand.
Historic Preservation of the Recent Built Environment Preservation of the recent built
environment presents us with our most conceptually difficult preservation problem.
Conventionally,Americans think of preservation in connection with old things—vestiges of our
long-ago past:the Mission, the Sinsheimer orAh Louis stores, the Carnegie Library, to mention
several local examples. But if we destroy our recent past today, what more ancient past will
survive to be "preserved" and revered by future generations?This conundrum underlies much of
current thinking about preserving the built history of recent decades.As architectural historian
Rebecca Shiffer wrote recently (in GRM.Cultural Resource Management v. 18, #81995),
Preservation efforts must begin
with an understanding of the historical and cul-
tural significance of the resources, many of them.
less than fifty years of age. Until now, cultural
resource professionals have relied on the passage
of time to explain that significance and to tell us
what elements of the past are worthy of preserva-
tion. But more recent resources are already disap-
pearing too rapidly to afford the luxury of allowing
specified periods of time to pass before studying
them.Time obliterates—often literally—as eas-
ily as it clarifies.With solid scholarship, the signif-
icance of much of the recent past can be put in
historic perspective now.
t " Page 3
For general background on this subject, I've appended H. Ward Jandl's brief article "Preserving
the Recent Past—An Introduction"from the same issue of CRM.
Complicating our approach to dealing with recent buildings is that they're still too familiar to have
acquired the sentimental haze through which we view the more distant past. In fact, I believe we
have a positive bias against many recent structures since they often reflect recently discarded
styles which we now embarrassing, or represent aspects of our built environmental that"nice
people"don't feel it proper to celebrate; certainly this issue crops up with service stations. Many
recent buildings, to further complicate matters, are homely, unpretentious, functional, vernacular
parts of the working landscape, perhaps temporary by intention, and thus may seem, to the non-
professional, to lack preservation merit. (I encountered this dichotomy between professional
preservationist and lay views of familiar buildings when sponsoring the National Register of
Historic Places nomination of the Pacific Coast Railway Grain Warehouse. While preservation
professionals at the State Office of Historic Preservation were thrilled to, as they put it, have
"something other than a Victorian house"to work on, the prevalent sentiment at City Hall was that
the building was an "ugly tin shed" best torn down, and there was general befuddlement that
anybody would have the audacity to nominate it for the National Register, let alone that such a
nomination could be seriously considered and ultimately approved by both the State Historic
Commission and the National Park Service. I believe the issue, quite simply, was that over-
familiarity at the local level led to a blinding prejudice which foreclosed locals' ability to see the
true merits of the structure. I digress further to point out—again apropos to the current example
—that ultimately I was proven right on all counts —that the building was both worth not
demolishing and also was of historic merit— and it has become the centerpiece of what many
now feel is a unique community asset.)Again, Shiffer sums up the issue nicely:
Modernist buildings, suburbs, roadside structures,
and tnissile silos do not easily fit the popular con-
cept of"old," let alone "historic." They also defy
the general understanding of"aesthetically appeal-
ing,"which consciously and unconsciously drive
many people's decisions about the worth of ele-
ments of the built environment. Cultural resource
professionals largely appreciate the significance
and fragility of the recent past, but they still face
the formidable task of convincing a public that
generally does not "get it."
Preserving Roadside Buildings. There has been increasing appreciation over the past couple
of decades for the cultural/historical merits of buildings associated with America's two-lane
highway era.There have been many publications, both serious and pop, devoted to this subject.
(This growing interest has more or less followed a discussion in professional design circles
touched off by architect Robert Venturi's pioneering advocacy in the 1960s and 1970s for the
"ugly and ordinary"aspects of the built environment.)
When roadside buildings have "eye-appeal" through being unique, odd or mimetic, it has been
easy to develop public appreciation for them. (My "Ducks, Fish, Derbies and Other Remarkable
American Roadside Buildings" of 1986 gathered a representative bibliography of books and
articles about mimetic roadside buildings. Vance Architecture Series#1676.)
It is harder to convince the general populace (including city administrators) of the value of"ugly
Page 4
and ordinary" mass-produced roadside buildings.Although many professionals do appreciate
values represented by the mass produced buildings of the first auto age, the public at large still
"doesn't get it."This is where I'd urge the Council to take responsible leadership.
Gas Stations. The old VPA station appears to be an early prefabricated station with streamline
moderne canopy, of a type of yet unresearched provenance. (The Council should either direct
staff to do this research, or hire someone capable of doing it.) For many years, Highway 101
came right through town and down Higuera, and the station dates from that era. It is a reminder
of a particular era of our town's history—and of the transportation networks (ship, rail and
highway) that made this place what it is instead of just another dusty crossroads. We must not
forget whence we have come.
Are gas stations a legitimate subject for serious architectural historians?Absolutely. Daniel
Vieyra says a building type so ubiquitous cannot be ignored (as he maintains it.typically is) simply
because of its ubiquity. 'The gas station embodies architectural and cultural dimensions that most
of us tend to overlook. In recent years it has been noted that 'the history of architecture must not
be confined to masterpieces. . .The subject is much bigger and comprises all that man has done
. . . to shape the environment.'
"The gas station," he goes on, "is one of the few building types that has been standardized and
distributed across the entire country. It has become a sophisticated reflection of American ideals
as viewed by large oil companies. . . Echoing larger movements in architecture, gas stations are
often the only examples of current design trends in areas isolated from the architectural
mainstream."
Gas Station History. We tend to take gas stations for granted.They—together with their
architecture—have nonetheless had an interesting evolutionary history. John Margolies'brief
summary of early gas station history (from The end of the Road, Penguin 4981) sets the scene.
Gas stations are the most visited commercial buildings in
the United States aside from food stores.And although
they are always composed of the same three elements—
buildings, pumps,and signs—their appearance and presen-
tation have varied greatly in the continuing drama of
gasoline.They're all trying to sell the same thing—a
highly volatile,amber-colored liquid—so that any design
expression provides the sole product differentiation.
The first were "filling stations,"often a pump out front
of a drug or feed store;then they became tiny separate
buildings.In the 1920s,filling stations evolved into "ser-
vice stations"Service bays were added;hydraulic lifts
replaced pits in the ground.They offered free air-
and road maps.Attendants donned snazzy uniforms and
leather puttees and would offer to wash your car as well
as your windshield.And let us remember that great innova-
tion,"the registered rest room,"which replaced the
"picking-flower stops"that had been the previous neces-
sity.Euphemistically,the gas station provided a"comfort
stop" and a"comfort station"—two of the all-time great
American ostrich terms.That was in the days of innocence.
Page 5 .
Various kinds of gas stations were built: Prefabricated
stations began to be built from the teens onward on the
West Coast, like the Hubcap Corner in Dishman,Wash-
ington(photograph 19).These had a vocabulary of pre-
fabricated elements that were put together to make
various configurations for different locations.In the 1930s
porcelain enamel panels were introduced.They gleamed .
in the sun, could be made into colorful compositions, and.
required no particular maintenance.
�1tI tt,
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DYaF:
RODUCTS
STFNDFRD F 7 .
lax
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. p].,^•:.� ® Jai i+:P,Fit
Left:Hub Cap Corner, Dishman WA;right: a station of the same typology as It originally appeared.
Vieyra cites several different threads of service station architectural development, all coming
along more or less simultaneously: the "fantastic," buildings so outrageous they stood out and
attracted customers that way; the "respectable" temples, mansions, etc.; the "domestic"which
mimicked houses; and the "functional" stations that were made to look like what they were, and
nothing more.At first, there was open competition among these types; after all, the gas station
was a new building type, and there was no precedent upon which to fall back. In time, however,
the functional stations became the dominant type, and it was prefabrication which helped them
achieve dominance.
Page 6
Why did prefabrication develop so early for this building type? Stations needed to be where they
had exposure to traffic, but in the early part of the century traffic routes weren't well established:
there were few paved streets, no national or state highway systems, and constantly changing
traffic patterns made it hard to decide where to construct a station built of heavy materials.Along
came prefabrication. "Not only were these metal and glass structures portable,"writes Meyra,
'but they could be erected and operating in a few days. Manufactured by several iron-works
companies, these simple metal and glass buildings looked like a cross between an industrial
shed and a greenhouse." In time, prefabrication became the dominant approach used by oil
companies as they set out to create a distinctive image for their corporate stations.
r�
! to OM ONE, it
s .
�. C"+iun.Ilrtd Onipn.\'e.Fdlb. Ov e/a lave pl.miq lnip+r.
These Stations Close Leases
WHEN you run onto one of those tough situations y
where the owner or neighborhood objects to a Ria.
gasoline station, show him a Union Metal ornamental
Filling Station. The pleasing design will a long way
toward closing that lease. And the same pleasing design
brings business to you, day after day,night after night.
Moreover, these ornamental filling stations carry no
price penalty. The cost of a Union Metal Filling Station,
erected, is no greater than many less pleasing stations.
For these buildings come to you complete—not an extra
to buy; g y ,+, — +.+coax m M r
a real Savin in time and move Let us tell you �,�o,+.,.mpm��
all about Union Metal ornamental Filling Stations.
fm ar hrt p,epeu.lm b yaeu.
THE UNION METAL MANUFACTURING CO.
General Offices and Factory,Canton,Ohio
Chicago Office—230 Boat Clark Street
UNION METAL
ORNAMENTAL FILLING STATIONS
1]
Advertisement(1926)from an industry publication for generic prefabricated service stations. Lateroil
companies developed their own plans and building types using the same technology
- -� Page 7 `
Functional prefabricated stations also seemed to have other trends moving in their favor. They
were "smooth, clean, and, like a machine, pared of superfluous parts,"says Meyra.This appealed
to a design world that was exploring Modernism—the paring away of references to ancient
architectures and the glorification of modern technology. For a variety of reasons, gas station
design thus became an object of interest to those in the high design world, and the number of
distinguished architects and designers who designed gas stations is large. Veyra(in Built in the
U.S.A, Preservation Press 1985) points out the interrelationships between prefab "functional'
service station design and the "high design"world of architecture and industrial design—and how
the Modernist ideals of high design, designing for mass consumption, and practicality were put to
work in creating a building which looked "like what it was."
When first introduced, the "functional"filling station
was hailed as a building that had the inestimable virtue of
looking like what it was. Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard
Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Bertrand Goldberg and Wil-
liam Lescaze were among the prominent architects .
involved in the design of these modem stations. Another
approach to modem design was the Modeme, featuring
curves suggesting speed and an aesthetic of futurism, as
executed by industrial designers. Norman Bel Geddes,
Raymond Loewy and Walter Derwin Teague all produced
Streamline Modeme extravaganzas.
We have already pointed out the known high design provenance of the Landis Automotive building.
The VPA station also fits into this functionalist prefab mold—but apparently into its earlier stages
—especially if city records correctly reflect its construction datel But, Vieyra points out,what was
once familiar, typical and widely dispersed is now becoming a rarity:
Gas stations;once considered all too common, are now
becoming an endangered species. Many of the early small
stations without enclosed service bays have become
functionally obsolete..With oil companies constantly
updating their own images and marketing strategies, even
the more recent stations face an uncertain future. A
number of old stations have been listed in the National
Register of Historic Places. Successful rebirth through
adaptive use involves the incorporation of the station's
most prominent characteristic—its image—into the new
form. The gas station, itself the premier drive-in building,
has a history and rich design heritage of its.own and is.a
significant part of the built environment.
It is this cultural and historical significance —together with the city's total ability to control this
building's future and to do the right thing in this instance,which frames the decision now before the
Council.
REUSE
The subject before you is demolition, not reuse. However, the reuse issue perennially comes up in
such cases. Clearly, it is unlikely the VPA station will be a gas station again.There is no lack of
reuse potential here. Reuse possibilities are as numerous as the minds applied to the matter
Some that occur to me include a visitor center (what better symbol for a community welcoming
visitors from the highway and also wishing to signal its respect for its more modest past), as a
concession stand in a park, as a small indoor/outdoor restaurant or snack place, or a whole variety
Page 8
of possible municipal uses—perhaps as a pavilion in a park.The station could also be restored
as an interesting historical exhibit piece, perhaps at the Jack House or Santa Rosa Park
properties (to honor their highway heritage), and be adorned with a vintage car or two.The
possibilities are limitless if only the amount of positive energy expended equals the amount of
negative bureaucratic energy city hall seems perennially able to muster. It could even become a
chic private place, a la this New Yorker cartoon:
y''
ac:.�-.__.J�� //�� -L-tib__- ✓ -
,R� ,
yo
IL
r, � �� , /� Ili'` .�. '-'-.'+ .:;.:• JIB .n,.._ :
- • r- --= • , �.,F G �,':�� `Z... --� �': � = ;�j circ..• .l r� `��.
�_� Sig.• i t— 1=.�s It%- - - _r, ^,
"Ire hve a few ,files front Gere its an arehiteeturally significant former gas station."
CONCLUSION. The choice before you is to demolish or not. I urge you not to demolish, but
instead to project your positive energy into creating a vision for the preservation and appropriate
reuse of this historic service station.
In order of preference, one can establish the following hierarchy of,actions:
1. Maintain the station on its site, for the long-term, or for the sAort-term (until a better
decision can be made about its ultimate disposition).
2. Remove the station to another city-owned location.
3. Remove the station to a privately-owned location, with some sort of agreement as to its
fate, and preferably some historic preservation covenant included in the deal.
4. Remove the station to a storage location, pending permanent relocation.
I think clearly, given the lack of clear use for the present site, Choice 1 is the proper choice. I
include the others to provide a full range of alternatives.
As I said earlier, the city has not yet done its homework regarding this building; if you are unable
4
` Page 9
to come to a rational decision at this time, I suggest you see to it that a credible study—by stat
or a consultant—be conducted to provide further guidance. (There are limits to what the city
can expect volunteers like myself to do for no pay. I find it offensive that the entire burden of
proof is laid on citizens when the city itself is the progenitor of a demolition proposal like this
one.)
I urge you to give this decision your best attention, and not simply to react out of preconceived
prejudice in reaching your determination about what to do with this significant historic building.
Attachment:Jandl, "Preserving the Recent Past"
Page 10
H. Ward Jandl1,44 �e4
-
Preserving the Recent Past
An Introduction
0 ver the past several years, when the marble veneer of Amoco's highrise head-
preservationists have finally quarters in Chicago began to fail? Or was it when
begun to devote serious attention Connecticut's State Historic Preservation officer
to the immense challenge of doc- requested a determination of National Register eli-
umenting, evaluating, and conserving cultural gibility for the Merritt Parkway?
resources from the 20th century. This attention We are faced with defending, documenting,
occurs not a moment too soon: it is clear that evaluating, and preserving resource types that did
these are the issues that preservation profession- not even exist until the middle part of the 20th
als will be grappling with for the remainder of century: the shopping mall, the network of high-
this century and well into the next millennia. ways Criss-crossing the country, the curtain wall
Plastic laminates Our predecessors in the preservation move- skyscraper, the housing development, the edge
were used not only ment fought battles to protect remnants from the city. What is the history of these new building
for countertops but Victorian age: buildings and neighborhoods that types and by what criteria should their signifi-
for storefronts were not widely appreciated in the 1950s and cance be evaluated?Which of the 2,800 nearly
beginning in the
late 1920s.This 1960s by the general public--or by many archi- identical Lustron houses constructed around the
Formica advertise- tects and historians, for that matter.While these country between 1948 and 1952 are worthy of
ment promoted resources still continue to be at risk. at least today preservation and why?
designs using col- there is a broad body of information and knowl- The strategies for protecting and reusing
ored and metal edge about their history, significance, and care. these resources,while owing much to past efforts
inlays.
Architectural At the present time, we as preservationists with 18th-and 19th-century structures and neigh-
Forum.January are confronting perhaps the greatest challenge of borhoods, must deal with a scale that is unique to
1937. all: how to deal with the 20th-centum built envi- the 20th century: multi-building, high-rise housing
ronment. It is hard to projects, colossal airport hangars, and military
identify the defining bases that are measured in miles, not acres. Such
CO LO R FU L STO R FR 0 NTS moment when we rec- strategies must also include a heavy—and particu-
ognized that it was larly creative—dose of education and awareness-
time to face up to our building: why should the public care about
recent past. Was it military structures built during the Cold War?
�.........._...,,......:Z when Barbara What is so special about mass-produced, prefabri-
rw —
�^ � Capitman pushed to cation houses? How can the general public be
have a good chunk of made aware of the importance of early gas sta-
'"=' Miami Beach placed tions, bus terminals, and other roadside architec-
-- on the National ture?
"= ^ Register?Was it when Enormous challenges also face architectural
Philip Johnson conservators, engineers, and architects who are
decided to donate his beginning to rehabilitate and restore 20th-century
�^-� �• Glass House to the resources; the materials in need of conservation
National Trust for are not only the traditional brick, stone,wood,
Historic Preservation? and iron of yesterday but more complex materials
Was it when state such as plywood, fiberglass, stainless steel, and
and local preserva- plastics. Building systems are no longer simple
tionists fought to save masonry bearing wall construction or wood bal-
Lockefield Gardens in loon frame but curtain wall or post-tension con-
= Obi Indianapolis, a public trete. How does one preserve 20th-century
TH. FOAM ICA 6151 s.CIXG Goov...L.C,.C,...T,.G. housing project from materials that may be identified with significant
F O R 8 0 I L 0 1 N 6 P 0 0 P 0 S E S the 1930s?Was it health problems?
'CIRM NQ 8-1995 3
The serious study of the recent past is a historic resources. Together, the workbook and the
relatively new phenomenon; there have been conference xvill greatly expand the body of practi-
few scholarly books on the subject, and articles cal information available to preservation profes-
in professional journals are few and far sionals on evaluating and protecting the recent
between.The papers included in the handbook past.
for the national conference, Preserving the
Recent Past, Chicago, March 30 through April H. Ward Jandl, Deputy Chief, Preservation
1, 1995, have made an important contribution Assistance Division, National Park Service,
to understanding and addressing these issues. Washington, DC, died suddenly of heart failure just
The conference was organized specifically to two weeks prior to the conference, Preserving the
bring together preservation professionals from Recent Past. The conference and workbook were his
North America and Europe to consider the idea and stemmed from his interest and expertise in
unique challenges of preserving 20th-century 20th-century building types and their preservation.
Bruce M. Kriviskey
Suburban Sixties 4_-�er .
Saving the S _
Historic Preservation Planning
in Fairfax County, Virginia
he notion of"historic preservation" a general store as late as the 1960s, now the com-
in Northern Virginia's Fairfax mercial hub of the county and the seventh largest
County—the most intensely devel- business district in the country,with over 20 mil-
oped jurisdiction in the lion square feet of office and retail space.
Washington, DC, metropolitan area—often taxes Archeologists might say that snapshots one and
one's credulity. Those familiar with the county, three depict the same spot and simply show the
but whose perceptions are of only gridlock and impact of the view shown in snapshot two on the
sprawl, strain to remember what is left that is past and present of a traditional crossroads trad-
old, much less historic. They recall waggish ing center.
bumper stickers that use Fairfax as a verb Of course, there are venerable sites of his-
describing an act that should not be done to toric and architectural significance in the county—
other nearby counties or, for that matter, to the Mount Vernon,Woodlawn Plantation, and
rest of Virginia. Those less familiar with the Gunston Hall, to name a few. There are also hun-
county may have read what some observers have dreds of lesser known 18th—and 19th—century his-
written about our "Edge Cities," "Beltway toric sites scattered around the county, as well as
Bandits," and "McMansions." more than 2,000 recorded archeological sites
The history of Fairfax County can be cap- including one about 8,000 years old(properly
tured in three "snapshots." The first shows a group excavated and recorded,of course) now under a
of earnest Paleo-Indians ambushing a Wooly parking structure in Tysons Corner. Collectively,
Mammoth at the crossing of two well-worn paths these ably represent the heritage of the nation,
in the ice-age tundra. The second shows a graph state, and county.
of population change in the county since the first Needless to say, these invaluable traces of
census in the 1790s.The population level was vir- the past—traditional history, if you will—have
tually flat until the 1930s; it doubled each decade been the focus of the county's preservation plan-
from 1940 until 1980, and it doubled again over ning program since the early 1960s. But, this is
the past 14 years to over 820,000 today—an aver- history to read about, not recall; to look at, not to
age increase of 88% per decade since World War have lived.About 10 years ago, this dichotomy
II7TjlJhird is bf Tysons Corner, a gas station and was recognized by those concerned with under
6 CRM NB 8-1995
MEETING AGENDA
DATE 9'�ITEM #
Memorandum
September 17, 1996
To: Mike McCluskey, Public Works Director�
From: Todd Martin, Arborist Y
Subject: Hydro-seeding
I have contacted Karleskint-Crum regarding the possibility of seeding the Mathews'
property in 2 stages. By seeding only the area along the creek bank which I estimated
to be approximately 2000 sq. ft. and then the remaining 27,250 sq. ft. at a later date,
the cost of the seeding project increases by 33% when compared to seeding the whole
site at once. The actual cost per square foot increases from 2.3 cents to 16 cents
(approximately 750 % ).
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MEL..JG AGENDA
DATE f-17- ITEM 9'
Memorandum
September 17, 1996
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To: Mike McCluskey J� — 2f ACAO ❑ FIRE CHIEF
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From: Todd Martig0 C�CLERIvowG ❑ POLICE CHF ;
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Subject: Mathews Property -�E[L€ ❑ PERS DIR
It is my understanding that the Council's decision on the Mathews' property may be
delayed until October. As the project manager I have some concerns regarding this
possible postponement and its affect on the timely completion of this project. As you
know work on this project came to a halt last July as a result of an appeal by Richard
Schmidt. Since that time no further work has been done pending a decision by the City
Council on the fate of the VPA building. With this delay we are now " behind the 8
ball",if you will, with respect to completing this project.before the fall rains. There is
much work still to be done before we can start efforts to revegetate the site in order to
stabalize the creek bank and the adjacent area.
Several things must be completed before a revegetation program can commence.
Following is the "punch list" for items to be completed prior to revegetation.
1) removal of the VPA building
2) removal of the hydraulic lifts in the floor of the building
3) removal of approximately 3000 sq. ft. of asphalt and concrete
4) four to five days with a CCC crew to finish cleaning the site including the removal
of several "make-shift" retaining walls along the creek bank
5) import approximately 200 to 250 cubic yards of top soil to be spread over the entire
site
After this work has been completed we can start the planting process which will
involve hydroseeding with native grasses and wild flowers and the installation of trees
and shrubs along the creek bank and on top of bank. The site will then be temporarily
fenced off along the Higuera frontage for a 5 to 6 month "'establishment period".
RECEIVE®
SEP 17 1996
feIJY COUNCIL.
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Also on hold has been the abandonment of several sewer laterals on the Mathews'
property. The most cost effective way to have this work done is to have all of the
laterals done at the same time. We have a successful bidder for this project, however,
council's decision on the VPA structure will determine whether 5 or 6 laterals will
need to be abandon. This work must be completed before the rains come to prevent
infiltration and intrusion into the main under Higuera street.
My last concern is what we might find under the VPA building. I am refering to the
hydraulic lift and the potential for a minor soil contamination resulting from leaky
hydraulic hoses, etc.. If this were to occur it could delay the project further and
decrease our chance of finishing this project on time.
Typically, San Luis Obispo experiences some degree of rainfall by mid October. Over
the last 3 years San Luis has averaged approximately 1.5 inches in the month of
October. If this project is not completed by October we run the risk of significant soil
erosion along the creek bank as the seed mixture we will be applying needs 4 to 5 days
for germination and 3 to 4 weeks before it provides any appreciable erosion control.