<<

SAVING THE GOOD STUFF

Fall 2018 h Volume 22 No. 3

2018 Preservation Merit Awards Celebration

P reservation is thrilled to honor another outstanding slate of projects with our 58th Annual Preservation Merit Awards. Established in 1960, this juried program celebrates the hard work and visionary approaches of those preserving Austin’s unique architectural, cultural, and environmental heritage. This is our largest group of award-winners yet, showing that preservation is alive and well in Austin, and achieved every day through the commitment and investment of Austinites citywide. These eighteen recipients represent preservation efforts of all of types and scales, and we’re so excited to give them the recognition they deserve.

Our 58th Annual Preservation Merit Awards Celebration at the Friday, October 19, 2018 will be on Friday, October 19! We’ll look back at Check-In at 11am Program from 11:30am to 1:30pm our 65 years of preserving Austin’s irreplaceable heritage and Driskill Hotel, 604 Brazos Street present this year’s awards. Join us to honor the best preservation $100/members, $125/non-members projects from the past two years and give much-deserved Seating is limited, please reserve by October 12 applause to the owners, artists, architects, builders, and advocates who made them possible. PRESERVATION Merit Award Recipients 220 Road and lack of dedicated parking. Cielo system, bathrooms, and stairwells readied Property Group saw potential here when the building for modern tenants. Cielo Cielo Property Group Preservation Award for Rehabilitation no one else did, and in 2014 purchased the negotiated a parking agreement with the fading property with plans to turn it into a adjacent Embassy Suites, without which This unassuming brick building has stood vibrant gateway to South Austin. the project (and the building’s preservation) at the entrance to South Congress Avenue would not have been possible. for nearly 90 years. It’s housed everything Gensler architects opened up the from a metal shop to a cash handling building’s interior and embraced its 220 South Congress is now home to business, and in 1935 survived one of the industrial roots by exposing original YETI’s flagship store, a destination worst floods in Austin’s history. By 2009 ceiling joists, brick walls, and concrete whose bar and patio open onto Barton the building was vacant, however, because floors. New features include reclaimed Springs Road to bring life to this formerly of its unusual siting at wood and oxidized metal. A new roof, HVAC lifeless intersection. This transformation = Recipient Continued on page 3 Inherit Austin

2018-2019 Board of Directors

nherit Austin is looking for new board members for new h executive commitee h fiscal year! If you’re passionate about bringing awareness Vanessa McElwrath, President Clayton Bullock, 1st VP to preservation in Austin through unique events, partnership Lori Martin, President-Elect Richard Kooris, 2nd VP organizations, and “friendraising” for Preservation Austin, Clay Cary, Treasurer Alyson McGee, Secretary please get in touch with Board Chair Ellis Mumford-Russell at Ken Johnson, Immediate Past President [email protected] h DIRECTORS h Richard Craig Chris Hendel Blake Smith Join our Instagram Campaigns Samantha Davidson Linda Y. Jackson Mickie Spencer Help us show some love to the historic signs of Austin by using John Donisi Dennis McDaniel Michael Strutt the hashtag #signsofthetimesATX when you’re around town Steve Genovesi Scott Marks Allen Wise Eileen Gill Dewitt Peart Caroline Wright and see a historic sign worthy of attention. And, continue to tag Ann S. Graham Ian Reddy us in your posts of Austin culture & history, especially roadside h h resources using #atxroadside. Representatives Michael Holleran, UT School of Architecture Charles Peveto, Association Find us on Facebook and Instagram (@inheritaustin) to find out Ellis Mumford-Russell, Inherit Austin about our upcoming events and campaigns! h Bob Ward, Travis County Historical Commission h BENEFACTOR h Colin Corgan David Wilson McBee Family Foundation h WATERLOO CIRCLE h Paula & Lee Aaronson Ken Johnson & Norma Yancey Suzanne Deal Booth Danielle Kasling Sabrina Brown Richard & Laura Kooris Coleson Bruce & Anna Lee Dr. Elizabeth Geddes-Bruce Dennis & Jill McDaniel Clayton & Cora Bullock Vanessa & Mac McElwrath Robert & Mimi Buzbee Alyson McGee & Mark Wolfe Jim & Donna Byerlotzer Scott Marks & Lucy Wood Clay & Karen Cary Lori Martin & Stacey Fellers Erica & Damien Clark Peter Flagg Maxson & Kent & Reenie Collins John C. R. Taylor III Richard Craig Emily Moreland Tim Cuppett & Marco Rini George & Carole Nalle, III Sam & Ty Davidson Dewitt & Jane Peart William Dickson Janis & Joe Pinnelli John Donisi & Gina Hinojosa Matthew Redden Michael & Tracy DiLeo Angela Reed & Ian Reddy Steve & Jenifer Genovesi Blake Smith Eileen Gill & Kevin Pruitt Charles Aubrey Smith, Jr. Staff Ann S. Graham & Arlen Johnson Tyler Spears William & Regan Gammon Mickie Spencer Kate Singleton, Executive Director Tom & Elizabeth Granger Michael Strutt Chris & Abby Hendel Lance & Alyson Stumpf Lindsey Derrington, Programs Director Clarke Heidrick Mary Helen Walcutt Clark & Courtney Hoffman Mark Wey Mailing Address - P.O. Box 2113, Austin, TX 78768 Alex Herrera & Geoff Wellen Jill & Stephen Wilkinson Physical Address - 500 Chicon, Austin, 78702 James Hillhouse, IV Allen Wise Ph. (512) 474-5198 Fax (512) 476-8687 Diane Humphreys Patricia Winston & Bill Head Meta Butler Hunt Marvin & Eva Womack www.preservationaustin.org [email protected] Linda Y. & Rodney W. Jackson Caroline Wright

2 Fall 2018 Awards, continued from page 1 cabinet. All Craftsman 1920. The building’s reinforced concrete style wooden screens were structure, ultra-modern for its time, preserved, and squared, period- allowed for open floor plans and ample appropriate porch supports natural light. restored on the main façade. Two new additions were In 1997 young Tim and Karrie League carefully designed in keeping opened their original Alamo Drafthouse with the original house; here, taking the theater’s name from these include a gorgeous new the building’s shaped roof parapet. They 220 South Congress (Gensler) sunroom accessed through a covered its second story windows, added rounded, segmental-arched doorway that acoustic panels and black paint, and is a powerful step towards improving matches one in the original home. removed roof trusses for their single- pedestrian connections at either end of screen theatre. An Austin legend was the Congress Avenue Bridge. It shows The homeowners further contended with born, though this location closed in 2007. how even modest historic buildings are the site’s back-to-front 3 percent slope and The space lent itself well to a series of essential to creating a more vibrant urban drainage issues. While their initial project, nightclubs thereafter. experience for us all. completed in August 2017, had sought to fix the problem, Hurricane Harvey soon Owner David Zedeck enlisted Forge Craft 308 E. 35th caused more than 8 inches of rainwater to Architecture + Design to turn the building Steven Baker & Jeff Simecek seep under the house and buckle its floors. into creative office space in 2017. Restoring Preservation Award for Addition Another drainage and slope redesign the second story’s natural light was a ensued to protect the house long-term. priority; custom steel-framed windows Owners Steven Baker and Jeff Simecek liberated the wide bays on the main purchased this North University home Others might not have seen this home’s façade, complimented by new clerestories in 2014. Their work breathing life into its possibilities or embraced its historic with ceramic glazing. The project embraced historic fabric, and subtle expansion of character so fully. Others might also have the building’s vaulted roof structure and its footprint, shows the true potential in given up when its serious drainage issues uncovered its Austin brick walls. Elegant the modest (and too often threatened) became apparent. The current owners, new conference rooms face one another cottages that define so many of Austin’s however, have shown that these homes are across the symmetrical and otherwise core neighborhoods. worth preserving. open floor plan. New storefronts welcome visitors at the street level; these include All wooden trim was repeatedly hand a modern, faceted entrance and grand washed to remove years of cigarette 409 COLORADO staircase leading to the gleaming, light- smoke and oak floors were re-finished. The David Zedeck filled creative space above. bathroom retains its 1939 floor tile, bath Preservation Award for Rehabilitation tub, soap holder, towel rack, and medicine At a time when downtown’s Warehouse District is losing its low-rise commercial buildings at an alarming rate, this classic adaptive reuse project gives hope for what historic fabric remains. Architect Arthur O. Watson built this two-story auto- body shop and salesroom in 308 E. 35th Street (Preservation Austin) 409 Colorado (Clayton Holmes, Forge Craft Architecture + Design) Continued on page 4 PRESERVATION AUSTIN Awards, continued from page 3 balustrades, and remaining wood features were restored by Dutchman patching and Health & Human Services Commission an epoxy consolidant. Damaged pieces Preservation Award for Restoration on the ornate pediment, faced in formed sheet metal, were manufactured in the The Legislature established the field. Workers removed lead paint by State Lunatic Asylum, the first of its kind hand, and new paint matches the original west of the Mississippi River, in 1857. The colors. The project included reconstruction pastoral campus was developed according of structurally unsalvageable limestone to progressive theories on mental stairs at the building’s west entrance, healthcare of the time. Its Italianate-style which were rebuilt using waterproofed Collier House (Andrea Calo) Administration Building opened in 1861. concrete masonry clad in limestone. A massive Greek Revival style portico, including its gabled roof and clapboard designed by Arthur O. Watson, transformed siding, but is set back by a narrow, low- HHSC dedicated the Austin State Hospital’s the main façade in 1904 and remains profile connector with subtle detailing newly-restored portico in July 2018. The the defining feature of this monumental that distinguishes the old from the new. building now shines, and this project shows landmark. The light-filled master bedroom has a a great commitment to the site’s nationally- vaulted ceiling and three sets of French recognized historic fabric as the hospital’s The Texas Health and Human Services doors with transoms, maximizing the redevelopment moves forward. Commission (HHSC) worked with Braun small space’s openness and connection to & Butler Construction to restore the the back yard. portico in 2017. The project assessed all COLLIER HOUSE wood elements for extensive rot and Georgia Keith Featured on our 2017 Homes Tour, the deterioration, including floor decking Preservation Award for Addition Collier House shows how creative, and joists across three stories. Rotting economical spaces can transform modest Elevator operator Calvin Collier built structural beams inside the 2-foot- historic homes for 21st century living. Its this modest bungalow with his wife thick Ionic columns were replaced. New very design embodies preservation best- Bathesheba for just $1,200 in 1935. They wood components were milled to match practices of joining the old and the new, likely purchased its plans, and even missing features on column capitals and showing that such projects are not only factory-cut components, from a catalogue possible but desirable. and assembled them onsite. This is a classic example of the working- and “FOR LA RAZA” middle-class homes that define Bouldin’s historic fabric, and that are being rapidly Arte Texas, Art in Public Places, demolished for larger homes every year. Parks and Recreation Department & Austin Energy In 2014, owner Georgia Keith moved in Preservation Award for Preservation with plans to update the house while of a Cultural Landscape preserving the character that brought her Austin’s rich cultural fabric is often here in the first place. A gorgeous addition expressed in its murals, communicating and remodel project with Elizabeth Baird deeply-felt histories and meanings. Robert Architecture & Design expanded the bungalow by just 220 square feet. The Herrera and Oscar Cortez’ monumental “For interior now features exposed shiplap La Raza,” painted in 1992 along 107 feet ceilings and walls, along with colorful tile of the now-decommissioned Holly Power Austin State Hospital (Nathan Barry, Braun & work and built-ins. The new master suite Plant’s exterior, is no different. This was Butler) takes design cues from the original home, one of many works by the Austin League of = Recipient Continued on page 5

4 Fall 2018 Awards, continued from page 4

architectural treasures. Completed in 1881, the Italian Renaissance Revival style building originally served as

Detail of “For La Raza” (Philip Rogers) Austin’s federal courthouse and post office. The Texas State Tejano Artists reclaiming the site’s identity University System purchased for the surrounding Mexican American Holly it in 2015 and embarked on neighborhood, which fought for decades to a $4.7 million rehabilitation close the noxious plant imposed on their with O’Connell Architecture, community. the Lawrence Group, and Flynn O. Henry Hall (O’Connell Architecture) Construction to remedy years of OAKWOOD CEMETERY By 2016 the mural’s powerful Chicano deferred maintenance and alterations. imagery, including Aztec gods and symbols CHAPEL Austin Parks & Recreation Dept. of Mexican American heritage, had suffered. A comprehensive survey determined Preservation Award for Restoration The City of Austin’s Art in Public Places individual scopes of work for each of the program commissioned the East Austin building’s 160 historic windows, including The Oakwood Cemetery Chapel’s gorgeous advocacy group Arte Texas, including casements, transoms, and double-hung restoration is the culmination of years of Herrera and Cortez, to restore “For La windows (in total, O. Henry Hall has no citizen advocacy, as well as exemplary and Raza” as part of the Parks & Recreation less than ten different window types). inclusive leadership by the City of Austin Department’s Holly Shores Master Plan. Wooden sashes and frames were restored Parks & Recreation Department (PARD) when using state-of-the-art techniques and paint facing hard truths about our city’s past. The Completed in April 2018, this restoration is analysis brought back their original color Charles Page-designed chapel was completed a major milestone in plans to restore all of scheme. A new integral, low-e coating in 1914 near the “Colored Grounds” section of the former plant’s murals and turn the site improved each pane’s thermal efficiency. Oakwood Cemetery, established in 1839. The into a city park. The artists immersed local tiny building’s perfect Late Gothic Revival students in the Mexican American mural Masonry work included replacing a style composition includes a crenelated tradition and worked with them to recreate damaging elastomeric coating, applied tower and pointed-arch windows. its vibrant figures. A new primer and metal in 1997, with an organic mineral coating cap protect the finished work from water to reconstitute the limestone exterior. All Save Austin’s Cemeteries began documenting penetration long-term. repointing matched the original mortar the chapel, by then in serious disrepair, and color, texture, and tooling. The original bringing awareness to its importance in This multi-generational project represents cornice, found in a dangerous state the early 2000s. Their advocacy led PARD the best in preservation. As expressed of disrepair, was restored. Inside, drop to allocate 2012 General Obligation Bond by Herrera, “When we were restoring the ceilings dating to the building’s previous funding for the building’s restoration. Hatch mural, people would stop and they’d be restoration in 1971 have been removed and + Ulland Owen designed the project, which amazed and they’d want to talk and get handsome public spaces restored. information. It belongs to the community. We can say we painted the mural, but it’s This meticulous project was completed not our mural. It’s the community’s mural.” in August 2018 with the support of state historic tax credits through the Texas O. HENRY HALL Historical Commission. O. Henry Hall now moves into its next phase of life, as Texas State University System beautifully rehabbed offices for the Texas Preservation Award for Rehabilitation State University System. O. Henry Hall is one of downtown’s Oakwood Chapel (Preservation Austin) Continued on page 6

PRESERVATION AUSTIN 5 Awards, continued from page 5 included foundation stabilization, ADA consists of steel, retractable glass accessibility, and restoration of the roof, walls, and board-formed concrete. doors, windows, masonry, and plasterwork. Its light-filled setting for relaxation Its completion in July 2018 realizes a major and entertainment opens entirely goal of PARD’s award-winning Historic to become a flexible indoor-outdoor Cemeteries Master Plan. space surrounded by new landscaping. The design and construction process Soon after work began in 2016, reflected the owner’s passion for detail, archaeologists monitoring construction materials, and craftsmanship. discovered human remains beneath the Solarium (Casey Woods Photography) chapel. PARD answered this devastating The original house received a new metal realization with numerous public meetings roof and fresh exterior color scheme. A to gather community input, leading to 1985 garage apartment to the building’s the exhumation of thirty-eight individuals rear received some love as well, including who will be reinterred elsewhere in the new wood siding and a new bathroom cemetery. Oakwood Cemetery Chapel will be encased in frosted glass and steel for both programmed as a visitor center and historic everyday use and entertaining. The site’s site, with significant interpretation and different eras are now a unified, functional commemoration of the remains found here. whole.

SOLARIUM SPARKS HOUSE Don Kerth Suzanne & Terry Burgess Sparks House (Preservation Austin) Preservation Award for Addition Preservation Award for Restoration One of the decorative concrete basins This stunning project in the West Line This Spanish Renaissance Revival style flanking the main façade’s “dolphin Historic District was completed in 2017. Its home, designed by the preeminent Page window” had been badly damaged; the embrace of both historic architecture and Brothers architects, is one of the gems intact basin was removed and used to contemporary design shows the limitless of Judges Hill. Its spare but exquisite cast new basins that were then stained possibilities when these two eras come detailing, including Weigl Ironworks to match the originals. Numerous wooden together to create totally unique spaces. balconets and an elaborate bas relief windows were rebuilt with custom-made, window surround with capering dolphins, energy-efficient, double-paned glass. James Bryant, a longtime turbine operator have lent a little bit of the Mediterranean Interior work included new electrical for the city’s Water, Light & Power to this neighborhood’s incredible collection systems, plumbing, sheetrock, and Department, built this bungalow with his of Revival style homes since its completion cabinetry. wife Lula in 1927. Don Kerth purchased the in 1927. home in 1998, drawn to its well-preserved The Burgesses completed the project in Craftsman style home clapboard siding, Terry and Suzanne Burgess purchased 2016. That same year they designated their window screens, shaped vergeboards, the home in 2013. An earlier rehab had home a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and rafter tails. After nearly twenty years removed overgrown vines, detrimental to in honor of its original owner, former the property was in need of an update; the home’s exterior brick, and repaired state treasurer Sam Sparks, and for its he enlisted Jobe Corral Architects to damaged soffits. The Burgesses went exceptional architecture. Their dedication better integrate the home with its site by further, restoring character-defining has ensured that one of Judges Hill’s transforming a dark, 1970s rear addition features essential to its original design. architectural treasures will be protected for with a glowing solarium. The composition-shingle roof was replaced generations. This elegant, pavilion-like structure with red tile, an enormous undertaking.

Continued on page 7

6 Fall 2018 Awards, continued from page 6 work, including masonry restoration and window repair. Baldridge Architects designed a stunning rehabilitation of its 25,000-square-foot interior, bringing in modern elements that respect the landmark’s bones. The former dormitory now houses forty new faculty offices, the student newspaper, collaborative spaces in corridors and stair landings, and more. Light shines in through new interior Solarium (Casey Woods Photography) St. Edwards University Main Building (Architexas) Tucker-Winfield Apartments (Preservation Austin) transoms, and the building’s long-leaf-pine ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY wood subfloors were salvaged and re-laid restored tile work, tubs, faucets, and MAIN BUILDING + in its corridors. medicine cabinet mirrors. 21st century HOLY CROSS HALL improvements include tankless water heaters and stacked washer-dryer units. St. Edward’s University TUCKER-WINFIELD The kitchens have new, period-appropriate Preservation Award for Rehabilitation APARTMENTS and Restoration casework and flooring. Elayne Winfield Lansford Preservation Award for Rehabilitation St. Edward’s University has been This project’s painstaking efforts to committed to excellence in architecture Completed in 1939, the Tucker-Winfield preserve the character and spirit of this since its beginning. The school hired Apartments are among a dying breed of rare building are exemplary. Now a City of lauded Galveston architect Nicholas J. historic, small-scale apartment buildings Austin Landmark and listed in the National Clayton to design first its Main Building that once provided housing for workers Register of Historic Places, the Tucker- in 1888, then its Holy Cross Hall in downtown, particularly women. Elayne Winfield Apartments are ready to welcome 1903. Meticulous restoration work on Winfield Lansford’s family has owned the their next generation of tenants. these stunning Gothic Revival buildings four-unit building for over seventy years, was completed in 2017, with Baldridge and in 2018 she completed its beautiful TWIN HOUSES Architects as Architect of Record and rehabilitation with O’Connell Architecture, Ada Corral & Camille Jobe Design Architect, and Architexas as supported by state historic tax credits Preservation Award for Addition Preservation Architect. through the Texas Historical Commission. These twin houses, and their gorgeous

The Main Building’s exterior restoration additions, are a testament to historic homes’ This project repointed the building’s st included cleaning, repairing, and inherent flexibility and capacity for 21 eclectic brick exterior where needed and repointing all stonework and brick joints century living. Developer Bascom Giles built reconstructed a missing entrance awning to match the originals. Historic wooden nearly eighty of these modest concrete block on a side façade. Original windows and windows, including the bell tower’s east bungalows in the Delwood 2 neighborhood doors, all intact, were restored along with rose window, were restored. The architects next to the original Robert Mueller Municipal historic light fixtures and brass mailboxes. sourced matching species of wood to Airport in 1947. All shared common design replace damaged sash components, and characteristics such as stucco, wide Inside, extensive historic features such as installed new mahogany sashes with low-E chimneys, and deep eaves. telephone nooks, ironing board cabinets, glazing where needed. A new pressed- light fixtures, and more were remarkably metal shingle roof replaced one installed Camille Jobe and Ada Corral, principals intact after nearly 80 years of tenants. in the 1980s, and bears a stamped pattern of Jobe Corral Architects, had each lived All were preserved, restored, or matched like that of the original. in Delwood 2 for over a decade before in-kind. Wood floors were uncovered designing strikingly different additions and refinished. Bathrooms retain their Holy Cross Hall saw similar exterior to address common problems, including Continued on page 8

PRESERVATION AUSTIN 7 Awards, continued from page 7

Twin Houses (Casey Woods Photography) E. P. Wilmot House (Preservation Austin)

cramped kitchens and too-few bedrooms for space with Clayton & Little Architects, steeply-pitched gables and a multi-colored their growing families. Both painstakingly re-awakening the long-dormant landmark “peanut brittle” limestone exterior. It restored their homes’ steel casement and ensuring its place in this historic was home to the families of windows and oak parquet floors, balancing setting for years to come. caretakers and superintendents from these historic features with relatively small 1935 to 2010. By then, the building was additions that emphasize natural light Using original architectural drawings from obscured by overgrown greenery and badly and indoor-outdoor connections. Camille’s the Austin History Center, the project in need of work. project connected the new and the old revived the building’s historic fabric with an elegant open kitchen leading to inside and out, from its brick cladding PARD utilized scarce funds for a years-long, a spacious living room and master suite. to interior floors and woodwork. The in-house rehabilitation to transform the Ada’s features a stunning, light-filled living most striking changes were to window former home into its new Ranger Station. room with double-height ceilings leading to openings, including large gabled dormers, The project included a new wood-shingled a new master suite and porch. many of which had been shuttered or roof, restoration of multi-paned windows, covered by vinyl siding for years. The south asbestos and lead remediation, and At heart, these beautifully-designed façade’s former screened porch, enclosed extensive site work. A 2011 oral history in the 1950s, now features a wide bank spaces entail practical updates that have project with the families who lived here of windows. Tired air-conditioning units allowed both families to stay in their illuminated this unique part of the Austin no longer hang from windows, and new homes. Both projects blend modern and experience. City Council designated electrical, plumbing, and mechanical historic textures in very different ways the caretaker’s cottage a City of Austin systems, along with ADA-compliant that preserve the neighborhood’s postwar Landmark last year. Its grand opening bathrooms and an accessible entrance, character. We featured these twin houses included dedication of a new historical have readied the building for commercial on our 2018 Homes Tour, and are excited to marker and launched the year-long Zilker use. Restored Mansbendel mantels, and an honor them again. Park Centennial Celebration. unusual brick flue, completed this one-of- a-kind office space. E. P. WILMOT HOUSE The Zilker Caretaker Cottage is now John C. Horton III headquarters for PARD’s Park Rangers, ZILKER CARETAKER Preservation Award for Rehabilitation COTTAGE The E. P. Wilmot House has overlooked Austin Parks & Recreation Dept. Wooldridge Square since 1922. Page Preservation Award for Rehabilitation Brothers architects designed the Neoclassical-infused home, which features Completed in 1929, the Zilker Caretaker three mantels by master woodcarver Peter Cottage stands near Mansbendel. This year John C. Horton in Zilker Park. Architect Hugo Kuehne, an III, Wilmot’s great-grandson, completed early Parks Board member, designed the Zilker Caretaker Cottage (City of Austin Parks & Recreation) its beautiful rehabilitation into office rustic Tudor Revival style building with Continued on page 9

8 Fall 2018 Awards, continued from page 8 ambassadors for Austin’s park system fixtures. 75-year- with a mission to promote responsible old plumbing and recreation, cultivate stewardship, and electrical systems conserve parks’ cultural and natural were replaced. resources for the benefit of our entire A 5,000-square- community. This once-private cottage foot rear addition has been given new life serving a new required extensive generation of park lovers, including excavation into the thousands of children who attend solid rock, and programming here every year. was constructed with extreme care and artistic research to celebrate untold STEWARDSHIP - BETA XI to protect the existing structure. ADA stories and the beauty in the movements HOUSE ASSOCIATION compliant ramps and a new elevator of our everyday lives. Past projects include for the Beta Xi Kappa Kappa Gamma ensured the building is fully accessible. performances with city sanitation workers House It now features new bedrooms, laundry and retired Negro League baseball players. rooms, bathrooms, and a new commercial The Beta Xi Kappa Kappa Gamma House, kitchen serving 175 meals a day. Dedicated Forklift’s “My Park, My Pool, My City” is a known as the “Grand Dame of University study areas with state-of-the-art three-year artistic residency in partnership Avenue,” has graced the University of technologies comprise more than a third with PARD’s Aquatics Division and East Texas at Austin campus since 1939. It has of its interior. Capacity has nearly doubled Austin communities, co-directed by Orr housed thousands of young women over from thirty-eight residents to seventy-one. and Associate Choreographer & Director the years and stands in view the UT Tower, of Education Krissie Marty. The project completed just two years earlier. The Beta Xi House Association’s explores how Austin’s neighborhood pools stewardship means that so many more shape and reflect complex identities at a The Beta Xi House Association launched a young women can experience this time when these spaces are threatened $6 million capital campaign to rehabilitate building, and this history. Their work by unparalleled infrastructure challenges, this Georgian Revival style landmark to adapting the Beta Xi Kappa Kappa Gamma particularly in East Austin’s minority serve new generations of students. An all- House to 21st century needs has ensured communities. The trilogy featured volunteer board of women managed the its preservation for years to come. Bartholomew and Dove Springs Pools in project with the help of one employee. 2017 and 2018, and will conclude next year. SPECIAL RECOGNITION Completed in 2017, the project revitalized FORKLIFT DANCEWORKS Performers include neighbors, pool historic windows, millwork, and light users of all ages, and Aquatics staff for “My Park, My Pool, My City” from lifeguards to maintenance crews. Artistic Director Allison Orr founded Dances set to original live music engage Forklift Danceworks in 2001 with a stakeholders in civic dialogue about the mission to activate communities future of Austin’s pools by building trust through a collaborative creative and understanding at this uncertain time. process. The nonprofit’s stated This project is a beautiful expression values include equity, collaboration, of the powerful connection between artistic excellence, and connection, Austinites and our neighborhood pools, with a core belief that all people are and of the diversity and creative strength inherently creative. Performances that make this city so special. are rooted in long-term ethnographic Continued on page 10 Beta Xi House (Preservation Austin)

PRESERVATION AUSTIN 9 H Education Committee

T o Move, Or Not to Move? Main Street Program; Kathy Robinson of Our annual Greening Your Vintage the The ReUse People Austin; and Cara Home workshop on July 25 explored Bertron, Deputy Historic Preservation how moving, and repurposing, existing Officer for the City of Austin, as presenters. buildings is a sustainable option for saving Many thanks to Education Committee them from the landfill when historic member Marie Oehlerking-Read for designation is out of reach. We were masterminding this excellent program, honored to have Sarah Gamble, architect and to CleanTag for their generous with the Texas Historical Commission’s sponsorship!

GYVH speakers Sarah Gamble, Kathy Robinson, and Cara Bertron ABC Otocast Tour Nears Completion (at Last!)

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it featuring the postwar neighborhoods of again – our newest Historic Austin Tour, North-Central Austin, is nearing completion! This series of self-guided tours in the free Otocast app features the fascinating stories of neighborhoods and landmarks citywide. six Education Committee volunteers have Existing tours include Congress Avenue, Old contributed to developing this installment West Austin, Iconic Music Venues and more. so far, including Rebekah Dobrasko, Rosa Our Allandale, Brentwood and Crestview Fry, Cyrus Yerxa, Reagan Baechle, Elisha tour, however, will be the first new content Perez, and Marie Oehlerking-Read. We we’ve released since 2015. Developing each hope to release this new content by the tour is an enormous undertaking; from end of 2018 – it will have been worth the archival research, to recording audio, to wait! h Performers at Brentwood’s Capitol Roll, circa 1960. scouting new photography, no fewer than This former skating rink will be featured on our ABC Tour

Awards, continued from page 9 Phoebe has documented many beloved in part by buildings in Austin, including Norwood Preservation LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT - Tower (with Luci B. Johnson’s blessing). Austin, is still PHOEBE ALLEN Her work includes city, state, and national used by AISD. historic designations. Recent projects are Phoebe has Preservation Austin’s board is thrilled to subject markers for Butler Brick at Michael been an bestow our Lifetime Achievement Award on Butler Park, and a plaque marking the integral part member, volunteer, and advocate Phoebe Roberta Crenshaw Overlook on Lady Bird of saving Allen. Phoebe fell into historic preservation Lake. Austin’s built by chance; after 24 years of teaching, she environment, was working at Engelking Communications One of her favorite neighborhoods is Judges shedding new light on previously unknown when Preservation Austin board member Hill. Phoebe did extensive research on histories that give us new appreciation for Dennis McDaniel asked for research on the area and, with Maureen Metteauer, our community’s rich heritage. Preservation the Littlefield and Scarbrough Buildings produced “The Ghosts of Judges Hill” video Austin is honored to have her as part of this for marketing purposes. Phoebe’s research about families who lived in its demolished organization, and for the skill, knowledge, led to Recorded Texas Historic Landmark homes. She says, “I have compiled so many and passion she shares with us all. h nominations and exhibits showcasing the family trees for Judges Hill that its ghosts buildings’ history. She was hooked. are like my family.” The video, funded

10 Fall 2018 H President’s Message h Vanessa McElwrath

t is truly a great honor to serve as the I look forward to working with my fellow President of the Board of Directors board members to do the same for for the 2018-2019 year. Perhaps on the Preservation Austin over the next twelve surface, I may seem like an unlikely months. supporter of preservation, much less Board President. For starters, I’m not a native This past year, board President Ken Austinite, I don’t live in a historic home, Johnson set into motion much needed and I don’t have any formal (or informal) initiatives to increase membership, background, education, or training in sponsorship, and awareness of preservation. That said, I’ve always been Preservation Austin in the community. through local historic district designation, fascinated with the way our treasured So to me, 2018-2019 will be the year of additional funding for the city’s historic historic buildings tell stories and create implementation and “follow through” preservation program, and continuation a sense of place. Our buildings tell a lot on what we have already started. We of programs to encourage investment in about us- they give clues to where we will continue to engage new friends, historic properties. have been and provide glimpses to where supporters, and ultimately members from we are headed. our growing and vibrant city. In particular, I In closing, I would like to personally thank look forward to the opportunity to leverage our outgoing Board members, including But more than anything, I just love Austin’s strong business community to Tara Dudley, Matt Swinney, and Travis Austin- its authenticity, its history, and its create strategic partnerships that will Grieg. I hope you join me in thanking each culture. So after a colleague introduced support Preservation Austin’s advocacy of them for their many contributions and me to Preservation Austin in 2014, I knew efforts and programming for many years great commitment to Preservation Austin. I had to get involved. That year, I joined to come. Finally, I’m looking forward to working the Board of Directors and served as with new board members Allen Wise, IBC Treasurer. Since then, I have twice served In conjunction with expanding our Bank; Linda Jackson, Huston-Tillotson; as Chair of the Homes Tour and have membership base, I am excited to share Scott Marks, Coats Rose; Steve Genovisi, served on the Finance and Development our events and programming with wider Visit Austin. We have some big goals Committees. I am excited to take on this and more diverse audiences this year. ahead of us on our 65th anniversary, but new responsibility of leadership and I look To do so, we will continue our history of I’ve never been more excited to roll up my forward to this upcoming year with great partnering with other community groups sleeves and get to work. Please join me in enthusiasm. and organizations such as the Paramount, celebrating Preservation Austin’s past 65 ReUse People, and Six Square. In fact, we years, and of course, the next 65 years of As sensible preservation policies are already have something in the works with “Saving the Good Stuff.” needed now more than ever, my goal a strategic partner for one of our biggest for this upcoming year- Preservation annual events- the Homes Tour. Stay tuned Sincerely, Austin’s 65th anniversary- is to implement for details and announcements soon- this practices and policies to ensure the will be a year you won’t want to miss! organization’s longevity and its existence All of these fundraising and community for at least another 65 years. As a financial engagement efforts are critical to Vanessa McElwrath planner, I spend most of my days working making our advocacy efforts a reality President with people to examine their goals and when it comes to the issues that impact build a roadmap to help them get there. preservation: neighborhood stabilization

PRESERVATION AUSTIN 11 H heritage quiz By Virginia Boswell & ElizabethRebekah DobraskoPorterfield

P reservation Austin presents our Facebook Heritage Quiz the first Friday of every month! The first respondent to correctly identify a local landmark receives a $5 gift card to East Austin’s Cenote Café, housed in the 1887 McDonald-Cain House, courtesy of your favorite preservation nonprofit.

Congratulations to our summer contestants for spotting the following properties:

JUNE: St. Edward’s University Main Building (3001 South Congress Avenue) St. Edward’s University erected its Main Building in 1888, and rebuilt its almost exact replica after a fire in 1903. Galveston’s Nicholas J. Clayton designed the Gothic Revival style landmark using stone from the hillside on St. Edward’s property. Its distinguishing feature is a high bell-tower built of white limestone, with a red roof that originally could be seen for miles in every direction of Austin. St. Edward’s was a men’s Catholic school run by the Congregation of Holy Cross. It became a university in 1925 and during WWII served as an academy and flying school. Women were admitted starting in 1966. The Main Building is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and, along with Holy Cross Hall, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. H Winner: Cathy McClaugherty

St. Edward’s University Main Building July 2018: Stephen F. Austin Hotel (701 Congress Avenue) To meet the needs of the growing Austin community T.B. Baker, President of Baker Hotels, opened a hotel at this site in 1924, on land previously occupied by the Keystona Hotel. Baker originally planned to name his new ten-story facility “The Texas,” but ultimately named it for Stephen F. Austin in response to local interest. Acclaimed Fort Worth firm Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick designed the Beaux Arts style hotel; local architect Roy L. Thomas represented them in its construction. Another five stories were added in 1938. After a restoration in 2000, the hotel retains much of its original, classically influenced detailing on the interior and exterior and is one of Congress Avenue’s most iconic buildings. H Winner: Patricia Albright

SEPTEMBER 2018: Museum (304 E. 44th Street) This beloved landmark is the former studio of world-renowned sculptor Elisabet Ney (1833–1907). The building was constructed in 1892 under her direction, with the tower Stephen F. Austin Hotel and a half-story addition completed in 1902. She called her studio “Formosa,” and designed statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam here for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Elisabet Ney was born in Germany and studied art in Munich. She was a highly distinguished sculptress in Europe before coming to the with her husband in 1870. Ney continued to produce significant sculptures throughout her career, including a statue of Albert Sidney Johnston for his gravesite at the and a sculpture of Lady Macbeth now at the Smithsonian Museum. The studio has been a museum since 1909 and includes an extensive collection of her work. “The Ney” is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated State Antiquities Landmark, a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and a City of Austin Landmark. H Winner: James Rambin

12 Fall 2018 H Grants Grants Awarded to Boggy Creek Farm and the Millett Opera House

T his summer our Grants Committee announced funding for two “bricks and mortar” projects at beloved City of Austin Landmarks:

East Austin’s Boggy Creek Farm, opened in 1992, is home to the historic James Smith Homestead built in 1841. Preservation Austin awarded a $5,000 matching grant to help cover the cost of restoring fourteen of the Greek Revival farmhouse’s 6/6 wooden windows now in serious need of professional Historic windows in need of repair at Boggy Creek Farm care. A second $5,000 grant goes to the Launched in fall 2016, our grant program Our winter grant deadline is December Foundation for the Preservation of the offers matching funds of up to $5,000 on a 15! See preservationaustin.org/programs/ Historic Millett Opera House, established in quarterly basis. Categories include Education, grants for details. h 2015 to support restoration and maintenance Bricks and Mortar, and work at the 1878 Millett Opera House Planning/Historic Resource downtown, now home to the Austin Club. This Survey/Local Historic project will include extensively cleaning and Designation. Nonprofit repairing all of the building’s windows, doors, organizations, neighborhood Proudly supports the 2017 Preservation Merit Awards Luncheon and existing painted surfaces to ensure that organizations, public entities, they will last another 140 years. and owners of individual or proposed landmarks may apply. Boggy Creek Farm and the Millett Opera By providing small but impactful House represent such different aspects grants to important projects of Austin’s past, yet both landmarks are citywide, Preservation Austin incredibly fortunate to be helmed by can affect real change in the such passionate owners and stewards. preservation and interpretation Preservation Austin is thrilled to support of the historic places that mean these efforts – congratulations to all the most to our community. involved!

Join us in supporting Boggy Creek Farm! Owners (and Preservation Austin members) Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler launched a GoFundMe page this past to help raise additional funds to restore the homestead’s windows. To donate, please visit Submit your 2018 Spring Heritage Grants application today. www.boggycreekfarm.com/fundraiser For more information visit www.visitaustin.org

PRESERVATION AUSTIN 13 THANK YOU TO OUR PA BUSINESS AMBASSADORS!

Alexander Marchant Allure Real Estate HERITAGE APPLAUDS PRESERVATION Catellus Congratulations to the 2017 Preservation Merit Award CleanTag, LLC recipients, and thanks to Preservation Austin for its leading role in historic Corridor Title preservation. Green Mango Real Estate Key Title Group Limbacher & Godfrey Architects ML&R Wealth Management O’Connell Architecture Pilgrim Building Company PSW Real Estate

Frost Bank Tower Suite 1500, 401 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701 512.505.5000 heritagetitleofaustin.com

14 Fall 2018 Many Thanks to H Our New & Renewing Members

BENEFACTOR Rick & Cindy Black Richard & Alison Ryan Fredrick Weigl Colin Corgan Barbara Bridges Gregory Shattuck & Mary Kleypas Gretchen Woellner David Wilson Norman & Judy Brown Julie Tereshchuk Wooldridge Associates, LLC Michael Clawson Jen Turner and Jack Barron Tammy Young WATERLOO CIRCLE Betsy Clubine & Michael Horowitz Donald Williams Denise Younger Coleson Bruce & Rowena Dash Anne Winckler Dr. Elizabeth Geddes-Bruce Suzanne & David Deaderick Inherit Austin Young Tim Cuppett & Marco Rini Susan Driver CONTRIBUTOR Professionals Clark & Courtney Hoffman Susan Erickson Phoebe Allen Couple/Dual Diane Humphreys Wendy Griessen Lucia Athens Bergan & Stan Casey Danielle Kasling Clif & Kathryn Haggard Austin Saengerrunde Erin Dowell Anna Lee Rita Keenan Betty Bird Bryan Dove George & Carole Nalle, III Susan Morgan & Ethelynn Beebe Terrell Blodgett Paul Knaus Janis and Joe Pinnelli Jim & Marty Moulthrop Cathy Brigham Charles Aubrey Smith, Jr. Evelyn McNair Beverly Brooks Inherit Austin Young Tyler Spears Joe & Carolyn Osborn Susan Brotman Professionals Individual Jerre & Fern Santini Mark Wey Buck Buchanan Elizabeth Baird Ted Siff & Janelle Buchanan Andrea Calo Kathleen Conti Martha Smiley ADVOCATE David Conner Sara Good Gregory Smith & Beth Dodd Nick & Kathleen Deaver Jeannette Cook Laura Hur Jo Carol Snowden The Foundation for the Preservation Margaret Cowden Erica Laughlin Brad & Colleen Theriot of the Historic Millett Opera David Crain Ellis Mumford-Russell Gail Weatherby & House Marie Crane Rachal Pichette Andy Sieverman Paula Hern & Thomas Barbour Debra Drescher Marilyn Poole Leon & Kay Whitney Carolyn Schilthuis Margaret Farwell Kelley Russell Chandler Ford John W. & Jeani Smith, III HOUSEHOLD Shannon Halley FRIEND Amber Smoot John & Dolly Barclay Amy Hammons Bill and Carolyn Bingham Jody Stock Robert Michael Camden Eugenia Harris Joseph DiQuinzio, Jr. & Edward Wilhelm Jeff & Liz Carmack Alison Harshbarger Sue Littlefield Jayne Carter & John Pacelli David & Sally Hunter Rep. Lloyd Doggett Student Tiffany Derr Gwen Jewiss Darren Geyer Avery Laux Hallie Ferguson Saundra Kirk Tracey Geyer Anthony Vannette Sharon Fleming Brian Linder Luci B. Johnson Catherine M. Johnson Shirley Marquardt Emily Little Business Ambassador David Hartman Melanie Martinez Tonia Lucio Corridor Title Company Business Anne Hebert & Garland Turner Luisa Mauro Michael & Maureen Metteauer Green Mango Real Estate Katie Hill Maureen McCormack Carol Nelson Key Title Group Melissa Kratz Dick Mitchell Karen Saadeh & David Matthis O’Connell Architecture Jennalie & Sean Lyons Donna Morrow Connie Todd Pilgrim Building Company Oscar Rodriguez & Adrienne Newman Custis Wright Randall Soileau Kathleen Reiff Kate O’Neill & Robert Rekart BUSINESS LEADER Sustaining John Michael Mullen Heath Riddles AQC Austin, LLC Cara Bertron Nanci Felice & Edwin Rains Linda Rivera Jobe Corral Architects Jason Haskins Nancy Moran Catherine Sak KINCANNON STUDIOS Dane Hersey Austin Bob & Angela Ward Cindy Schiffgens Lin Team, Old Austin Realtor David King Matthew & Maddie Clites Robert Seidenberg Longhorn Charter Bus Austin Carol Ann Sayle Jeremy Hunt Judith K. Shipway MacRostie Historic Advisors Susan Armstrong Fisher Amelia Sondgeroth Murray Legge Architecture PARTNER Marie Oehlerking-Read Jeffrey Stark Mustian Architecture & Design Jeff & Pam Autrey Gary & Nannette Overbeck Megan Stillman Barbara Shallue, Austin Realtor Steve Baker & Jeff Simecek Kristy Ozmun Gregory Tran Volz & Associates, Inc. Mary E. Bailey Kathryn Robinson Michele Webre

PRESERVATION AUSTIN 15 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID AUSTIN, TX PERMIT NO. 2100

P.O. Box 2113 Austin, TX 78768

www.preservationaustin.org [email protected]

H PA Calendar of Events • 2018

OCT 58th Annual Preservation Merit Awards Celebration QUARTERLY Event 19 Driskill Hotel (604 Brazos, 78701), 11:30am to 1:30pm. Our annual awards luncheon will celebrate the best Jugging and Jawing Historic Austin Happy Hours preservation projects from the past two years. Mark your Our happy hour series with the UT Student Historic Preservation calendars, and see Page 1 for details! Association continues! Check our website and social media to see where we’ll be this fall.

DEC Winter Grant Deadline 15 PA offers quarterly matching grants of up to $5,000 for a wide range of preservation projects. Nonprofits, neighbor- hoods, public entities, and building owners may apply.

h Visit www.preservationaustin.org for details and tickets today!