SALT LAKE CITY HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION Minutes of the Meeting
Held at 451 South State Street, Room 126
A field trip preceded the meeting and was attended by Oktai Parvaz, Robert Young, Elizabeth Giraud, and Nelson Knight.
Present from the Historic Landmark Commission were Scott Christensen, William Littig, Vicki Mickelsen, Oktai Parvaz, Amy Rowland, Soren Simonsen, Mark Wilson, and Robert Young. Magda Jakovcev-Ulrich, Sarah Miller, and Robert Payne, were excused.
Present from the Planning Staff were Joel Paterson, Planning Programs Supervisor, Elizabeth Giraud and Nelson Knight, Preservation Planners.
The meeting was called to order at 4:00P.M. by Acting Chairperson, Robert Young. Mr. Young announced that each item would be reviewed in the same order as listed on the agenda. So that there would be no disruption during the meeting, Mr. Young asked members of the audience to turn their cellular telephones off.
A roll is being kept with the minutes of all who attended the Historic Landmark Commission meeting. The minutes are presented in agenda order, not necessarily as items were presented at the Historic Landmark Commission meeting. Tapes of the meeting will be retained in the commission office for a period of one year, after which they will be erased.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The approval of the minutes of the July 19, 2000 and the August 16, 2000 meetings were postponed.
BUSINESS
Solicitation of comments on the National Register of Historic Places' nomination for the Ford Motor Company Service Building at 280 South 400 West.
Ms. Giraud presented a brief overview of the Ford Motor Company Service Building. Mr. Parvaz asked who the current owner was. Ms. Giraud said that the property was owned by Pioneer Partners L.C. Mr. Young said that the owner probably wants to be eligible for tax credits for the building.
Mr. Christensen inquired if the Utah State Preservation Office (SHPO) has done studies on other similar buildings in Utah. Ms. Giraud talked about some other buildings in the National Warehouse District that were included on the National Register of Historic Places. She said that SHPO might not address the context of it in this nomination but they have a large database of warehouse buildings.
Mr. Young said that the Ford Motor Company Service Building is the only building in Salt Lake City that was designed by Albert Kahn, who was the architect. He said that most architects were familiar with his book. He said that Albert Kahn started out as a wide-scale residential kind of architect in Michigan. Mr. Young said that he was connected with several industrialists, one of them being Henry Ford, and Firestone was another one. Mr. Young explained that Henry Ford took him on as a personal architect. He said that he designed Henry Ford's assembly line and was the plant architect.
Mr. Young continued by saying that Mr. Kahn liked to create large interior spaces that were far away from the perimeter, using monitor roof constructions to bring day light into the central portions of the buildings, and to allow interior fabrication of whatever they were building. He added that the monitor roof configuration was his trademark.
Mr. Young said that the building was an open bay building and all the ductwork is exposed. He said that if someone wanted to take it back to original, it could be done. Mr. Young added that the renovations were reversible and that the owners were sensitive in the restoration.
Mr. Christensen asked how much the building had been modified during last five years of renovation. Mr. Knight said that the interior space had been filled with offices, but the freight elevator had been left intact. He said that the passenger elevator had been put into the same shaft.
Mr. Parvaz inquired about the SHPO's review board. Ms. Giraud said that the board was going to meet the following Friday and staff had to forward a recommendation before the review board meets.
Ms. Mickelsen asked about the use of the building. Mr. Young said that it has been a radio station, an internet company, and railroad offices.
Mr. Wilson said that the windows let a lot of light in for the original manufacturing, which is successful for natural lighting. Mr. Young said that there has been mesh roll up screens installed inside. He said that even with that it did not obstruct from the original view.
Motion:
Mr. Littig moved to forward a favorable recommendation to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to nominate the Ford Motor Company Service Building, located at 280 South 400 West, to be included on the National Register of Historic Places. It was seconded by Ms. Rowland. Mr. Christensen, Mr. Littig,
Ms. Mickelsen, Mr. Parvaz, Ms. Rowland, Mr. Simonsen, and Mr. Wilson unanimously voted "Aye". Ms. Jakovcev-Ulrich, Ms. Miller, and Mr. Payne, were not present. Mr. Young, as Acting Chairperson, did not vote. The motion passed.
OTHER BUSINESS
Discussion of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions conference in
Pittsburgh, PA.
• Ms. Giraud said that the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions holds a conference every two years. She said that the objectives of the conference is to provide an interactive training program in which commissioners receive the benefit of experiences from across the country, while sharing their accomplishments. Ms. Giraud said that she attended the conference along with Mr. Parvaz, Mr. Gordon, Ms. Jakovcev-Ulrich, and Mr. Knight.
She said that it was a clearing house for the kinds of problems that the local commissions face. She referred to her notes that were included in the Commissioners' packets, a copy of which was attached to the minutes.
Ms. Giraud talked about the article entitled Historic Review Conference Hammers in Training Issues, that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a copy of which was filed with the minutes. She also referred to an article that was in the Preservation magazine, entitled Gut Reaction, a copy of which was attached to the minutes. She said that several people at the conference talked about this article. Ms. Giraud said that the article is about several buildings that are slated for demolition in Pittsburgh. She pointed out that some are in both, a local district and a national register district. She said the amazing thing was that it was the Historic District Commission that brokered the deal between the developer and the city. Ms. Giraud said that was like the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission meeting with Boyer to tear down a big swab of downtown buildings. She talked further about problems that other preservation commissions have across the country.
Mr. Wayne Gordon joined the Historic Landmark Commission for this discussion. He had prepared a slide show of historic structures and focal points of interest in the Pittsburg area.
A discussion took place during the slide presentation where participants of the conference commented and answered questions for the Commissioners. Ms. Giraud, Mr. Knight and others talked about the tours they went on where they saw other parts of the Pittsburgh area.
Mr. Gordon mentioned that the conference may be held in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Adjournment of the meeting.
As there was no other business, Mr. Young asked for a motion to adjourn.
Mr. Christensen so moved to adjourn the meeting. It was a unanimous vote of approval by the Commission members and the meeting adjourned at 6:00P.M.