Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 11/04/2014 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 161, 2014, DESIGNATAgenda Item 11 Item # 11 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY November 4, 2014 City Council STAFF Karen McWilliams, Historic Preservation Planner SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 161, 2014, Designating the Garcia Property, 321 North Whitcomb Street, Fort Collins, Colorado, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The owner of the property, Kate A. Polk, is initiating this request for Fort Collins Landmark designation of the Garcia Property, located at 321 North Whitcomb Street. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The Garcia Property, located at 321 North Whitcomb Street in Fort Collins, is eligible for Landmark designation for its significance to Fort Collins, under Landmark Designation Standard A, Events, for its characterization of historic patterns and trends representing the broad immigration patterns in early twentieth century Fort Collins associated with a once predominantly Hispanic area of the West Side neighborhood centered around the Holy Family Catholic Church; and under Landmark Standard C, Design/Construction, for embodying the distinctive characteristics of an architectural type and period as a hipped roof Classic Cottage. FINANCIAL / ECONOMIC IMPACTS Recognition of the Garcia Property, 321 North Whitcomb Street, as a Fort Collins Landmark enables its owner to qualify for federal, state and local financial incentive programs available only to designated properties. Additionally, based upon research conducted by Clarion Associates, the property should see an increase in value following designation. Clarion Associates attributed this increase to the fact that future owners also qualify for the financial incentives; the perception that designated properties are better maintained; the appeal of owning a recognized historic landmark; and the assurance of predictability that design review offers. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION The Landmark Preservation Commission recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. At a public hearing held on October 8, 2014, the Landmark Preservation Commission voted unanimously (7-0) to recommend designation of this property under Standard A, Events, for its characterization of historic patterns and trends representing the broad immigration patterns in early twentieth century Fort Collins associated with a once predominantly Hispanic area of the West Side neighborhood centered around the Holy Family Catholic Church; and under Landmark Standard C, Design/Construction, for embodying the distinctive characteristics of an architectural type and period as a hipped roof Classic Cottage. Agenda Item 11 Item # 11 Page 2 ATTACHMENTS 1. Location Map (PDF) 2. Landmark Nomination (PDF) 3. Owner Agreement (PDF) 4. Staff Report (PDF) 5. Photos (PDF) 6. LPC Resolution 9, 2014 (PDF) Fullana Elementary Lee Martinez Community Park Maple St N Loomis Ave N Whitcomb St N Sherwood St Sycamore St Cherry St 321 N Whitcomb 1 inch = 200 feet © Site ATTACHMENT 1 Revised 08-2014 Page 1 Fort Collins Landmark Designation LOCATION INFORMATION: Address: 321 North Whitcomb, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 Legal Description: Lot 9, Cotton’s Re-Subdivision, Block 273, West Side Addition, Fort Collins Property Name (historic and/or common): The Garcia Property OWNER INFORMATION: Name: Kate A. Polk Phone: 970-218-7812 Email: mbckap49@gmail.com Address: 321 North Whitcomb, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 CLASSIFICATION Category Ownership Status Present Use Existing Designation Building Public Occupied Commercial Nat’l Register Structure Private Unoccupied Educational State Register Site Religious Object Residential District Entertainment Government Other FORM PREPARED BY: Name and Title: Mitchell Schaefer, Historic Preservation Intern Address: P.O. Box 580, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80522 Phone: 970-416-2283 Email: mschaefer@fcgov.com Relationship to Owner: None DATE: Prepared August 19, 2014. Planning, Development & Transportation Services Community Development & Neighborhood Services 281 North College Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580 970.41 0 970.22 4- fax fcgov.c ATTACHMENT 2 Revised 08-2014 Page 2 TYPE OF DESIGNATION and BOUNDARIES Individual Landmark Property Landmark District Explanation of Boundaries: The boundaries of the property being designated as a Fort Collins Landmark correspond to the legal description of the property, above. The property consists of . . . SIGNIFICANCE Properties are eligible for designation if they possess significance, which is the importance of a site, structure, object or district to the history, architecture, archeology, engineering or culture of our community, State or Nation. For designation as Fort Collins Landmarks or Fort Collins Landmark Districts properties must meet one (1) or more of the following standards: Standard A: Events. This property is associated with events that have made a recognizable contribution to the broad patterns of the history of the community, State or Nation. It is associated with either (or both) of these two (2) types of events: 1. A specific event marking an important moment in Fort Collins prehistory or history; and/or 2. A pattern of events or a historic trend that made a recognizable contribution to the development of the community, State or Nation. Standard B: Persons/Groups. This property is associated with the lives of persons or groups of persons recognizable in the history of the community, State or Nation whose specific contributions to that history can be identified and documented. Standard C: Design/Construction. This property embodies the identifiable characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; represents the work of a craftsman or architect whose work is distinguishable from others by its characteristic style and quality; possesses high artistic values or design concepts; or is part of a recognizable and distinguishable group of properties. Standard D: Information potential. This property has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. Revised 08-2014 Page 3 EXTERIOR INTEGRITY Properties are eligible for designation if they possess exterior integrity, which is the ability of a site, structure, object or district to be able to convey its significance. The exterior integrity of a resource is based on the degree to which it retains all or some of seven (7) aspects or qualities: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. All seven qualities do not need to be present for a site, structure, object or district to be eligible as long as the overall sense of past time and place is evident. Standard A: Location. This property is located where it was originally constructed or where an historic event occurred. Standard B: Design. This property retains a combination of elements that create its historic form, plan space, structure, and style. Standard C: Setting. This property retains a character and relationship with its surroundings that reflect how and where it was originally situated in relation to its surrounding features and open space. Standard D: Materials. This property retains much of the historic physical elements that originally formed the property. Standard E: Workmanship. This property possesses evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory. This consists of evidence of artisans' labor and skill in constructing or altering the building, structure or site. Standard F: Feeling. This property expresses the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period or time. This results from the presence of physical features that, taken together, convey the property's historic character. Standard G: Association. This property retains an association, or serves as a direct link to, an important historic event or person. It retains association if it is the place where the event or activity occurred and is sufficiently intact to convey that relationship to an observer. Like feeling, association requires the presence of physical features that convey a property's historic character. Revised 08-2014 Page 4 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE and EXTERIOR INTEGRITY The property at 321 North Whitcomb Street is significant under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Standard A, Events, for its representation of broad immigration patterns in early twentieth century Fort Collins and for its association with a once predominantly Hispanic area of the West Side neighborhood centered around the Holy Family Catholic Church; and under Landmark Standard C, Design/Construction, for its embodiment of the distinctive characteristics of a hipped roof Classic Cottage; and. This structure’s form and style illustrate the convergence of early-twentieth century ideologies. Fish scale shingles and spindle posts were modest outward expressions common to the late- Victorian era. The small size and simple form of this home are indicative of modest living. Thus this home illustrates owners who had modest means, yet were conscious of at least some outward expressions. The home at 321 North Whitcomb also stands as a testament of the vitality of the Hispanic community in Fort Collins and represents the broad immigration patterns of the early twentieth century. Due to proximity to Holy Family Catholic Church—literally just a few yards down the road—this home and the neighborhood to which it belongs served for several decades as a haven for Hispanic immigrants to Fort Collins as they were often segregated from the larger community. A priest at Holy Family Church recommended to Alejandro Garcia that he move his family into this particular home after emigrating from Mexico very likely to be closer to the local congregation. Alejandro, his family, and neighbors worked in nearby mines, sugar beet fields, and in other manual labor positions. Therefore, this home is symbolic of the lifestyle and vitality of the Hispanic Fort Collins community that proved so vital to the economic growth of the city. Finally, this home’s exterior integrity remains largely intact. No later than the early 1920s a large addition was made to the rear of the home, but that addition has now stood as part of the original home for approximately ninety years and serves to further illustrate the needs of the home’s occupants. In the 1970s, that addition’s outer walls were covered with drop board siding to match the rest of the home’s exterior. Other than a few more minor efforts to repair or maintain the structure, it remains largely unaltered from its original appearance. Coupled with its association with broad patterns of style and immigration in the early twentieth century, this home exhibits all seven aspects of exterior integrity. Revised 08-2014 Page 5 HISTORICAL INFORMATION Historical records for the property at 321 North Whitcomb in Fort Collins exist as far back as the mid-nineteenth century. In 1865 Joseph Mason, one of the first European settlers of what is now Fort Collins, acquired the northwest quarter of Section 11, Township 7, Range 69 from the United States government.1 Over the next forty years several individuals owned this property including some prominent Fort Collins citizens like Norman H. Meldrum, A. K. and Ella B. Yount, and Franklin C. Avery.2 At some point during the late nineteenth century the eastern half of Joseph Mason’s original purchase became known as the West Side Addition to Fort Collins. In July 1887, it seems Theodore Kutcher subdivided Block 273 of the West Side Addition for the first time.3 Only five years later in 1892 Lizzie C. Emigh and John C. Baird purchased Block 273 apparently with the intent of re-subdividing it to create smaller lots than existed according to the 1887 subdivision plat.4 Finally, in 1907, Lillian E. Cotton re-subdivided the same block a second time, thus creating a third plat, that by which the neighborhood stands subdivided today.5 For the first decade of the existence, it seems that the owners of the property never actually resided in the home. In 1908, only a few months after Cotton’s re-subdivision work, Lot 9 of Block 273 very likely appeared in the city directory of Fort Collins for the first time as 317 North Whitcomb Street. Unfortunately, the contractor, architect, and exact date of construction remain unidentified at this time. In 1908, Glen Dement, an agent of the White Sewing Machine Company, lived there with his wife Lizzie.6 The Dements, however, seem to have only been renting the property. According to the Abstract of Title for the property George G. Gilbert is listed as the owner of the property for most of 1908.7 City directories between 1908 and 1919 reveal that four different couples and a single man, all of blue collar professions, lived at 317 North Whitcomb at different times, but no evidence suggests that those tenants actually owned the property. Then in 1919, Elsie Sawyer purchased Lot 9, Block 273 from Ella Peterson.8 City directories indicate that Frank Sawyer, a machinist and chief engineer, lived at 317 North Whitcomb with his wife Elsie between 1922 and about 1940, making them the first known owners to actually live in the home. In about 1940 the Sawyers moved just a few houses to the north to 321 North Whitcomb (Lot 11, Block 273) while the residence at 317 was listed as “vacant” in the city directory for that same year. During the time that the Sawyer’s owned the property at 317 North Whitcomb, religious activity in Fort Collins experienced an interesting evolution. Beginning in the late-1910s the Great Western Sugar Company began recruiting Hispanic workers from the American Southwest and northern Mexico to work in the sugar beet fields.9 Along with their hope for economic improvement, those immigrant workers brought with them a deep devotion to the Catholic faith. Unfortunately, they were met with little fellowship from the Catholic population already residing in Fort Collins. A daughter of an immigrant couple later wrote that when their family first arrived in the area, the local Catholic congregation “found it hard to integrate” the growing number of Mexican parishioners into its fold.10 As a result, in 1924 Father Joseph Pierre of Canada organized the first Spanish-speaking Catholic congregation in Fort Collins and purchased the vacant West Side Presbyterian Church (then located on the northwest corner of Cherry and Whitcomb, just down the street from the Sawyer’s home). In the spring of 1929, a new church was built (which is still located on its original location on the southeast corner of Cherry and Whitcomb), while the old 1 Conveyance No. 1, Abstract of Title; Watrous, History of Larimer County, Colorado, 320–21, 46. 2 Conveyances Nos. 7, 11, 17, Abstract of Title. 3 Conveyances Nos. 44, 45, and 99, Abstract of Title. 4 Conveyances Nos. 62 and 99, Abstract of Title. 5 Conveyances Nos. 82 and 99, Abstract of Title. 6 FC City Directory, 1908, 43, 194. 7 Conveyances Nos. 84, 87, 89, 90, 92, Abstract of Title. 8 Conveyance No. 95, Abstract of Title. 9 Revised 08-2014 Page 6 Presbyterian Church became a neighborhood school. The establishment of Holy Family Church drew several Hispanic families into the area who wished to be near the physical embodiment of their faith. In 1940, after Frank and Elsie Sawyer moved out of the home at 317 North Whitcomb they sold the property. Knowing that a home near his church had just been placed on the market Father Fullana, Father Pierre’s successor, recommended to one of his parishioners - Alejandro Garcia (also known as Alexander and Alex) - that he should purchase the home and move in with his family.11 During the early twentieth century Alejandro and Jovita Garcia immigrated to Fort Collins from an economically insecure Mexico. Alejandro worked for a time in the Ingleside mine, where he reportedly “lost three fingers during a routine dynamite explosion,” after which he found work in a sugar beet field near Prospect Road and Shields Street in Fort Collins.12 By 1930 their young family included seven children, two of which, Frances and Mary, later consecrated themselves as nuns of the Catholic faith. Delphine Garcia, one of Alejandro’s daughters, remembered that her father purchased the home at 317 North Whitcomb from Elsie Sawyer in 1942 and moved in that same year.13 The Abstract of Title reveals the sale was made final in February 1943.14 Delphine also remembered that Father Fullana helped her family stain the woodwork in their new home.15 Unfortunately, in the 1940s city residents of Fort Collins ostracized the neighborhood and labelled it “the bad part of town” seemingly due to the influx of Hispanic families like Alejandro, Jovita, and their children.16 Nevertheless, Father Fullana and at least four sisters of St. Joseph from Steven’s Point, Wisconsin, worked tirelessly to provide ecclesiastical guidance and financial assistance when possible, and even taught classes to residents of the Holy Family Neighborhood. About the same time that the Garcia family moved onto Whitcomb Street near the intersection with Cherry, it seems the three distinct subdivision plats of 1887, 1892, and 1907 may have caused some confusion about the precise locations of lots and homes on the 300 block of North Whitcomb. These problems, coupled with the desire to sell the lot, very likely contributed to Elsie Sawyer’s legal action in 1941 to declare her ownership of Lot 9, Block 273 in the Cotton Re- subdivision of the West Side Addition to Fort Collins. On July 7th of that year she successfully proved her ownership of that property before the District Court of Larimer County.17 The confusion concerning the lots on Block 273 seems to have even affected city employees issuing building permits. In 1945 Alejandro Garcia received two building permits to re-shingle the home located on Lot 7, Block 273 and to build a chicken house on that same lot, despite the fact that other documents indicate his clear ownership of Lot 9. The confusion may have stemmed in part from the construction of a new home on the 300 block of Whitcomb Street built after the Garcia family had moved onto the street. Sanborn Insurance Maps and Fort Collins city directories indicate that sometime in the early 1940s a new home was constructed in Lot 7, Block 273, just a few yards south of the Garcia family’s home. In January 1946 Ray Portner received a building permit to construct a “residence” precisely on that very lot.18 Since Portner’s building permit is corroborated by information included in Sanborn Maps and city directories, it seems unlikely that Alejandro Garcia would have been working on a structure in 1945 that did not yet exist. Knowing this confusion may have existed at the time helps explain why in 1948 the Fort Collins city directory listed two families, the Garcia and Gallegos families, as residents of 317 North Whitcomb, despite 11 Interviews with Delphine Garcia noted in “Survey Form and File on 321 North Whitcomb: A Class Assignment for HY500C Submitted to Professor John Albright, Department of History, [Colorado State University], by Mary Therese Anstey, Mary Williams, and Michelle Zupan, December 1, 1994,” [4]. 12 “Survey Form and File on 321 North Whitcomb: A Class Assignment for HY500C Submitted to Professor John Albright, Department of History, [Colorado State University], by Mary Therese Anstey, Mary Williams, and Michelle Zupan, December 1, 1994,” [3–4, 8–9]. 13 Interviews with Delphine Garcia noted in “Survey Form and File on 321 North Whitcomb: A Class Assignment for HY500C Submitted to Professor John Albright, Department of History, [Colorado State University], by Mary Therese Anstey, Mary Williams, and Michelle Zupan, December 1, 1994,” [3], [5]. 14 Conveyance No. 102, Abstract of Title. 15 Interviews with Delphine Garcia noted in “Survey Form and File on 321 North Whitcomb: A Class Assignment for HY500C Submitted to Professor John Albright, Department of History, [Colorado State University], by Mary Therese Anstey, Mary Williams, and Michelle Zupan, December 1, 1994,” [4]. Revised 08-2014 Page 7 the fact that both were identified as owners of the property.19 By 1950 it appears the error had been corrected and the city directory listed the Gallegos family as residents of 317 North Whitcomb while the Garcia family lived at 321 North Whitcomb.20 Sanborn maps of the period also bear evidence of this address change, which also affected the Holy Family Church and a small handful of homes on the same block. From that point on, the property located on Lot 9, Block 273 in Cotton’s re-subdivision of the West Side Addition to Fort Collins has been listed as 321 North Whitcomb Street. Members of the Garcia family lived in the home on Whitcomb Street for about sixty years between 1942 and 2001. After moving into their house on Whitcomb Alejandro worked as a plumber until his retirement in about 1951. Alejandro’s wife Jovita, a homemaker, expressed devotion throughout her life to the Catholic faith. During their time in Fort Collins she was a member of and participated in several Catholic-based organizations including the Altar & Rosary Society. In 1955 Alejandro passed away leaving Jovita sole owner of the property. Nearly three decades later in 1983, their daughter Delphine moved in to care for her aging mother and remained until Jovita’s death in 1988 at 93 years of age. Delphine continued to live at 321 North Whitcomb until 2001 when she sold the property to Tim and Nancy Hild. The following year Peter Scholz and Colleen Shick purchased the property and for a time seem to have operated their business “Scholz Industries” from within the home. In January 2009, Scholz sub-divided Lots 8 and 9 for the first time and sold the former to Ed and Jennifer Schneider.21 Two months later, in March of that same year, the Scholz sold Lot 9 to Kate Polk, who is now seeking Fort Collins Landmark designation of the property.22 Since about 1925 the home at 321 North Whitcomb Street has undergone a series of alterations focused primarily on maintaining the structure and ensuring that it retains its historic character. Sanborn Insurance Maps indicate that sometime prior to 1925 a large addition was made to the rear of the home that extended fourteen (14) feet from the original rear (west) elevation and four (4) feet from both of the north and south elevations.23 Though at the time this addition significantly altered the appearance of the rear elevation of the home, it has remained largely intact in its original form for almost ninety years. About the same time, in 1925, John A. Klamm may have constructed a detached wood-frame garage. Nearly two decades later, in 1941, Frank Sawyer received a building permit to repair the roof of the home.24 Four years later it seems Alejandro Garcia demolished what may have been Klamm’s garage in favor of a “chicken house” after having re-shingled the home just a few months earlier.25 It is possible that the earlier portion of the storage structure now located in the rear northwest corner of the lot may be Alejandro’s chicken house. In 1973 Jovita Garcia received a permit to install storm windows and to repair the front porch.26 Then during the 1970s and 1980s a city rehabilitation project helped her repair the roof on her home and match the siding of the pre-1925 addition to that of the rest of the house which was then and still is covered with drop, or weatherboard, siding. By 1989 the repairs to the rear addition and the roofing were complete and the city provided Delphine Garcia with a letter noting she had no further obligation to repay the rehabilitation grant.27 Photographs archived at the city Historic Preservation Department that were taken between 1994 and 1999 provide further evidence of some alterations to the property. After 1994 three principle changes were made by owners that are not documented in available city building permits: a door was added to the rear (west) elevation to provide an entrance from the back yard directly into the pre-1925 addition; a thin double-hung window located in the southern corner of the west elevation was widened to provide more light for the rear addition; and an addition was added to the east 19 FC City Directory, 1948, 110, 370. 20 FC City Directory, 1950, 90, 158. 21 Warranty Deed, January 29, 2009, Larimer County Public Search, accessed August 26, 2014, http://www.larimer.org/clerk/search/showdetails.aspx?CFN=20090005131&MultiLimitField=SendToAppraiser. 22 Warranty Deed, March 12, 2009, Larimer County Public Search, accessed August 26, 2014, http://www.larimer.org/clerk/search/showdetails.aspx?CFN=20090014842&MultiLimitField=SendToAppraiser. 23 Fort Collins, Larimer Co., Colorado, Dec. 1925 (New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1926), 9. 24 FC Building Permit No. 1123, June 13, 1925; FC Building Permit No. 6724, August 25, 1941 Revised 08-2014 Page 8 elevation of what may have been Alejandro Garcia’s chicken house. Prior to 1999 an open awning covered a cement slab entryway that facilitated an east-facing door to open toward Whitcomb Street. That awning may have been extant as far back as 1925 when the rear addition was completed, but no evidence exists to indicate exactly when it was constructed. After 1999 that awning was removed and now that door opens to an uncovered cement slab. Despite these alterations much of the home remains unaltered from its original circa 1908 shape and style. Revised 08-2014 Page 9 ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION Construction Date: Circa 1908 Architect/Builder: N/A Building Materials: Wood-frame Home, Concrete Foundation Architectural Style: Hipped-Box Classic Cottage, Late-Victorian Details Description: This modest wood-framed one-story Hipped-box Classic Cottage reflects a style common throughout the State of Colorado and retains significant external integrity.28 It also bears several architectural details common to the late-Victorian era. A concrete foundation, which became common in residential construction during the late 19th century, supports the original home and the pre-1925 addition. The outer wall is covered with drop board siding, and the moderately pitched hipped-box roof is currently topped with asphalt shingles and includes boxed eaves with a moderate trim.29 The front façade (east elevation) includes a large gabled dormer and the rear (west) elevation was modified prior to 1925 to include a large addition that now houses the kitchen and other rooms. The front, east-facing elevation bears a large gabled dormer that is symmetrical with the hipped roof. The gabled dormer includes fish scale shingles and a single hopper window encased by a white wood-frame with slightly decorative lintel. Two storm windows, installed likely in 1973, sit symmetrically with the front façade, one on either side of the front entryway and are surrounded by simple wood frame that includes only minor decorative details. The front doorway is the only aspect of the front elevation that is not symmetrical with the home’s structure; instead it sits slightly to the left of center. The front, paneled door includes a large window and is surrounded by a thick white door casing with a slightly decorative crown. The partial, open front porch is covered by a partial hipped roof with very low pitch and is topped with asphalt shingles. It bears the same boxed eaves and moderate trim as the rest of the original home. The porch roof is supported by two spindle posts common in the late Victorian era which rest on the cement porch. One cement step leads from the sidewalk to the porch floor. Currently the front yard is surrounded by a white picket fence that was installed sometime after 1999.30 The north-facing side elevation bears three simple windows and continues the drop board siding common to the entire home. The two windows included on the original home structure are single- hung sash windows set in white wood frames with slightly protruding sills. They also include outer protective storm windows that may have been installed in 1973. The only north-facing light on the pre-1925 addition is a single pane window surrounded by very simple white framing and is protected by an additional storm window. Other than the drop board siding and the roof eaves and moderate trim, this elevation of the home bears no other prominent features. Since Lots 8 and 9 remained under the same ownership until 2009, previous owners adorned the southern elevation of the home more than the north because prior to that time it opened to a large yard that comprised Lot 8. As a result the windows and architectural features of the southern elevation are far more prominent than those on the north elevation. The south elevation of the home includes large single-hung windows protected by storm lights. The white wooden framing of these windows includes moderately ornate crowns to match the trim below the roof eaves and very simple sills to match those on the east and north elevations. The eastern most light is comprised of a single window while the western most light is comprised of two windows divided by a while mullion to match the wood framing. The pre-1925 addition to the west elevation of the home includes an east-facing entryway that opens to a cement porch now located on the south elevation of the original home. Photographs taken in the 1990s indicate that a shed-roofed porch 28 [Sarah J. Pearce with Merrill A. Wilson], Field Guide to Colorado’s Historic Architecture & Engineering (Colorado Historical Society, 2008). 29 Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture (New York: Knopf, 2013), 36. 30 This is based on photographs from the time on file at the Historic Preservation Department, City of Fort Collins, Fort Collins, Colorado. Revised 08-2014 Page 10 once covered this cement area and may have been installed when the rear addition was built before 1925. It is unknown who or when that porch covering was removed. Now that east-facing door opens to a simple cement porch, includes a simple light and pet door, and is surrounded by a simple white casing with crown to match the window frames on the south elevation. The south elevation of the pre-1925 addition includes a large sliding sash window that was installed sometime after 1994, as evidenced in photographs of the time. This light is surrounded by a modest white-board frame. An air vent sits directly below the center portion of this window. As mentioned above, sometime prior to 1925 one of the owners (who exactly is unknown since building permits do not exist from this time period) constructed an addition to the rear or west- facing elevation of the home. Though this elevation is not part of the original construction of the home it has undergone some renovations, mostly minor, to match it to the historic character of the original structure. In the 1970s and 1980s Jovita Garcia received a rehabilitation grant from the City of Fort Collins to match the siding of this addition to the drop siding on the rest of the home. Plans of that time suggest the shed roof of the addition may have been slightly raised.31 Then sometime after 1994 a few alterations were made to the addition’s west elevation. The southern- most window that used to be a single- or double-hung window was altered to be a wider sliding sash window surrounded with a similar wood frame to match the sliding window on the addition’s south elevation. An entryway was installed to provide access from the rear of the home directly into the back yard. That door sits south of the center of the structure and is surrounded by a simple white casing. A thin sliding sash window is located immediately to the north of the entryway and once bore a small awning that has since been removed. This light is surrounded by a simple white wood frame with almost no decorative features. The final window of the home is located farther to the north on the west elevation of the addition and is a single-hung window surrounded by white wooden frame with simple. Like nearly all other lights on this home this one is protected by storm windows. A rough-cut stone pathway leads from the rear entryway to the alley and storage structure located in the northwest corner of Lot 9. The storage building located in the northwest corner of Lot 9 is comprised of two clearly distinct construction efforts. The original storage structure may have been Alejandro Garcia’s chicken house that he constructed in the 1940s. It is now the western half of the extant storage structure and bears the same drop board siding as the original home, a tin-covered shed roof, and exposed rafters that are blocked by a rain gutter. It has a simple sliding sash window on the south elevation surrounded by a simple white wooden frame. Photographs from 1994 indicate that sometime since then an addition was made to the storage structure that is equally as modest as the original storage shed. But it bears a simple tin roof with exposed rafters and wide shiplap joint siding. It bears no windows and the only entryway into the storage structure is found on the south elevation of the storage structure’s post-1994 addition. This double-door entryway is surrounded by simple white wood casing. Other than the distinct drop board and shiplap siding on the two portions of the storage structure, the building bears almost no decorative elements. 31 Repair plans, issued by Jovita Garcia, date unknown, Historic Preservation Department, Fort Collins, Colorado. Revised 08-2014 Page 11 REFERENCE LIST or SOURCES of INFORMATION (attach a separate sheet if needed) Abstract of Title to Lot 9, Block 273, Cotton’s Resub. of Subdivision of West Side Addition to Fort Collins. Fort Collins, Colorado: The Fort Collins Abstract Company, N/A. Aguayo, Jose. “Los Betabeleros (The Beetworkers).” In La Gente: Hispano History and Life in Colorado, edited by Vincent C. de Baca, 105–109 (Denver: The Colorado Historical Society, 1998). Anstey, Mary Therese, Mary Williams, and Michelle Zupan, “Survey Form and File on 321 North Whitcomb: A Class Assignment for HY500C Submitted to Professor John Albright, Department of History, [Colorado State University],” December 1, 1994, on file at Historic Preservation Department, City of Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins Building Permit permits and Inspection Records 1925–2009, available at City of Fort Collins Public Records website, http://citydocs.fcgov.com/, Fort Collins History Connection website, http://history.poudrelibraries.org/, and on file at Historic Preservation Department, City of Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins City Directories, 1902–2013. Garcia, Jovita, and City of Fort Collins, Grant Rehabilitation Documentation, on file at Historic Preservation Department, Fort Collins, Colorado. Garcia, Sister Mary, “My Weaving: Autobiography of Sister Mary Garcia, O.S.F.,” unpublished copy, 2006, Sister Mary Garcia Collection, Special Collections, Fort Collins Local Archive, SMG1. Larimer County tax and sale records, available at Larimer County Assessor Property Records Search website, http://www.larimer.org/assessor/query/search.cfm. McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture. New York: Knopf, 2013. [Pearce, Sarah J., with Merrill A. Wilson], Field Guide to Colorado’s Historic Architecture & Engineering. Colorado Historical Society, 2008. Photographs on file at Historic Preservation Department, 1994–2014, City of Fort Collins, Colorado. Sanborn Maps of Fort Collins, Larimer Co., Colorado, 1906–1925. Watrous, History of Larimer County, Colorado. Revised 08-2014 Page 12 AGREEMENT The undersigned owner(s) hereby agrees that the property described herein be considered for local historic landmark designation, pursuant to the Fort Collins Landmark Preservation Ordinance, Chapter 14 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins. I understand that upon designation, I or my successors will be requested to notify the Secretary of the Landmark Preservation Commission at the City of Fort Collins prior to the occurrence of any of the following: Preparation of plans for reconstruction or alteration of the exterior of the improvements on the property, or; Preparation of plans for construction of, addition to, or demolition of improvements on the property DATED this __________________ day of _______________________________, 201___. _____________________________________________________ Owner Name (please print) _____________________________________________________ Owner Signature State of ___________________________) )ss. County of __________________________) Subscribed and sworn before me this _________ day of ___________________, 201____, by _____________________________________________________________________. Witness my hand and official seal. My commission expires _________________________. _____________________________________________________ Notary ATTACHMENT 3 LANDMARK PRESERVATION COMMISSION October 8, 2014 STAFF REPORT REQUEST: Fort Collins Landmark Designation of the Avery Duplex at 134-136 North Sherwood Street, Fort Collins, Colorado STAFF CONTACT: Josh Weinberg, Historic Preservation Planner APPLICANT: Charles Bacorn, Owner; Kevin Murray and Carl McWilliams, Contract Purchasers BACKGROUND: Staff is pleased to present for your consideration the Avery Duplex located at 134- 136 North Sherwood Street. The property has significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Preservation Standard C. This duplex dwelling is architecturally significant because it is among Fort Collins’ very best examples of a vernacular Double Pen dwelling, featuring a symmetrical plan with twin entry porches. The dwelling accrues additional significance because it was constructed as a duplex, and is one of only a handful of historic duplexes existing in the city’s Eastside and Westside neighborhoods. Among those that do exist, this one displays a high standard of integrity. The dwelling is also architecturally notable for its architectural details, including horizontal drop siding on the façade, narrow double-hung sash windows, twin dormers, heavy long rectangular single slab sandstone porch steps, and twin hipped-roof entry porches with bead board ceilings. A rental throughout most of its history, the duplex dwelling has provided housing for numerous working class individuals and families through the years. Staff Analysis: Staff finds that the Avery Duplex qualifies for Landmark designation under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Standard C. If the Landmark Preservation Commission determines that the property is eligible under this standard, then the Commission may pass a resolution recommending City Council pass an ordinance designating the Avery Duplex as a Fort Collins Landmark according to City Code Chapter 14 under Designation Standard C. Planning, Development & Transportation Community Development & Neighborhood Services 281 North College Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580 ATTACHMENT 4 321 North Whitcomb Street Landmark Designation Front Elevation View to Southwest ATTACHMENT 5 321 North Whitcomb Street Landmark Designation View to Northwest Rear Elevation 321 North Whitcomb Street Landmark Designation Garage/Shed ATTACHMENT 6 - 1 - ORDINANCE NO. 161, 2014 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS DESIGNATING THE GARCIA PROPERTY, 321 NORTH WHITCOMB STREET, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, AS A FORT COLLINS LANDMARK PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 14 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 14-2 of the City Code, the City Council has established a public policy encouraging the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of historic landmarks within the City; and WHEREAS, by Resolution dated October 8, 2014, the Landmark Preservation Commission (the “Commission”) has determined that the Garcia Property located at 321 North Whitcomb Street in Fort Collins, and more particularly described in Section 2, below (the “Property”) is eligible for Landmark designation for its significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Designation Standard A, Events, for its characterization of historic patterns and trends representing the broad immigration patterns in early twentieth century Fort Collins associated with a once predominantly Hispanic area of the West Side neighborhood centered around the Holy Family Catholic Church; and under Landmark Standard C, Design/Construction, for embodying the distinctive characteristics of an architectural type and period as a hipped roof Classic Cottage; and WHEREAS, the Commission has further determined that the Property meets the criteria of a landmark as set forth in City Code Section 14-5 and is eligible for designation as a landmark, and has recommended to the City Council that the Property be designated by the City Council as a landmark; and WHEREAS, the owner of the Property has consented to such landmark designation; and WHEREAS, such landmark designation will preserve the Property’s significance to the community; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the recommendation of the Commission and desires to approve such recommendation and designate the Property as a landmark. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the foregoing recitals are incorporated herein by the City Council as findings of fact. Section 2. That the Property located in the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, described as follows, to wit: - 2 - Lot 9, Cotton’s Re-Subdivision, Block 273, West Side Addition City of Fort Collins, County of Larimer, State of Colorado be designated as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with Chapter 14 of the City Code. Section 3. That the criteria in City Code Section 14-48 will serve as the standards by which alterations, additions and other changes to the buildings and structures located upon the above described property will be reviewed for compliance with City Code Chapter 14, Article III. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 4th day of November, A.D. 2014, and to be presented for final passage on the 18th day of November, A.D. 2014. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 18th day of November, A.D. 2014. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk 25 FC Building Permit No. 8347, May 25, 1945; FC Building Permit No. 8586, September 15, 1945. 26 FC Building Permit No. 20531, August 23, 1973; FC Inspection Record, Building Permit No. 20531, May 28, 1974. 27 Jovita Garcia and City of Fort Collins, Grant Rehabilitation Documentation, Historic Preservation Department, Fort Collins, Colorado. 16 Interviews with Delphine Garcia noted in “Survey Form and File on 321 North Whitcomb: A Class Assignment for HY500C Submitted to Professor John Albright, Department of History, [Colorado State University], by Mary Therese Anstey, Mary Williams, and Michelle Zupan, December 1, 1994,” [5]. 17 Conveyance No. 100, Abstract of Title. 18 FC Building Permit No. 8807, January 16, 1946. Jose Aguayo, “Los Betabeleros (The Beetworkers),” in La Gente: Hispano History and Life in Colorado, edited by Vincent C. de Baca, 105–109 (Denver: The Colorado Historical Society, 1998). 10 Sister Mary Garcia, “My Weaving: Autobiography of Sister Mary Garcia, O.S.F.,” unpublished copy, 2006, 7, Sister Mary Garcia Collection, Special Collections, Fort Collins Local Archive, SMG1.