Planning Commission Planning and Development Division City of Galveston June 19, 2018 18P-035 STAFF REPORT ADDRESS: Public Notice and Comment: No 2010-2020 Postoffice/Avenue E Sent Returned In Favor Opposed Comment LEGAL DESCRIPTION: 34 Property is legally described as Lots 9, 10, 11, and 12, Block 500, in the City and County of Galveston, Texas APPLICANT/REPRESENTATIVE: Maureen M. Patton, Executive Director PROPERTY OWNER: 1894, Inc. ZONING DISTRICT: Central Business (CB) HISTORIC DISTRICT: None REQUEST: Request for designation as a Galveston Landmark STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval with Conditions EXHIBITS: A – Applicant’s Submittal STAFF: Catherine Gorman, AICP Historic Preservation Officer 409-797-3665 [email protected] 1 Zoning and Land Use Location Zoning Land Use Subject Central Business (CB) Commercial Site North Central Business (CB) Parking South Central Business (CB) Commercial East Central Business (CB) Commercial West Central Business (CB) Commercial Executive Summary The applicants are requesting designation of the above referenced address, as a Galveston Landmark. Analysis As per Article 10 of the Land Development Regulations, the following criteria should be considered during the Landmark Designation review process: 1. The character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the City of Galveston, Galveston County, the State of Texas, or the United States. The Grand Opera House and Hotel complex is valuable to the cultural heritage of the City of Galveston due to its association with the performing arts. Constructed in 1894, The Grand Opera House operated continuously, as both a live theater and a movie theater, until 1974. After an extensive restoration in the 1980s, the Grand Opera House continues as a setting for live performances, with more than 90,000 attendees a year. 2. Recognition as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, National Historic Landmark, or entered into the National Register of Historic Places. The Grand Opera House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Grand Opera House is also designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. 3. Association with events that have made significant contribution to the broad patterns of local, regional, state of national history. In operation for well over 100 years, the Grand Opera House has served as an entertainment venue for many generations of Galvestonians. Please see the Applicant’s Submittal for a partial list of the artist who have performed at the Grand Opera House. 4. Distinctive characteristics of a period or method of construction, or architecture; representative of, or a rare survivor of, the work of a master design, builder, or craftsman. The Grand Opera House was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by the architect Frank Cox. Mr. Cox started his career in the 1880s as an artist and painted backdrop curtains for the Opera House in Batavia, New York and the Academy of Music in Auburn, New York. His architectural career began in new Orleans in 1893. Mr. Cox designed more than 50 theaters for the Klaw &Erlanger Company, a theatrical production company based in New York City in the early 1900s. 2 5. Representative of an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or city. The Grand Opera House has been an established visual feature of Postoffice Street since its construction in 1894. 6. Retention of historic integrity, meaning that the property possesses several, and usually most, of the following aspects of integrity: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling or association. The Grand Opera House retains its historic integrity and retains its original location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. Financial Incentives for Due to the fact that the building is owned by a non-profit organization and does not Historic Properties pay property taxes, the property is not eligible for the Financial Incentive for Historic Properties for new Galveston Landmarks. Other Reviews The Landmark Commission will hear this request at the June 18, 2018 meeting. City Council has the final decision regarding the request for a Landmark Designation. The request will be heard at the regular meeting of July 26, 2018. Staff Recommendation Staff recommends approval with the following condition: Standard Condition: 1. As with all properties containing a Historic Overlay Designation, including Landmark Designations, exterior alterations to the property will be subject to review and approval by the Landmark Commission and must conform to the Design Standards for Historic Properties of Galveston, Texas. Respectfully Submitted: __________________________________________________ _________________________June 12, 2018 Catherine Gorman, AICP, Assistant Director/HPO Date 3 Attachment A Statement of Historical and Cu ral Significance The Grand Opera House and Hotel complex was built in 1894 to satisfy a need for artistic and cultural pursuits to a growing community. The quality performances were part of the Henry Greenwall circuit that toured through much of the South. With its opening in January, 1895, The Grand Opera House in Galveston provided the city with the best in opera and various dramatic performances at the height of theatrical popularity in the United States. The Grand staged melodrama, musical comedy, operettas, operas, plays, and concert artists with continued success for twenty-four years. Audiences enjoyed performances by Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell, the Marx Brothers, Tex Ritter, Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, Polish composer and pianist Ignace Paderewski, "March King" John Philip Sousa, orator William Jennings Bryan, as well as circus acts and even a kinetoscope of a title boxing match. Frank Cox, the architect for The Grand Opera House, designed the structure and the interior decorations and scenery. Barnes and Palliser of Galveston began construction of the building in June of 1894. The completed structure was four stories on the front side with ground floor hotel office, cafe and space for other stores. The auditorium had all the latest improvements and equipment and was one of the first theatres to use modem theories of acoustics. The interior was designed with no square comers in order to eliminate echoes and no seat in the house was more than 70 feet from the stage. One of the most striking features inside The Grand was the drop curtain. The architect, Cox , was also an artist. He copied the Greek painting, "Sappho and Her Companions," and surrounded it with what appeared to be plush draperies. The walls were decorated with painted borders of "festoons of roses looped and knotted with bows ofribbons," and over the stage were lover's knots, tropical flowers, masks, play books and other appropriate emblems. The Grand was, in short, a suitable showplace for both the audience and the performers. The rebuilding after the 1900 storm did not alter the theatre except for minor changes in the decorations. The theatre only served its original purpose briefly before the emergence of the motion picture. For a short time, vaudeville was enjoyed at The Grand and in 1924 it was converted into a movie house. The story of this theatre, however, did not end with the rise of film entertainment as did similar performance theatres. The Grand Opera House adapted to the changes of the time, and remains a record of the transition from a stage theatre to a movie theatre. However, as the downtown area began to decline, the theatre shut its doors and fell into disrepair. Beginning in 1974, restoration began and The Grand was once again the setting for live theatre. The building as a whole has remained as it was originally constructed with the same excellent acoustics and no seat more than 70 feet from the stage. Annually, approximately 90,000 people from the Houston/Galveston/Gulf Coast area and beyond attend events at The Grand. With an increasing number of performances each season for the past 40 years, the list of stars performing here is lengthy: Harry Belafonte, Itzhak Perlman, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Tommy Tune, Lyle Lovett, Hal Holbrook, Willie Nelson, Tony Bennett and many more. Productions include Broadway shows, music of every style, comedy and dance. The Grand's cultural impact also includes children' s performances, in-school workshops, two theatre residencies for students, a children' s arts festival and a juried fine arts festival. Our involvement in the community has greatly impacted business development and drawn a variety of restaurants, shops, and art galleries to the downtown area, helping the Island earn a Downtown Cultural Arts District designation from TCA. Statement of Architectural Significance The fa9ade of The Grand 1894 Opera House is predominately pressed St. Louis brick with a massive, French Romanesque style stone archway serving as the entrance. The archway dominates the south west fa9ade of the building with large, storefront windows along the south east side. The elevation of the building is divided into six bays with the end bays on the east and west treated as comer pavilions. The center four bays are vertically grouped in Richardsonian fashion and the upper three levels - treated as the shaft of the column - are separated by pilasters and surmounted by double arches. A brick cornice has projecting engaged colonettes demarcating the bays. The street entrance to the opera house is through a large semicircular arch with evidences of Sullivanesque influence in its form and carving. This arch was restored to its original design (circa 1980). The four-story, rectangular building is actually a double structure located on a lot 128 feet wide and 120 feet deep. East of the theatre entrance, the event room, offices, and apartments occupy the width of the street front (forty-three fe et deep) which was formerly the hotel and shops. (These spaces - renovated circa 1980 and 2012 - do not attempt to duplicate the original interior elements but were designed with minimal change to the fa9ade.) The original airspace separating the hotel and the opera house is now fire stairs.