Masthead
MHDC ENews: July 2010                             Volume 2 Number 7
Greetings!     
As summer bears down on us, there are a few places that you can escape from the heat and humidity of Mobile.  Visit one of our historic house museums, the Carnival Museum, the Museum of Mobile and our historic downtown library.  If you haven't seen the George Washington Carver Exhibit, now is your last chance.  All of these charming venues have interesting collections and informed docents that can introduce you to facets of Mobile's history.  Pick up brochures at the Ft. Conde Welcome Center, or visit their websites for hours of operation and admission fees.  July is the perfect time to stay cool by exploring our historic museums.  
 
And as always, we hope that you will share our ENews with your family and friends who enjoy and support historic preservation.  Please feel free to pass along this electronic publication and encourage everyone to subscribe.  It is our hope that this communication tool will help keep our community updated on preservation issues and special events.
Message from the MHDC President
My first order of business is to thank the previous administrations that have labored to establish the Mobile Historic Development Commission as the respected historical reference for this city. As a student of local history, I look forward to protecting endangered sites and threatened neighborhoods while safeguarding our heritage.   
 

Moreover, a retreat will be held on July 24, 2010 to ensure an invisible transition between the previous and new executive committees.  Focus on goals and strategies for accomplishment will empower the retreat's agenda.  To move forward, we must speak openly to each other saying those things that are too often said only behind closed doors.  In this administration, we will make a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. 

I have always had a drive to serve others and to work for the common good but, I never envisioned moving much beyond volunteerism.  The opportunity to move the historical direction of this multicultural city forward is an immense honor. I look forward to the challenge and thank you for the opportunity.

 Sincerely,

 Dora  Franklin Finley
 
 
New Executive Committee
 

President - Dora Finley

Vice President - Christy Gustin

Secretary - Marsha Sutton

Treasurer - Norman Pitman

Past President - Rennie Brabner

 
 

Standing Committee Chairs

 

Marking Committee - Christy Gustin

Special Events Committee -Laurice Toliver

Public Relations Committee - Desiree Tate and Rhonda Davis*

Properties Committee - Diane Horst

Neighborhood Committee - Johnna Rogers

 

*Co-chairpersons

Alabama Historical Commission releases 2010 Places In Peril List
The Alabama Historical Commission has released the 2010 Places In Peril List for the State of Alabama.  "The Places in Peril list is a valuable tool in directing public attention to the many historic places in Alabama under threat from neglect or demolition," stated Frank White, Executive Director of the Alabama Historical Commission.   
 
Magee Farm Mobile County
2250 DeLeon
 
Auburn Train Depot
- Auburn
Bankhead House - Sulligent
Bankhead-Shackelford House - Courtland
Coosa County Farmer's and Civic Association Building - Rockford
Cricket Theatre - Collinsville
Kelly-Stone-Hill House - Carrollton
Magee Farm - Mobile County
Shorter Cemetery - Eufaula
Historic Wood Windows - statewide
Cotton Mills - statewide
Old Federal Road - Russell, Macon, Montgomery, Lowndes, Butler, Monroe, Conecuh, Escambia, Baldwin and Mobile counties
 

Magee Farm was the site of preliminary arrangements for the surrender of the last Confederate Army east of the Mississippi.  It is the only remaining surrendernder site still standing.  Many original pieces are still in the house which was being run as a museum until financial constraints caused its closing with the eventual sale and dissolution of the collection imminent. 
 
The Alabama Places in Peril list was established in 1994.  For a complete overview and photos of the properties listed, please visit www.preserveala.org and reference the July August 2010 Preservation Report filed under 'News' on the website.
ARB at a Glance
The Architectural Review Board is continuing to work hard to protect our historic districts.  Here is a look at their body of work for June 2010.
 
Total Applications                        
Applications Approved by Staff - 17         
Applications Reviewed by ARB - 8         
Applications Approved by ARB - 4       
Applications Tabled by ARB - 0                   
Applications Denied by ARB - 2           
Applications Withdrawn - 2                      
Applications in Design Committee - 1      
Applications Appealed - 1                    
 
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 $13,725,544 for this fiscal year.  The June applications represent an estimated $1,347,610 in construction cost for our historic districts.
 
For more information on the Architectural Review Board, and for a schedule of meetings, please visit the MHDC website at www.mobilehd.org.
MHDC to hold Board Retreat and Strategic Planning Session
Mobile Historic Development Commission's executive committee will meet with the outgoing officers and committee chairs for a Board Retreat and Strategic Planning Session at Five Rivers Conference Center on July 24.  The day-long session will allow the executive committee to define new goals for the MHDC and create a plan to to aid in the on-going preservation work in our community.  Details of the session and new plans for the upcoming term will be coming soon.    
 
Heralding the New, Informed by the Old: The Waterman Building
 by
Carledge W. Blackwell, Architectural Historian
 

When people think of Mobile's architecture, the image that comes to mind is one of tall columns and lacy ironwork. Skyscrapers, despite the presence of several downtown examples, fail to resonate in the popular mind. In other words, one visualizes Oakleigh, not the RSA Tower, as being emblematic of the port city. Over the course of its three hundred year existence, the City of Mobile has alternately embraced and abandoned both the old and the new. The traditional and the novel need not be mutually exclusive though. Some buildings combine the two. Good design solutions and material choices take into account past and present. The traditional and the modern, at least an awareness of the two, are then part and parcel of an intertwined aesthetic and outlook.
Waterman Building
2250 DeLeon
The Waterman Steamship Company Building at St. Joseph and St. Michael Streets exemplifies how recognition of the past and reality of the present define a modern consciousness.

 

That word, modern, is a multivalent label referring to a larger historical period, a particular architectural style, and a mental state. With regard to architecture, the Modern International style (that is Modern with a capital letter "M") was characterized by three characteristics.  Those three characteristics or features are best realized as oppositional pairings. First, architecture should be an expression of volume, not mass. Second, wall plans should observe regularity over symmetry. Third, buildings should eschew, not utilize historical ornament.

 

These three criteria were codified by an exhibition held at and book funded by the Museum of Modern Art in 1932. The repercussions could be seen nation wide in the decade following the Second World War. As one of Mobile's finest iterations of the postwar Modern International Style, the Waterman Building observes the three aforementioned priori, as well as taking into the account the architectural past and regional reality.

 

The Waterman Steamship Company Building was completed in 1947. In contrast to the nearby Van Antwerp Building and the Merchant's National Bank Building, the designers of the Waterman Building adopted a more selective stylistic approach to stylistic trends. Phrased differently those two earlier buildings, though significant and singular in their own rights, are exemplars of styles that had many followers and exemplars across the country. A building like the Waterman, with its rich materials, thoughtful design, and artful decoration has but few equals.

 

Waterman Building
2250 DeLeon
The Waterman Building's external form is informed by internal function. The interior volume consists of four zones, all of which are legible on the exterior. A two story base encloses a mural graced lobby. This public space is surmounted by two tall, differentiated, but connected shafts. The larger eastern shaft houses offices. The smaller western shaft houses utility and service areas.  A roof top executive suite with terrace crowns the two blocks.

 

The separation of spaces and articulation of volumes is accomplished in an asymmetrical manner, albeit in such a way that neither negates neither monumentality nor workability. The base's east facing main entrance is symmetrical, but the granite faced surfaces give way to the regulated window bays of the office shaft.

 

The building does not feature historical ornament, but is informed by historical precedent and regional reality. Operable louvers and vertical shields fronting the windows allowed for temperature and light control. Like the louvered shutters flanking the city's great homes, these features were first practical and secondly decorative. They provided physical relief for the occupants of the office volume and visual relief for the passerby. What could have been tall expanse of flat wall has advance & recess, transition & continuity which serve a purpose. This functionally informed picturesque also underpins the utility/service shaft. Practically positioned in hierarchy of use and convention, the western situated service shaft likewise served to shelter office shaft from the afternoon sun.

 

In marrying contemporary aesthetic precepts and traditional building logic, the Waterman Building united past and present. Old and the new went hand in hand to inform an elegant, but functional building. The resulting form, one far removed from a mentality of moonlight and magnolias, nevertheless constitutes Mobile's ongoing negotiation between historical image and modern reality.

 

 
Social Media Workshop a Great Success 
The MHDC held it's first Social Media Workshop on Wednesday evening, June 16.  Over 30 people attended the workshop taught by Stacy Welborn of Welborn Ideas.  Welborn reviewed the fine art of Face Book and Twitter.  If you didn't have an opportunity to attend this session, keep an eye out, the MHDC will be holding follow-up workshops in early fall.  The next session will cover website development.
 
We would like to thank everyone who attended this interesting session.  Stay tuned, there's more to come. 
 
Commissioner Rob McElroy and Daphne Utilities honored by Inc. Magazine 
Inc. Magazine has named Daphne Utilities as a Winning Workplace 2250 DeLeonfor 2010 and featured the company in it's June publication.  Daphne Utilities was selected for their outstanding management style and employee satisfaction.  They were one of 20 small to mid-sized companies that received national recognition.  Lead by Rob McElroy, General Manager, the company beat out nearly 500 applicants for the award.
 
The MHDC would like to congratulate Rob, and the employees of Daphne Utilities, on this great achievement.  Rob represents Councilman Reggie Copeland's District on the Mobile Historic Development Commission, and is a great asset to our organization. 
 
For more information, please pick up a copy of the June edition of Inc. Magazine at your local newsstand.
Last Chance to Visit the George Washington Carver Exhibit 
Carver Exhibit at MOM
2250 DeLeon
July 11 is the closing date for the Museum of Mobile's acclaimed George Washington Carver Exhibit.  If you haven't had a chance to see the exhibit and learn about this extraordinary man, this is your last opportunity.  George Washington Carver is presented by the Field Museum's traveling exhibition and follows Carver's life and career, revealing both his struggles and achievements as a scientist, conservationist, educator and humanitarian.  The Carver Exhibit features over 100 artifacts, animated and live videos, interactive displays and a diorama of Carver's childhood farm.  There is also a model recreating the Jesup Wagon, Carver's mobile classroom, on display.
 
Admission to the Museum of Mobile is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for students and children under 6 years of age are free. 
 
For more information visit the Museum of Mobile's website at www.museumofmobile.com.
 
 
 
Sledge's The Pillard City Photos on Display
If you are headed to downtown's Mobile Public Library this summer, 2250 DeLeonbe sure to take the time to enjoy the lovely display of photos on exhibit from John Sledge's book The Pillard City: Greek Revival Mobile.  The photos are centered around an old painting of the City Hospital, on loan from the Museum of Mobile, and are hanging on the first floor near the children's area.  The photographs will be on display through Labor Day.
 
If you haven't had an opportunity to purchase The Pillard City, call the MHDC office at 208-7281to order a copy.   
Fort Morgan Open for weekly Candlelight Tours
The Alabama Historical Commission will be holding a Candlelight Tour of Fort Morgan Historical Site every Tuesday evening through July 27.  The tour begins at 7:00 p.m. 
 
With the decrease in tourism this summer at our beaches due to the tragic oil spill, Fort Morgan Historical Site will not receive the added revenue it normally experiences from summer admission.  Now more than ever, preservationists need to rally around our coastal historic sites.  If you are planning a trip to Gulf Shores, even just a day-trip, make plans to tour Fort Morgan.  And don't forget Fort Gaines too!  They really need our support.       
 
Admission to the Fort Morgan Historic Site is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children ages 6 to 18, and children under 6 are free.  For more information call 251-540-7127. 
Bravery and Beauty Party set for July 15
Put on your summer dresses and seersucker trousers because the Historic Mobile Preservation Society will be holding their popular Bravery and Beauty Mint Julep Party on Thursday evening, July 15, from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on the grounds of Oakleigh.  Tickets are $20 per person and includes a cocktail buffet and mint juleps.  There will also be a cash bar available for those interested in something other than the sweet and cool juleps.  And don't forget your checkbooks.  There will be a silent auction with items ranging from original artwork to event tickets up for bid. 
 
Proceeds from Bravery and Beauty will help sustain the Oakleigh Historic Complex.  For more information visit www.historicmobile.org.   
Old Dauphin Way Wine Tasting set for July 29
Blacksher Hall Site of ODWA Wine Tasting
2250 DeLeon
The Old Dauphin Way Historic District is planning a Wine Tasting and Silent Auction on Thursday evening, July 29, 6:30 p.m., at Blacksher Hall.  Tickets to the event are $15 per person and $25 per couple.  The event will include music, hors d'oeuvres, and a wine tasting.  A silent auction will also take place.  For ticket information contact [email protected].  Proceeds from the event will aid the Old Dauphin Way Historic District. 
Downtown Mobile Alliance to Feature Internationally Known Urban Planner Andres Duany
The Downtown Mobile Alliance has set September 2 as the date for their 2010 Annual Meeting.  Internationally known urban planner Andres Duany, a principle in the firm Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company, will be the keynote speaker.
 
Duany is the co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism and has been a driving force in the revival of traditional planning and the new urbanism movement
Andres Duany
Andres Duany
that has swept our nation.  Duany Plater-Zyberk has taken a leading role in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, working with both the Mississippi Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal; and the Louisiana Recovery Authority.  Duany has also led the Mississippi Renewal Forum.  He is best known in our community for the development of Seaside, Florida.
 
Mark your calendar.  It will be a great opportunity to hear from the leading urban thinker of our time.  You will not want to miss this event.  For information on the Alliance go to http://downtownmobile.org/index.html.  For informationation on Andres Duany see their website at http://www.dpz.com/.
 
Bragg-Mitchell Mansion holding Gone With the Wind Rummage Sale September 11
The Bragg-Mitchell Mansion will be holding their second annual Gone with the Wind Rummage Sale on Saturday, September 11.  The sale will open at 7:00 a.m. and continue until 1:00 p.m. 
 
Items are now being accepted
Bragg Mitchell Mansion
2250 DeLeon
for the rummage sale, including unwanted household accessories and gently used furniture.  Items are currently being accepted from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  If you have a box in the attic with things you don't know what to do with, think about donating them to the sale.  You know what they say, one man's trash in another man's treasure.  And remember, all donations are tax deductible.
 
Proceeds from the Gone with the Wind Rummage Sale will go toward the continuing preservation of the not-for-profit historic Bragg-Mitchell home.  For more information call the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion at 251-471-6364.   
Bemis to lead Walking Tour for Alabama Trust
Devereaux Bemis will be leading a Walking Tour of Historic Neighborhoods in Mobile on September 25 for the Alabama Trust.  This is just one of many Rambles and Tours that the Trust produces each year.  If you are not a member of the Alabama Trust, please visit their website at www.preservealabama.org for information.  They have a great website, complete with newsletters, a calendar of events, a Face Book page and preservation information.  And, if you are interested in joining Bemis's tour, please make your reservation through their website.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Alabama Trust and Mobile's history.    
Calendar of Events
Historic Mobile Preservation Society
July 15 - Bravery and Beauty Mint Julep Party, 6:00 p.m., Oakleigh
 
Old Dauphin Way Historic District
July 29 - Wine Tasting, 6:30 p.m., Blacksher Hall.
August 26 - General Meeting, 7:00 p.m., St. Mary's School
   
Downtown Mobile Alliance
September 2 - Annual Meeting, featuring keynote speaker Andres Duany, renowned urban planner.  
 
Bragg-Mitchell Mansion
September 11 - Gone With The Wind Rummage Sale, 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. 
 
Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation
September 25 - Walking Tour of Mobile Neighborhoods
October 7-9 - Alabama Preservation Conference, Montgomery, featuring keynote speaker Donovan Rypkema. 

To submit events, please forward information to Mobile Historic Development Commission at [email protected].  Please include contact information. 
To Subscribe
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Sincerely,
 

Rhonda Davis
Public Relations Chair
Mobile Historic Development Commission
In This Issue
Message from the MHDC President
Alabama Historical Commission releases 2010 Places In Perial List
ARB at a Glance
MHDC to hold Board Retreat and Strategic Planning Session
Heralding the New, Informed by the Old: The Waterman Building
Social Media Workshop a Great Success
Commissioner Rob McElroy honored by Inc. Magazine
Last Chance to Visit the George Washington Carver Exhibit
Sledge's The Pillard City Photos on Display at Library
Fort Morgan Open for Summer Candlelight Tours
Bravery and Beauty Mint Julep Party set for July 15
Old Dauphin Way Wine Tasting scheduled July 29
Downtown Mobile Alliance to Feature Internationally Known Urban Planner Andres Duany
Bragg-Mitchell holding Gone With the Wind Rummage Sale
Bemis to lead Walking Tour for Alabama Trust
Calendar of Events
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