REPORT TO THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
September 26, 2022
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Planning & Development 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 Fresno-Klette Medical Arts Center located at 444 Fresno St
Body
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consider a request submitted by Dr. David C. Marshall to designate the Fresno-Klette Medical Arts Center as a historic resource on the Fresno Local Register of Historic Resources based on its association with Dr. Earl Randolph Meyers. The resource is eligible under the criteria FMC 12-1607(a)(1)(i) and 12-1607(a)(1)(ii).
Designation of historic resources is not a project pursuant to CEQA as there is no change to the physical environment.
BACKGROUND
Historical Context
Dr. Earl Randolph Meyers led a remarkable life which was exemplified in his work advancing medicine in historically underserved minority communities in West Fresno and beyond. The medical complex located at 444 Fresno St. is an example of the dedication to ensuring equal access to medicine to predominantly Black patients.
Prior to World War II, there was only one Black medical doctor in Fresno, Dr. Henry Wallace. Dr. Wallace was an inspiration to the young Earl Meyers when his mother was gravely ill. Due to Dr. Wallace’s influence, Meyers sought to pursue a career in medicine. He attended the Columbia School and matriculated to Edison High School. However, after learning that he needed to study Latin to attend medical school, Meyers sought a transfer to the predominantly white Fresno High School. After high school, Meyers attended Fresno State College until the onset of World War II at which point, he applied to attend Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, one of only two medical schools in the nation accepting Black candidates. After completing his internship and residency, Dr. Meyer was recruited to return to Fresno by Dr. Henry Wallace who was retiring.
During this post-war period, Dr. Meyers returned to Fresno in 1946-47 and practiced initially at 1246 F Street a building purchased by his father Louis Meyers. During the Korean War, Dr. Meyers left Fresno to enlist as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He returned to Fresno in 1951 and expanded his practice into a larger location at 1129 F St.
In 1957, Dr. Meyers purchased the land at Klette and Fresno Streets to build a medical center dedicated to providing comprehensive medical care to Black and minority residents of West Fresno. He recruited other Black physicians, pharmacists, and medical specialists to his practice. Dr. Meyers hired David Horn of the professional firm of Horn & Mortland, Architects to design the complex. The buildings supported a total of four Black doctors, a pharmacy, an x-ray department, and a laboratory.
The Fresno-Klette Medical Arts Center was highly successful, and Dr. Meyers went on to practice in Fresno for nearly two more decades until 1975. Dr. Meyers continued to provide medical services in underserved communities for the next three decades in California, Oregon, and Alaska. In Alaska, he assisted as a substitute physician in remote Aleutian Islands and in Native American reservations in Oregon and California. Dr. Meyers died October 1, 2014, at the age of 95.
The five-building medical complex was designed by architect David Horn of Horn & Mortland who were nationally recognized for their design of the Sunshine School for the Cerebral Palsied in 1949 and 1952. They were considered to be an influential firm in not only public building design but in developing young architects of the period. Other local work of Horn & Mortland included: Fire House No. 4, Fresno, 1948; Sunshine School for the Cerebral Palsied, Fresno, 1949 and 1952; Tuberculosis Hospital, Fresno, 1953; Holland Elementary School, Fresno, 1954; Pacific Employers Insurance Co. office, Fresno, 1956; and Fellowship Hall, St. Paul’s Methodist Church, Fresno 1956.
Analysis
The Fresno Municipal Code defines the designation criteria and process for historic resources in Sections 12-1607, 12-1608, and 12-1609.
SEC. 12-1607. - DESIGNATION CRITERIA.
(a) HISTORIC RESOURCES: Any building, structure, object, or site may be designated as an Historic Resource if it is found by the Commission and Council to meet the following criteria:
(1) It has been in existence more than fifty years, and it possesses aspects of integrity to convey its significance based upon location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling or association, and:
(i) It is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
(ii) It is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
(iii) It 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) It has yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
The property is not currently occupied and has deteriorated. However, it is still structurally sound and substantially intact in its original form and location. The construction is comprised of stucco, brick, and glass. Its style is consistent with the period including large low roof overhangs to provide shadow and an inner courtyard giving light to interior rooms. The buildings are connected through interior hallways and breezeways.
As the first Black comprehensive medical complex in Fresno meets the criterion 12-1607(a)(1)(i) for its association with broad patterns of our history. Additionally, it meets the criterion 12-1607(a)(2)(ii) for its association with the life of Dr. Earl Randolph Meyers, a significant figure in Fresno’s history, in particular for his dedication to providing medical services to Black and minority communities.
In accordance with Section 12-1609, the hearing has been properly noticed through publication in the Fresno Bee on September 16, 2022, ten days prior to the hearing. Additionally, all properties within 1,000 feet of the subject property were noticed by mail two weeks prior to the hearing.
The members of the Historic Preservation Commission must physically visit the location of the proposed property to be eligible to vote on the nomination.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Not a project pursuant to CEQA.
FRESNO MUNICIPAL CODE FINDINGS
Pursuant to 12-1607(a)(1)(i) and (ii), the location 444 Fresno St can be found to be eligible for listing on the local register of Historic Resources.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the Historic Preservation Commission recommend to the City Council that the property at 444 Fresno St be listed on the Local Register of Historic Resources as the Fresno-Klette Medical Arts Center.
Attachments:
Exhibit A - Earl Randolph Meyers obituary
Exhibit B - Dr. Earl Randolph Meyers, M. D. Father of Black Medicine West Fresno California History
Exhibit C - Draft DPR Forms - 444 Fresno St
Exhibit D - DPR Form_1129 F St (Chinatown Historic Resource 4-6-06)