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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDOWNTOWN TRANSIT FACILITY - PDP - 9-00 - CORRESPONDENCE - HISTORIC PRESERVATIONhundred and fifty foot freight dock with enough additional track to unload twelve freight cars at once." 4. NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBILITY OF THE DEPOT - In an August 2, 1995 letter to the City's historic preservation planner, Carol Tunner, from Dale Heckendom, State and National Register Coordinator for the CHS: Thank you for submitting the Historic Building Inventories prepared by Colorado State University Students. We reviewed them with the following results: C&S Freight Depot, 136 West LaPorte Avenue - the building appears to be eligible for the National Register under criterion A for its association with the history of railroad transportation in northern Colorado. The building is able to convey the importance of the railroad as a shipper of less -than -car -load shipments during the first half of the 20th century. The increasing use of trucks to transport freight of this type changed the nature of rail freight in the later part of the century to a combination of bulk shipments and containerization. The building is also significant under criterion C as a good intact example of a railroad freight depot, one of the few surviving examples of this type of building. On September 21, 1999, Ms. Tunner queried Mr. Heckendorn as to how the above statements applied to the entire freight dock. He said, "Why of course the dock would be included, it is part of the building!" Carol Tunner, September 23, 1999 J "SAVE THE DOCK" HISTORY 1. PREVIOUS LPC COMMENT (1995) - In April and May of 1995, the C&S Depot and 40 feet of the dock that extends 100 feet north of the building was designated a local landmark. An April 28, 1995 memo from Wendy Irving -Mills, Facilities, to Joe Frank, Advance Planning, stated, "The LPC apparently was pretty adamant about the entire loading dock remaining." On June 13, 1995, the LPC reviewed plans for an addition to the C & S Freight Depot at 136 Laporte Avenue. They were assured that it was necessary to tear down the northernmost 60 feet of the loading dock as it extended north of the building for a proposed parking lot to be built at a future undetermined date. Mr. Tanner wanted to see an alternative and asked if re -using the dock had been considered and what the reasons were for not doing so. Ms. Carpenter asked if attempts were made to design around the dock. Ms. Weatherford wanted to go on record as regretting that it was not possible to retain the dock. Ms. Carpenter said she would not able to support a motion since she could not vote to tear the dock down for a parking lot. 2. LANDMARK DESIGNATION OF THE C&S FREIGHT DEPOT - Even though the last 60 feet of the dock was not designated, the designation form includes several references' Continuation Sheet, Historical Information,13, "Built in 1906 for $20,000, the new Fort Collins facility was the largest C&S freight depot north of Denver. Twelve freight cars could be unloaded at one time, rather than the six that the old depot could handle.", Continuation Sheet, Architectural Description and Alteration Description,13, "A freight dock exists along the west and north portion of the Depot. This wood framed dock rests on concrete pylons and extends north approximately 100 feet.". From supplementary material, Railroads of Northern Colorado, 1982, by Kenneth Jessen, "The long, concrete pylon supported loading dock extends several feet to the north and it allowed several train cars to be on or off-loaded at once." 3. 1997 STATE HISTORICAL FUND GRANT FOR THE DEPOT - In acceptance for this grant, the City signed a contract with the Colorado Historical Society (CHS) that included an Agreement stating: Without the express written permission of the Society, no construction, alteration, or remodeling or any other activity shall be undertaken or permitted to be undertaken on the Property which would alter the architectural appearance of the Property....... provided that such reconstruction, repair, or restoration is performed according to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties..... Secretary of the Interior's Standards #2 states, "The distinguishing original qualities or character of a building, structure, or site and its environment shall not be destroyed. The removal or alteration of any historic material or distinctive architectural features should be avoided when possible." Therefore, any addition to the building or impact on the dock will have to be approved by the CHS using the Secretary's Standards which would not allow removal of the dock. In addition, as part of this almost $100,000 grant, 10,000 "FREIGHT DEPOT" brochures were printed for distribution from the future transit center in the depot. The brochure states on page 2, "It (the depot) served the area's sugar beet, livestock, and lumber industries and featured a one g Ron Fuchs - C&S Freight Depot _ Page 1 i From: Carol Tunner To: Ron Fuchs Date: 9/13/99 10:52AM Subject: C&S Freight Depot 1. The depot and a portion, 40 ft. of the dock to the north, is locally designated. The entire dock is historically important, however. Any changes, visible from the public -right-of-way, must go through design review through Carol Tunner to be reviewed by the Landmark Preservation Commission. 2. The depot received a grant from the State Historical Fund (SHF) recently which requires that for ten years the Colorado Historical Society review any changes to the building or improvements, including the dock. Karen has a copy of the SHF grant contract with the requirements highlighted for you. The major things the grant did was: re -roofed the entire building, boarded the windows, repaired the dock, reconstructed the gull -wing roofs on the east and west sides of the building over the loading docks, reconstructed the front step entry and preserved Annie's grave with a fence. Jack Gianola pulled out the historic train weigh station from the ground right after the grant was done and I have been told that the SHF technical advisor, Rob Sontag, is very upset by that. 3. The building also has a preliminary determination of eligibility for the State and National Register, according to a 1994 survey, so any changes need to go through the federal Section 106 process that Karen McWilliams handles. Carol Tunner 221-6597 ctunner@ci.fort-collins.co.us