M E M O R A N D U M PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT CITY OF SANTA MONICA PLANNING DIVISION DATE: June 11, 2012 TO: Honorable Members of the Landmarks Commission FROM: Planning Staff SUBJECT: 1554 5th Street, LC-12LM-003 Public Hearing to Consider a Landmark Designation Application for the commercial building at 1550 5th Street, 1554-1558 5th Street and 417 Colorado Avenue. PROPERTY OWNER: 1550 5th Street, LLC APPLICANT: City of Santa Monica Landmarks Commission INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND The subject building, the Goodrum and Vincent Building, was originally constructed in 1928. The building currently houses a Midas muffler repair shop, although a Buick automobile dealership with a appurtenant repair shop, was the original tenant. The Buick dealership vacated the premises in 1935. Midas has been the major tenant in the building since at least 1960. Designed in a Spanish Colonial Revival style with Churriguresque detailing on its exterior and interior, the building has been altered as its use and tenancy has changed over time. Overall, the majority of the building has lost important components of its original architectural integrity, including the removal of storefront windows, the covering of openings, and the removal of its signature band course. Furthermore, the addition of a shotcrete material diminishes what’s left of the plasterwork and compromises the building’s original architectural distinction. Most of the changes and alterations are considered irreversible. Research has shown that the building has an association with the inventor and aviator Waldo Waterman. He first leased the subject property for his company, Waterman Arrowplane Corporation, in 1935. While in tenancy, the building was used in the production of the Arrowbile, although registered in the state as motorcycles, it was a roadable version of his Arrowplane invention. In 1938, due to limited commercial success and personal health concerns, the Corporation was closed. Realizing the value of the building to other tenants, Waterman subsequently purchased the subject property - 1 - in 1940 where he acted as a leasing agent to the building and owned it until his death in 1976. In September 2007, the Landmarks Commission originally considered a Demolition Permit for the subject building. Initially, the Commission felt that additional research was warranted as there appeared to be sufficient evidence associated with aviator Waldo Waterman and his “Whatsit” invention. The item returned to the Commission in October 2007, where it was noted that although the buildings were noted as being contributors to a potential Downtown historic district, their architectural integrity had been significantly diminished as a result of changes made to the building since the original construction date. The importance of Waldo Waterman was also found to not be strong enough to the import of this building. The Commission took no action, which “green lighted” its demolition. A Demolition Permit was issued, but the owner at the time chose to not follow-through, and the permit soon expired and the building remained. On October 10, 2011, the Landmarks Commission re-discussed the commercial building at the subject addresses, based upon new information uncovered concerning Waldo Waterman and some of his “inventions”. The Commission discussed the new information and thought more research was necessary to specifically consider any affiliation with Douglas Aircraft and the Aerophysics Development Corp, as tenants of the building, on the cultural significance of Waldo Waterman as an aviator, and the building’s history and significance related to automobile uses. The discussion was continued to a later date to allow follow-up research. On February 13, 2012, the Commission again held a discussion on the subject property to determine if a landmark designation application should be filed. During the discussion, Commissioners considered the historic status of the property, a potential contributor to the potential Central Business District Historic District, but further noted that he structures have borderline integrity architecturally and the history of Waldo Waterman and his association was unclear. Members of the Commission also felt that additional fact-finding by the City’s historic consultant would be helpful to further answer questions that arose during deliberation. After hearing from several members of the public, most in support of the filing, and considering a preliminary historic consultant report, which concluded that the subject property does not meet any of the required criteria for local designation, the Commission acted to file a landmark designation application. As part of its action, the Commission requested research on the following topics to determine any significance in association with the subject property: •More information on the significance of Aerophysics Development Corporation; •Any comparative history of the former Buick dealership with other local auto dealerships extant at the time; •Research as to whether the building housed one of the first car-style assembly lines for aviation? - 2 - •Any information on the Waterman Research Corporation that operated out of Ocean Park; and •Does Amelia Earhart add any significance? In follow-up correspondence to City staff, a member of the Commission also inquired as to any significance that the building may have with Formula One race car driver Phil Hill and also any association with a classic car business run by Ken Vaughn, which ran from the 1970s through the 1990s. Historic Status The subject property has been identified and assessed under the City’s ongoing survey process on multiple occasions. The property located at 417 Colorado Boulevard and 1558 5th Street was originally identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory in 1983 during Phase 1; and 1550 5th Street was surveyed in Phase 3 of the City’s Historic Resources Survey. The individual units were determined to be contributors to a potential historic district called the “Central Business District.” At that time, the subject properties were assigned a National Register status code of “5D1," individually eligible for local listing as a contributor to a local district or eligible for local listing. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake caused major cracking to the unreinforced brick walls onthe two 5th Street units, and therefore, the building was green tagged by the City of Santa Monica. Green tagged buildings were deemed structures damaged by the earthquake that presented no apparent hazard, but repairs were needed. According to the Historic Resources Inventory Update for the City of Santa Monica dated September 30, 1995, the building was damaged and there was major cracking to the unreinforced brick walls. The repairs following the earthquake included steel reinforcing bars and gunnite finished with painted plaster on the exterior walls and columns and new barrel clay tile roofing. The majority of the Spanish Colonial decoration on the facade was retained. Since the property was a contributor to the Central Business District, the retrofitting was required to meet the historic property design criteria for the repair and reconstruction of earthquake damaged properties as set forth in the “Earthquake Recovery Act.” It appears the Architectural Review Board approved the retrofit as an acceptable change to a district contributor and that the retrofit did not compromise the integrity of the district as a whole. In 1995, as part of the City’s assessment to determine the earthquake’s overall effects to those properties listed in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory, the property was resurveyed and determined eligible as a district contributor and given a 5D1 status code. At the time of the survey, the property had already been retrofitted. Roughly one year later, in 1996, the subject property was surveyed again as part of the Inventory update. The same survey team that had one year earlier determined the property, asa whole, remained a district contributor, now assigned 1550 5th Street (Royalty Auto Body) - 3 - eligible as a contributor to the potential Central Business District and individually eligible for local listing, while keeping 1554-1558 5th Street (the Midas Building) only eligible as a district contributor. The status code for 1550 5th Street was changed to the National Register Code 5B1, which states that the building is both individually eligible for local designation and a contributor to a local district. Meanwhile, 1554-1558 5th street retained its 5D1 status code, which states the building is eligible only as a district contributor. No changes to the property had occurred between the 1995 survey and the 1996 survey. Finally, during the 2006-07 Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update, the subject property was resurveyed and status code was changed to the California Historical Resources Status Code 5B, which states that the building is both individually eligible for local designation and a contributor to a local district. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION Notice of the public hearing was provided as follows: Pursuant to SMMC Section 9.36.120, notice of the public hearing was mailed to all owners and residential and commercial tenants of property within a 300-foot radius of the project and was published in the Santa Monica Daily Press at least ten consecutive calendar days prior to the hearing. A copy of the notice is included as Attachment B. ANALYSIS Architectural Description Completed in 1928, the subject property was designed by H. Vernon George and