HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/12/2019 Item 10, Hannings
Purrington, Teresa
From:Dave Hannings <adobe642@yahoo.com>
Sent:Monday, November 11, 2019 2:11 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Rep Theater/Parking Garage/Heyd Adobe
Honorable Council Members,
Can't we do something to save the Heyd Adobe on the site of the proposed Rep Theater?
I have been attending discussions about this site for over 15 years.
In 2003 the Council and Staff assumed that the adobe had to be destroyed to proceed with the parking garage.
They did not then appreciate the historical significance of that structure or its value to the charm of San Luis Obispo.
That initial bad decision has not been seriously challenged until lately, and there is still time to save this part of our history.
I do not want to inhibit the construction of the new Rep Theater.
Can you get behind the idea of moving the adobe down to Mission Plaza and possibly using it to replace the current
restrooms. which are slated for replacement anyway?
This can be done!
I have several other points to squeeze into my allotted 3 minutes Tuesday evening, and since I will have to read them
quickly, I have attached below the current draft of my Public Comment for your more leisurely consideration.
I also plan to comment on another subject during the Public Comment period for items not on the agenda, but I will leave
that subject a surprise!
Thank you for your consideration!
Dave Hannings
The Hayes-Latimer Adobe
642 Monterey st
Parking Garage
Good Evening
I am Dave Hannings.
I have the historic Hayes-Latimer Adobe directly abutting this project on the east side.
I have been attending meetings, workshops, open forums, etc. about this project for
over 15 years.
Is this finally the final meeting?????
The design for the parking garage has evolved and is much improved over these 15
years.
No more tennis courts on the top level!!!!!
But I do think that the pedestrian entrance plaza on Monterey st could be improved to
look less like the back entrance to something, and more like the pedestrian entrance to
SLO that it will be for many people.
Earlier versions of this plaza were more interesting.
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Everyone loves the Rep Theater!!!!
The interior of the building looks great and seems very functional.
Everyone seems very happy with that.
But the outside of the building looks mediocre at best.
This is a prominent site with an important building and the design is a real
disappointment!
This is the project I was referring to in my earlier comments this evening about the
ARC, and the missed chance to make this a more interesting building.
Then there is the question of the attractive and historic Adobe Revival building
presently on this site.
It seems to me that if this project was being proposed by a private developer the city
would force them to address this historically significant building and create a plan for its
preservation.
But from the beginning the city has assumed that the building would be demolished,
and has not seriously considered the idea of saving it.
Moving an historic building is a last resort, but this building can be moved.
I believe that it should be moved the half block down to Mission Plaza and be
refurbished as the new public restrooms and food kiosk.
There is money in hand to replace the restrooms, and the current designs for the new
restrooms and kiosk as presented to the ARC and CHC, as I said at both those
meetings, are ugly as poop!
This is the only 20th century Adobe Revival residence in SLO and should not be
destroyed.
Also on this site are several important mature trees that should be saved.
I am particularly interested in the Madagascar Dragon tree in the backyard of the
adobe. Santa Barbara is famous for having several mature specimens of this rare and
striking tree, but this is the only one that I know of in SLO.
It needs to be saved.
The oak in the front yard of the adobe is another story.
It is a beautiful mature tree and much discussion has been aired about saving it, but
that effort will be expensive and futile.
Since the tree has not been watered in many years it has a wide ranging extensive root
system, most of which will be destroyed in construction and grading around its base,
and that will kill the tree.
Allow the contractor to take it out and make them replace it with more trees when
construction is finished.
The city will have a better long term result.
I hope that this project can finally get started, construction be finished, and my
neighborhood be back to normal before I am dead!!!!
Thank You!
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