From the hallowed halls of the Ryman Auditorium, birthplace of the Grand Ole Opry, to the antebellum homes and Civil War battlefields that dot the countryside around Nashville, the attendees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation annual convention immersed themselves in Tennessee history.  Mobile Historic Development Commission president Rennie Brabner; vice president Celia Lewis; commissioner Dora Finley;          Mobilians Head to Nashville executive director Devereaux Bemis and assistant director Keri Coumanis represented the MHDC.  Senator Ann Bedsole, also one of our MHDC commissioners, attended in her capacity as an advisor to the board of the National Trust.
 
The staff of the National Trust put together a week-long convention that combined general meeting sessions, national and internationally known keynote speakers and down-an-dirty breakout working sessions.  The session topics ranged from the detail workings of the Federal 106 program, that must be completed before Federal funds can be spent on preservation construction, to sessions on best practices for running a review board.
 

Besides the workshops, a series of tours were available to attendees.  Tours included the Historic Churches of Nashville, The Ole Tennessee Trail, trips to Civil War battlefields, cemeteries and antebellum homes.  Also offered were field trips and tours that gave participants a chance to learn new preservation techniques, and see successful projects in and around the Nashville area.  Preservation Tourism and new concepts in Heritage Tourism were among the conference attendees favorite topics. 

Wonderful buildings like the old Nashville Post Office, now the Frist Center, the former Union Station, now the the Wyndam Hotel, and the Downtown Presbyterian Church, the Heritage Hotel (celebrating its 100th anniversary) and the Tennessee Capital building gave conference attendees  a glimpse of the rich architectural history of Nashville and central Tennessee.
 
A wide variety of exhibitors displayed their offerings at the convention.  Exhibitors ranged from companies that make windows, to a bookshop specializing the books dealing with various aspects of preservation, to companies that will take your restoration project from concept to completion.  Former MHDC commissioner and former Architectural Review Board chairman, Tilmon Brown attended as an exhibitor representing his new company, The Preservation Group. 

 
                                                           Alabamians Close Down Trust Party
The Mobile Historic Development Commission would like to thank the Sybil H. Smith Charitable Trust for providing scholarship money to help defray the cost of the registration fees for our commission representatives.
 
The 2010 National Trust for Historic Preservation convention will held in Austin, Texas.  MHDC president Rennie Brabner suggests that you make your plans to attend now.
 
Sidebar: 
Mobile hosted The National Trust for Historic Preservation Convention in the 1970s.   

After sitting in on a debriefing session of the MHDC staff and commission members who attended the Trust's conference in Nashville, I thought it was interesting that the delegation organized their meeting schedules in a divide-and-conquer method.  They each used their time wisely and took full advantage of the training offered, with both the sessions and the tours - never overlapping.  True to form, the Trust had a jam-packed agenda of keynote speakers, educational breakfasts, lunch meetings, break-out sessions on very specific preservation topics, and their wonderful array of tours, designed to put attendees in living laboratories. 

 

Here's what our delegation had to say:

 

Rennie Brabner - The conference was very well organized with two days of training and one day of tours.  My ah-ha moment was realizing that I needed to be at this training months ago, or even a couple of years ago to prepare me for being president of the MHDC.  This made me think that we need to address creating a leadership path for future leaders of the MHDC so they have the opportunity to train and be prepared. 

 

I spent most of my time in sessions on running an Architectural Review Board.  It was valuable to see how other cities do things.  I enjoyed the 'do's and don'ts.'  I also attended the Federal 106 session, which was very good.  It taught what you can do, and your limitations.

 

I enjoyed the Ole Tennessee Trail.  This is a driving tour that the Tennessee Department of Tourism is developing, one of 15 such driving tours.  They are working on their maps now and used the printer's copy for us to review.

 

Celia Lewis - I attended a day-long session with Jack Williams, AIA from Washington state.  I met fellow commissioners from Oregon and North Carolina.  It was amazing to see that we all face the same problems.  Jack was a presenter at the Alabama Preservation Conference in Point Clear last October.  It was good to reconnect with him.  His training is always so on target.

 

I enjoyed my Mixed Use Tour of German Town, a town settled by German immigrants that slowly fell into decline.  Over the years, crime and decay took hold.  Then, one man, an architect, moved into his family's old home, restored it, and through his grass roots effort, reclaimed the community and restored the town.  It was pretty amazing to see a 37,000 square foot cotton mill converted to condos, and good in-fill construction, compatible with the historic fabric of the town. 

 

Dora Finley - What I took away from our keynote speaker, Dame Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust of the United Kingdom, was that heritage travel involves more than just the buildings.  It includes nature, the environment, too.

 

I attended the Cemetery Restoration training and toured the National Nashville Cemetery.  I gained a lot of information on cemetery restoration, techniques on determining what is buried deep, documenting electronically who and where people are buried.  This all can be used in AfricaTown for the Plateau Cemetery.

 

I met a member of the National Trust's staff who will install a 'donate button' on the MHDC website for the African American Heritage Trail.  This is very exciting!

 

I discovered Gozaic, an on-line service for posting tours, and Heritage Travel, Inc.  We are now working to place the African American Heritage Trail on the site.

 

Devereaux Bemis - I spent a lot of my time in Federal 106 training.  It was intense and lengthy.  My major contact was with a Trust staff member who specializes in working with politicians and educating on the formation of historic districts.  He would like to come down and work with Mobile.

 

I attended the New Life for Old Churches Tour, this was designed to show alternatives to downtown congregations losing their members.  Two of the churches have been converted to architects' offices, creating exciting work spaces.                    Church Tour Continues on Loge

 

The NAPC luncheon, with the former director of Nashville's preservation office, also served as a great place to contact other preservationists struggling with review board matters.

 

Keri Coumanis - My educational track was more on the preservation law and real estate development side since that is what I do.  I attended the Preservation Law Breakfast where two cases were discussed that are challenging the preservation ordinance.  One in Chicago and one in California.  The two major points that I took away were you need to track the decisions that the ARB makes, and defining criteria for commissioners and ordinances. 

 

I also loved the bookstore sponsored by the National Trust.  It had amazing resource materials. 

 

On a personal note:

Both Dora and Celia had very moving experiences during their tours in Franklin, Tennessee. Both women had strong family ties to the land they stood on and the power of that experience was still fresh in their minds, and on their hearts, when they shared their experience with the group.  

 

"During my Battlefield Reclamation Tour in Franklin, I stood on the battlefield that two of my ancestors fought and died on during the Civil War.  It was so moving to stand there," shared Celia.  "During the Battle of Franklin, there were 10,000 causalities in just five hours.  Many of them Confederate soldiers."

 

"I went to Franklin for the African American Heritage Trail of Franklin," recounted Dora.  "My first African American ancestor, an indentured servant, made his way to the Free State of Franklin after he was released.  He took the name Franklin from Franklin, Tennessee.  In the early 1800s, Franklin had a large community of free African Americans and 50 percent of the population was African American."   

   

by Devereaux Bemis

 

At the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation meeting in Auburn the new executive director of the organization was introduced.  David Schneider is a long time preservationist in Alabama who has been a successful consultant in the field.  He will be a part-time director working out of his house while maintaining his business.  It was also announced that the Trust is a Partner in the Field of the National Trust, and David has been busy reaching out to as many areas as possible. Most of the work is done by phone, but he has visited a number of places to help with local preservation issues.

 Alabama Conference Session
There were several sessions in the morning and the afternoon, as well as daytime and evening tours.  One of the most interesting presentations was from Huntsville, which is moving to form based zoning where the size, shape, and siting of a building is often more important than the use. 

 

  Leah Rawls Atkins, Stacye Hawthorne & Christy Gustin

 

The Junior League of Mobile was also awarded the Distinguished Service Award for the Downtown Walking Tour during the Awards luncheon on Friday.  Commission member Christy Gustin accepted the award on behalf of the Junior League of Mobile.  Christy Gustin was the 2009 chair of the Downtown Walking Tour.  The project is a collaborative effort between the Mobile Historic Development Commission and the Junior League of Mobile.   
 
At the Breakfast meeting on Saturday a new slate of officers were elected.   

Dr. Tina Naremore Jones

president - 2011
University of West Alabama
Livingston, AL 35470
 
Ms. Peggy Hair

1st vice president - 2012
Birmingham, AL 35209
 
Mr. Gerry Anderson

2nd vice president -2011
Selma, AL 36701
 
Mr. Devereaux Bemis

3rd vice president -2012
Mobile Historic Development Commission
Mobile, AL 36633-1827
 
Ms. Wimberly Comer

secretary/treasurer -2011
Birmingham, AL 35223
 
Ms. Garland Cook Smith

past president -2011
Birmingham, AL 35213
 
Everyone interested in preservation in Alabama is encouraged to become a member of the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation.  The organization focuses on matters of building preservation, but also incorporates special affinity groups such as gardens and decorative arts.  Visit their website at http://www.alabamatrust.info/ or go directly to its membership page at http://www.alabamatrust.info/pdf/webapp.pdf.

 

Here is a look at the ARB's body of work for the month of September and a cumulative  report for the year.  Once again, the estimated construction cost prove that historic preservation makes a powerful impact on the economic health of our city.  Preservation pays.

     

Total Applications - 51 

Applications Reviewed by ARB - 17

Applications Approved by ARB - 14

Applications Tabled by ARB - 3

Applications Denied by ARB- 0

Applications Withdrawn - 0

Applications in Design Committee - 0

 

Applicants estimate the proposed job costs for renovations and improvement to homes and buildings in districts under the Architectural Review Board's jurisdiction will cost an estimated $3,118,817. 

 

Total Applications - 343

Applications Approved by Staff - 273

Applications Reviewed by ARB - 155

Applications Approved by ARB - 118

Applications Tabled by ARB - 18

Applications Denied by ARB - 16

Applications Withdrawn - 4

Applications referred to Design Committee - 2

 

Estimated job cost for this past fiscal year totaled $22,361,219 in restoration work.  This investment to homes and buildings in our historic districts reflects the positive impact that preservation has on our community.     

 

 

These statistics are presented by the Architectural Review Board and are maintained on a monthly basis.  For more information on the Architectural Review Board, and for a schedule of meetings, please visit the MHDC website at www.mobilehd.org.

At the November meeting of the Mobile Historic Development Commission, the Historic Neighborhoods Committee of the MHDC presented a resolution to support Architectural Review Board's decision to reject the design of the proposed gas station on Broad Street and Elmira Street in the Oakleigh Garden Historic District.  The resolution was then presented to the Commission at large and the commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the resolution supporting the ARB's decision.  The MHDC will stand behind the ARB's ruling if, and when, this proposal goes before the City Council on appeal. 

 

The ARB rejected the Certificate of Appropriateness for the proposed design based on the incompatibility of the design elements with the historic nature of the Oakleigh Historic Garden District.  The MHDC staff found the orientation and size of the structure to be disruptive to, and inappropriate for, the residential character of Elmira Street and the district.  The incompatible design elements included inappropriate setbacks, inappropriate massing and scale, inappropriate orientation of the site plan and buildings, five gas pumps covered by a lighted canopy and more than 27,000 square feet of asphalt in front of the convenience store building.

 

The MHDC staff also found that the proposed development does not meet the objectives of the City's New Plan for Mobile, and is not in harmony with the goals of the Bring Back Broad Initiative, and  that it threatens to defeat neighborhood revitalization efforts underway by both the MHDC's Oakleigh Venture Revolving Fund and Restore Mobile, as well as private revitalization efforts underway in the district.  After taking all of these factors into consideration, the MHDC staff recommended to the ARB that the application for the Certificate of Appropriateness be denied. 

 

After considering all of the factual information, the ARB denied the application for a Certificate of Appropriateness.    

 

The resolution will be forwarded to the ARB and to the City Council. 

 

We would like to extend our thanks to members of the ARB for continuing to protect our historic districts.  

The Old Dauphin Way Historic District is initiating a write-in campaign asking the County Commission to the remove of the Parole Office from the Bay Haas Building due to the unsafe environment that the office is causing.  The Bay Haas Building is located on Government Street, in the Old Dauphin Way Historic District, and backs up to residences in the district and is located near the rear campus area of the Alabama School of Math and Science. 

 

Old Dauphin Way residents are asked to write to their county commissioner asking for the removal of this office from the district.  The recent, and highly publicized, outbreak of gun fire associated with the Parole Office is having a devastatingly negative impact on the district.

 

For more information visit www.odwa.org.

 

 

November 12, 9:00 until Noon, Christmas Jubilee, Author's Corner

 

November 20, morning, Alabama State Capital

 

December 3, Downtown Rotary Meeting

 

December 8, Richards DAR House

 

December 15, 11:00 a.m., First Baptist Church

 

December 19, 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., Barnes and Noble, Springdale Plaza 

 

The Pillared City: Greek Revival Mobile is the third book written and photographed by the talented team of John Sledge, our architectural historian, and local photographer, Sheila Hagler.  The duo have collaborated on two previous books, Cities of Silence, A Guide to Mobile's Historic Cemeteries, published in 2002; and An Ornament to the City, Old Mobile Ironwork, published in 2006.

November 12 - General Membership Meeting, St. Mary's School.  Guest speaker will be Craig Roberts, architect and member of the Architectural Review Board.  Mr. Roberts will present a slide show on the architectural history of Mobile.  For more information visit their website at www.odwa.org.  

 

Church Street East Historic District

November 14 - The association will meet at 9:00 a.m. to decorate The British Park for the holiday season. 

 

December 6 - Progressive Dinner