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Home My WebLink About1994-07-25 ACHP Minutes CIT� �F C�TTAGE GROVE �D�'IS�r'r CDMMITTEE Ot�t HISTORI� PRESERVATI�TJ SPECIALMEETITJG Monday.luly 25.1994 1;45 P.M, City Hall Conference Room �g� I, Call to �rdar II. Rall �all III, �pprc�val af Agenda I�'. Historic St. Matthew's ChurchlCottage Grove Community �lub, 75th St. and Langly Ave., �ld Cottage Grove (ACHP Case TJo, 94-OZi A, Review City Policies and Design Review Guidelines Relating to DemolishingtMoving Designated Historic PY B. Review Site Plan for Proposed New Fire Station at the Cotta�e . Grove Community Club P� �, Review Application for Demolition PermitlCertificate of Appropriateness for Historic St, Matthew's Church and Cottage Grove Community Club Hall Buildir�gs V. 4ther New Business �II. Adjournment Special meeting paclaets will be mailed out next week, ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION City of Cottage Grove, Minnesota MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETIl�IG 25 JULY 1994 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a special meeting of the Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (ACHP) was held at the Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 80th Street South, on the 25th day of July 1994. Chairperson Golusky called the meeting to order at 1:50 P.M. RnLL CALL The following members were present: Gary Golusky (chair), Sharon Sawyer, Keith Kleinsasser, Kip Sundgaard, and Robert Vogel (staft�. APPROVAL (�F AGENDA Chairperson Golusky approved the agenda as mailed. APPLICATION FOR PERMIT TO DEMnLISH THE HISTORIC ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH/COTTAGE GR VE COMMUIVITY CLUB (ACHP CASE NO. 94-�21 CHPO Vogel distributed copies of a city building permit application dated 20 July 1994 and signed by Gary M. Berg on behalf of the City of Cottage Grove. The application is to demolish the St. Matthew's Evangelical Church at 75th St. and Langley Ave. on property owned by the City of Cottage Grove. Committee members had previously received copies � of the relevant City Register documents, plans, and conespondence in their meeting packets. City Administrator Kevin Frazell appeared before the Committee and presented the City Council's request that the ACHP review and comment on whether it would be appropriate to demolish the St. Matthew's Church/Community Cluh huildings. The proposed Fire Station #3 will occupy the Community Cluh site and construction will necessitate removal of e�cisting buildings. Specif'ically, the Council is seeking a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for the demolition work pursuant to the city's preservation ordinance. The consensus of the Committee was that the ACHP's actions on this matter should take the form of recommendations to the City Council with regard to policy, design review, and treatment. Only at such time when a contractor is hired to work on the St. Matthew's/Community Club buildings and takes out the necessary permits would it be appropriate for the ACHP to recommend issuance/denial of a COA. CHPO Vogel stated that it was Committee policy to review all COA applications within ten days of receipt of a permit application. CHPO Vogel then provided a brief overview of the city's historic preservation code and policies with respect to the St. Matthew's Church/Community Club property. The history of the church, the community club, and the fire swtion project were reviewed. Members of the city staff responded to Committee memhers' questions conceining the fire station plans ACHP MINUTES 7/25/94 - page 2 and the Public Warks Depar[ment's estimate of the costs of demolition and removal of buildings from the site. Members of the public were also present and voiced their support for saving the historic building. After lengthy discussion, the consensus of the Committee was that the St. Matthew's Church was a historically and archit�ctur�illy signiticant cultural resource; that its listing in the City Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks in 1983 was based upon the expertise of qualified professional historians and architects; and that the nomination and registration process had allowed for adequate public participation. It was noted that the nomination of the property to the City Register was reviewed hy the state and county historical societies, as well as by several citizen advisory commissions, and that at subsequent public meetings both city officials and residents of Old Cottage Grove had expressed interest in preserving and reusing the historic huildings. No one went on record opposed to the historic site designation. The church/community cluh hall wns listed in the City Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks in September 1983 by City Council resolution 83-116 pui to City Code Sec;tion 13A-4 as meeting the City Register eligibility criteria in Sections 13A- 4(a), 13A-4(d) and 13A-4(e). Furthermore, the Committee felt it necessary to restate its earlier recommendations that the historic church was woi of Pi and restoration to active public use. The Committee then discussed the city's proPosal to demolish the St. Matthew's Church/Communiry Cluh huildings. Ms. Sawyer made tlie following motion, seconded by Mr. Sundgaard: The Committee recommends that no permit be issued by the city for the demolition of the St. Matthew's Church/Cottage Grove Community Club building because, by ordinance, it is a misdemeanor to alter, disturb, deface or materially . change the appearance or use of a designated historic site in the City of Cottage Grove. The motion was based upon the rationale that demolition of a registered historic property is not an appropriate undertaking when alternatives to demolition exist. Motion passed 4 ayes, 0 nays. Mr. Kleinsasser made the following motion, seconded by Ms. Sawyer: The Committee recommends to the City Council that a permit to demolish the Cottage Grove Community Club hall (i.e., the structure built in 1955) would be appropriate under the following conditions: (1) the demolition and removal of the 1955 hall would not disturb or alter the historic fabric of the 1887 St. Matthew's Church building, which would remain intact and undamaged; and (2) as part of the hall demolition, the historic church building would be preserved through the application of appropriate protective treatments. The recommended historic preservation treatment of the 1887 church building is stabilization, followed by rehabilitation, as de�ned in the Secretary of the Interior's standards for archeology and historic preservation. Motion passed 4 ayes, 0 nays. Mr. Vogel made the following motion, seconded hy Mr. Kleinsassei: The Committee recommends that preservation of the historic St. Matthew's Church building be accomplished through relocation of the historic building to an another, more appropriate, location in Old Cottage Grove, following ACHP MINUTES 7/25/94 - page 3 removal of the 1955 hall structure and repair and stabilization of the 1887 church building. The rationale for this motion was that stabilizing and moving the historic church is feasible and consistent with the city's historic preservation policies. Motion passed 4 ayes, 0 nays. Chairperson Golusky directed CHPO Vogel to prepare a brief report to the City Council, providing information on possible alternative reuses of the historic St. Matthew's Church building, based upon previaus ACHP discussions. City Administrator Frazell infoilned the Committee that it could report its findings to the City Council as early as the first regular meeting in August. ADJOURNMENT There being no fui�ther business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:05 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Robert C. Vogel City Histoi Preservation Ofticer