REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
March 26, 2015
FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: KARANA HATTERSLEY-DRAYTON, M.A., Historic Preservation Project Manager
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
HEARING to consider adoption of resolutions related to the designation of properties to the Local Register of Historic Resources
1.*** RESOLUTION - Designating the A.G. and Henrietta Wishon Home located at 3555 E. Huntington Boulevard, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 5)
2.*** RESOLUTION - Designating the Fresno Daily Expositor Building located at 1029-1031 Fulton Mall, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 3)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
The Historic Preservation Commission recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolutions designating the A.G. and Henrietta Wishon Home located at 3555 E. Huntington Boulevard and the Fresno Daily Expositor Building located at 1029-1031 Fulton Mall to the Local Register of Historic Resources pursuant to FMC 12-1607 and 12-1609.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The property owners for the Wishon Home and the (former) Fresno Daily Expositor Building (listed above) have requested in writing that their buildings be considered for designation to Fresno's Local Register of Historic Resources. The two properties were evaluated with respect to the historic resource criteria of the City's Historic Preservation Ordinance, Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Article 16 of Chapter 12 and were publicly noticed in the Fresno Bee as required by the Ordinance. The City of Fresno's Historic Preservation Commission held a noticed public hearing on February 23, 2015 and concluded that both properties were eligible for listing on the Local Register. The Commission hereby forwards these nominations to the City Council for consideration.
BACKGROUND
The property owners of both the Wishon Home and the (former) Fresno Daily Expositor Building have requested in writing that their properties be formally considered for inclusion in Fresno's Local Register of Historic Resources.
The A.G. and Henrietta Wishon Home (1916) is a superb and eclectic example of an Arts and Crafts style residence and was the second home completed on Huntington Boulevard. The Alta Vista Tract was platted in 1911 as a streetcar suburb on either side of the Sunnyside and Recreation Line which had been extended circa 1907 by Albert Graves Wishon to carry Fresno residents out to his newly acquired Recreation Park. Previously in 1902 Wishon had convinced three Los Angeles investors, A.G. Balch, W.G. Kerckhoff and Henry E. Huntington, to purchase the faltering San Joaquin Power Company. In 1903 the company was renamed the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation and included in its holdings the Fresno City Water Company and the Fresno City Railway, which was renamed the Fresno Traction Company. Wishon was appointed the General Manager. The SJLPC merged with Pacific, Gas and Electric in 1930 and Wishon remained President of the Corporation until his death in 1936. He was also involved in numerous other enterprises in the Fresno area and served, as an example, as a director of the Sun Maid Raisin Company. He is memorialized by the City through "Wishon Avenue" which forks off of Fulton Street below Olive Avenue in the Tower District and continues north through the Fresno High Area and Old Fig Garden.
The home was designed by the architectural firm of Coates and Traver. William D. Coates studied with Paul Cret at the University of Pennsylvania and from 1909 to 1911 served as the California State Architect. In 1911 he formed a partnership with Harrison B. Traver, a former college classmate at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1914 the firm moved to Fresno where they continued to practice until 1925. They designed several local buildings and residences of note, including the Liberty Theatre and Fresno High School. The A.G. and Henrietta Wishon Home appears eligible for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources under Criterion i as one of the first residences on Huntington Boulevard, under Criterion ii for its association with A.G. (and Mrs.) Wishon, and under Criterion iii for architectural significance.
The Fresno Daily Expositor Building (1881/1888) was designated a Heritage Property by the Historic Preservation Commission on October 27, 2014 following extensive public review and discussion at the August and September meetings. The 2-story masonry brick building is concealed beneath a tenant improvement from the 1970s but dates to 1881/1888 and was the editorial offices and print room for the Expositor, Fresno's first newspaper.
The Fresno Weekly Expositor was founded by J.W. Ferguson as editor and owner in Millerton on April 27, 1870 (Fresno County Library caption for Expositor 1874 photo). When Fresno secured the County seat in 1874 the newspaper was relocated to Fresno, first to a wood frame building at the current location of the Bank of Italy (northwest corner of Tulare and J/Fulton Mall) and by 1881 to a one story purpose-built brick building three parcels north at what is now 1029-1031 Fulton Mall (Lot 9 and portion of lot 10, Block 72). In 1888 a second story was added to the Expositor Building (Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1885, 1888). Due to financial difficulties the Expositor ceased publishing on September 1, 1898 and by 1906 the building housed a restaurant and saloon on the first floor and a lodge hall on the second (Clough and Secrest, Fresno County The Pioneer Years: From the Beginnings to 1900 1984:316; Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1898).
The building now has modern storefronts and was stucco-wrapped sometime in the past. However, the original masonry brick building is extant under this modern coat. Buildings are often "modernized" or "improved" to the point that their original architectural detailing is lost, or at least well hidden. However, a property can still be a historic resource if it is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history (FMC 12-1607(a)(1)(i). Local preservationists are currently working with the property owner to explore the possibility of restoring the façade.
Although the former Expositor building has lost some integrity to its period of significance, the original fabric of the building appears to be in place beneath the façade improvement. As Fresno's first newspaper and possibly the oldest extant building in Fresno, the Expositor Building warrants designation to the Local Register of Historic Resources under Criterion i for the significant role the Expositor newspaper played in Fresno's early social and political history and for its association with pioneer editor John William Ferguson (Criterion ii).
Local Register Criteria and Protocols: The City's Historic Preservation Ordinance is located at Chapter 12, Article 16. Section 1607 outlines the criteria for designation of a resource to the Local Register of Historic Resources. A "historic resource" is "any building, structure, object or site" which is generally more than 50 years of age and "possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and:
(i) Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
(ii) Is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
(iii) Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or
(iv) Has yielded or may be likely to yield, information in prehistory or history.
The City's criteria for assessing significance are patterned after the National Register of Historic Places (1966 as amended) which uses letters A-D for significance. Fresno's Local Register is also similar, although not equivalent, to the California Register of Historical Resources which uses a numbering system of 1-4 for criteria. Although the concept of "integrity" is not specifically defined in the City's Ordinance, it is implicitly understood to follow the National Register which defines "integrity" as "the ability of a property to convey its significance." "To retain integrity a property will always possess several and usually most, of the aspects" of integrity ("How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation" 1988:44).
The process for designating a historic resource is outlined in FMC 12-1609. In brief, a request to designate a resource to the Local Register may be made by the Council, the Commission, the Secretary to the Commission, the property owner, or an authorized representative of the owner (12-1609(a). Applications for listing use the state protocol for survey forms with both a DPR 523A (Primary) as well as a DPR 523B (Building, Structure, Object Form) (12-1609(a)(1-9). A notice must be published in a local newspaper at least 10 days prior to the hearing and sent to the property owner as well. Commissioners must also physically visit the property prior to the Commission hearing (12-1609(c)(1).
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
The designation of historic properties is not a "project" for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), as it will not result in a direct or indirect change in the environment.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered because this does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no additional impact beyond the expenditure of staff time.
Attachments:
1. Designation Criteria for the Local Register of Historic Resources (FMC 12-1607).
2. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the A.G. and Henrietta Wishon Home, 3555 E. Huntington Boulevard, Fresno.
3. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California, Designating the A.G. and Henrietta Wishon Home Located at 3555 E. Huntington Boulevard, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
4. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the Fresno Daily Expositor Building, 1029-1031 Fulton Mall, Fresno.
5. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California, Designating the Fresno Daily Expositor Building Located at 1029-1031 Fulton Mall, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.