A Quarterly Journal of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Winter 2017 Regional Climate Effects on Historic Preservation Follow us 4 Cathodic Protection of Historic 12 Saving Downtown: An Architectural 20 Flood Hazard Mitigation for Bridges in Oregon Survey and National Register Historic Buildings Nomination for El Paso, Texas 27 Greening a National 32 Kool Rock Roofs Before 36 State News 38 Cultural Resources Historic Landmark Roofs Were Cool Climate Change Strategy Andrea McGimsey is the Executive Director of the Colorado Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado. She is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University. Greening a National Historic Landmark By Andrea McGimsey Boulder, Colorado is a charming historic city at the foot of the Rocky Mountains near Denver, with a population of 100,000 residents. Founded in 1871 it served as a supply center for the burgeoning mountain mining communities of the 19th century. Its forward thinking leaders fought to land the University of Colorado in 1876, which placed it on the map as one of the most influential and innovative communities in the American West. In 1898, Boulder won out over other Colorado cities to found the Texas-Colorado Chautauqua. Chautauqua Auditorium and Boulder’s iconic Flatirons. Photo courtesy of Colorado Chautauqua Association. Now The Alliance Review | Winter 2017 | National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Page 27 Photo credit: Jonathan B. Auerbach Photo credit: Jonathan B. Chautauqua Auditorium today. Now known as the Colorado Chautauqua, this of performances, was built in less than two months National Historic Landmark is a living reminder of and was the center point of the opening day of the the little-known but fascinat- Colorado Chautauqua in ing Chautauqua movement, July of 1898. through which culture, education, and the arts Academic Hall (b.1900) spread around the nation was the center of educa- in the 19th and early 20th tion at the young Chau- centuries. You can think of tauqua, and now houses the Chautauqua circuit as the administrative and the Internet of its time. It is lodging offices of CCA. how current thinking on hot Its simple but graceful topics such as the women’s lobby and one of the suffrage movement and cultural offerings were historic classrooms welcome guests who stay in the shared across the vast reaches of our young and charming historic cottages available for overnight sparsely populated country. stays. CCA owns two lodges and 60 cottages; the Nestled at the foot of the Flatirons, iconic rock oldest (b.1882) — the original ranch house with formations near Boulder, Chautauqua has been foot-wide walls — houses the association’s archives a private-public partnership between a nonprofit, chronicling the fascinating history of this national currently known as the Colorado Chautauqua treasure. First built to replace the tents of the original Association (CCA), and the City of Boulder since summertime “Grand Assembly”, the cottages lacked its inception in 1898. The city owns the land and insulation and heating. Over the past few decades, built several of the most significant historic struc- CCA and many of the private owners have winter- tures. The auditorium (b.1898) in its 120th season ized the cottages, allowing for year-round use. Page 28 The Alliance Review | Winter 2017 | National Alliance of Preservation Commissions SETTING GREEN GOALS Boulder has an international reputation for its ef- Colorado Chautauqua Association gained a forts in resilience, sustainability, climate science, strong reputation in sustainability circles for its and clean energy. Accordingly, the city was in- study of three cottages which are of similar design vited to join an international alliance of large cities and aligned in the same direction. This uniformity around the world known as the Carbon Neutral allowed Jeff Medanich, CCA’s longtime facilities Cities Alliance (CNCA). Other alliance cities with and preservation lead, to test energy efficiency populations in the multi-millions include: London, initiatives and measure the impact on energy use Sydney, Copenhagen, Yokohama, San Francisco reduction. In 2008, CCA’s board of directors set and New York City. Boulder teamed with Seattle the lofty goal of becoming the greenest National and Minneapolis to obtain a grant to showcase Historic Landmark in the country. CCA staff have clean energy transition projects in various neigh- fully embraced this direction and recently hired borhood types. When the city approached CCA a full time sustainability in 2015 about taking coordinator to green its part in an international operations in many ways, effort to reduce carbon from aspiring to achieve emissions, CCA enthusi- the City of Boulder’s goal astically stepped up to the of zero waste to carefully challenge. Boulder chose monitoring and purchas- the historic Chautauqua ing of its large inventory neighborhood as a pilot for of furniture, bedding, and modeling how we can re- cleaning products. duce carbon emissions by 80% at a neighborhood scale. The resulting plan In spite of its relatively small population, 21st century calls for a phased approach to reducing carbon Columbine Lodge today. T he Alliance Review | Winter 2017 | Nati o na l Al l ia n ce o f Preser vati on Com mi ssi ons Page 29 Photo credit: Werner Slocum Photo credit: Werner Academic Hall today, one of the candidates for a solar panel installation. emissions, beginning with electrical use and then could hold enough solar panels to power all of moving on to natural gas and transportation. Chautauqua’s needs. The CCA staff and board However, there was a worked with a consultant regulatory hurdle. Privately to identify the bottom-line owned solar arrays are electrical needs of Chau- allowed to only power tauqua, to determine what a single use, if not sim- was needed to complete ply connected to the our energy efficiency efforts, power grid – a Colorado and to figure out how the Public Utilities Commis- remaining energy could be sion regulation. In other produced through clean words, power generated renewable energy sources, by a private solar array specifically solar. Boulder lies in the Front Range may not be “wheeled,” or distributed to multiple Urban Corridor, which consistently ranks high in buildings/users. The good news is that a full half the amount of sunshine it receives each year, so of Chautauqua’s electricity demand comes from solar power is a perfect option for the region. The the historic Dining Hall (b.1898), which welcomes city and CCA began to explore the possibility of almost 200,000 visitors per year. Provided CCA placing a solar array on a water reservoir with the can make it through the permitting process and picturesque name of Enchanted Mesa Reservoir, raise the needed funds, a full half of Chautauqua’s lying on city owned land just above Chautauqua. electrical needs can be transitioned to clean solar Tests were done on the load-bearing ability of power. the concrete cover, and the city found that it Page 30 The Alliance Review | Winter 2017 | National Alliance of Preservation Commissions But the question remains, how can 80% reduction process, CCA staff and board will reach out to in carbon emissions be achieved with only half of the many stakeholders of Chautauqua, the many the power covered by the Enchanted Mesa solar people whose love and care have preserved this garden? The historic preservation community has national treasure at a high level of integrity. been grappling with the notion of solar panels on historic buildings and in historic districts for years. WHY CONSIDER SOLAR PANELS AT A Europe has led the way; for example, the Vatican NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK? is the first country, albeit a small country, to be An argument could be made that there are plenty 100% solar powered. In the United States, the of modern buildings and sites where solar might Secretary of Interior’s Guidelines for Rehabilitating be more appropriate, but CCA believes that it is Historic Buildings suggest that the solar panels important to fully consider and move forward with be out of sight from the ground and that the clean energy throughout the community, includ- installation not impact the historic character of ing historic sites. Increasing sea level rise, more the property. intense rain and snow storms, high winds, floods, and wildfires are damaging buildings, commu- An option identified by the CNCA consultant nities and lives around the world. Chautauqua is to distribute solar panels around the historic recently faced the threat of a raging wildfire just a landmark; indeed, Boulder’s Landmarks Board mountain ridge away, was severely threatened by had already approved the use of solar panels in the 2013 floods which devastated many historic historic districts a few years ago. CCA’s next step properties in Boulder and other nearby communi- is to fully explore the challenge of installing solar ties. Climate change is not a theoretical issue panels in the National Historic Landmark in a way here; the impacts are real and are seen on the his- that honors the Secretary of Interior’s Standards toric landscape, in the loss of electric power with and the beautiful aesthetics of the site. So how to significant impacts on CCA’s business, and with start the conversation? the need to air condition its cottages - leading to increased financial and environmental costs. First, CCA staff worked with local preservation architects and board members to identify the best Chautauqua is a beloved park for the Boulder potential sites for delivering the most power to community and is visited by over half a million where we needed it. The proposed sites are the people annually from around the world. As a lead- 15-apartment Columbine Lodge (b.1919), the ing institution in the city, we believe that we should Academic Hall, and the Picnic Shelter (c.1922).