December 16, 2019
FROM: DANIEL ZACK, AICP
Assistant Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: LAURA GROVES van ONNA
Historic Preservation Specialist
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF REQUEST BY THE PROPERTY OWNER TO RECOMMEND TO THE CITY COUNCIL THE DESIGNATION OF THE FOLLOWING PROPERTY TO THE LOCAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC RESOURCES AND ADOPTION OF FINDINGS NECESSARY TO SUPPORT RECOMMENDATION PURSUANT TO FMC 12-1609:
1. The Ridge Electric Motor Company Building Located at 1235 G Street.
Staff Recommendation: Approve and forward to the City Council
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Commission find that the Ridge Electric Motor Company Building is eligible for listing to the City of Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources, as meeting the applicable designation criteria set forth in Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Section 12-1607(a)(1) for buildings, structures, objects, or sites greater than 50 years of age and recommend to the City Council that the property be designated as a Historic Resource. This property is significant under Local Register Criteria iii. If the Commission concurs with the staff recommendation, the property will be forwarded to the Fresno City Council for designation pursuant to FMC 12-1609. As required by the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, notice of this hearing considering designation of the property was published in The Fresno Bee on December 6, 2019.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The owner of the Ridge Electric Motor Company Building has requested that the property located at 1235 G Street be considered for listing in Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources. The Ridge Electric Motor Company Building located at 1235 G Street was constructed in 1968 as a one-story commercial building in the Free-form/Mid-Century Modern architectural style in Downtown Fresno. The property meets Criterion iii for designation in the Local Register for buildings, structures, objects, or sites greater than 50 years of age as it represents the work of two masters, architect Robin Gay McCline and ceramics sculptor Stan Bitters.
BACKGROUND
The Ridge Electric Motor Company Building (1968) consists of a one-story commercial building, constructed in the Free-form/Mid-Century Modern architectural style in Downtown Fresno. It was constructed of concrete masonry units clad in smooth stucco ornamented by an eclectic array of sculptural shapes consisting of brilliant blue tiles. The period of significance identified for this property is 1968, the original construction date for the property.
The subject property located at 1235 G Street was previously evaluated in 2011 through the Downtown Fresno (Fulton Corridor) Survey Report prepared by Historic Resources Group for the City of Fresno. In 2011, the property appeared to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation.
Further research supports that the Ridge Electric Motor Company Building is eligible for listing in the City of Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources. The property is greater than 50 years of age and possesses integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association (FMC 12-1607). Additionally, it is significant under Local Register Criterion iii because it represents the work of two masters, architect Robin Gay McCline and ceramics sculptor Stan Bitters.
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 fifty 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) criteria for significance. Fresno’s Local Register is also similar, although not equivalent, to the criteria requirements for the California Register of Historical Resources. The National Register definition of “integrity” is instructive, and defines the term 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.” (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)]. Here, a request has been made by the property owner. 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)]. Notice to 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 in order to vote on a designation. [12-1609(c)(1)].
Attachment
Exhibit A: State of California Survey Forms for the Ridge Electric Motor Company Building 1235 G Street Prepared April 2011 by C. McAvoy and P. Travis of Historic Resources Group for Downtown Fresno (Fulton Corridor) Survey Report and Update Prepared October 27, 2019 by Karana Hattersley-Drayton.