PHILADELPHIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE ON CERTIFICATION MINUTES 13 February 1979 Present: John O. Higgins, Chief, Area Planning Division, City Planning Commission. Janet S. Klein, Vice-Chairman, Philadelphia Historical Commission. Herbert W. Levy, A.I.A., Chairman, Architectural Committee, Philadelphia Historical Commission. James E. Mooney, Director, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Hyman Myers, A.I.A. Edward Pinkowski, Member, Philadelphia Historical Commission. Richard Tyler, Historian. The first meeting of the Committee on Certification met at 3:00 p.m. on 13 February 1979 in 1313 City Hall Annex. The Committee elected Mr. Pinkowski as chairman. Mr. Tyler reviewed the past procedures and criteria for the certification of buildings by the Commission, including the former Historic Values Committee and the recent decides to create the Committee on Certification. He also described the past standard of documentation, i.e., photographs, a chain-of-title and an insurance survey if extant, and sought the Committee's judgment for documentation in the future. The Committee recommended that the Commission require the submission of a completed National Register nomination form of the latest date as the minimum standard of documentation for certification. This does not mean, however, that nominations will also be forwarded to the National Register. SUBMISSIONS Ringgold Place, i.e., 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 Waverly Street. Nominated by the Commission staff following an inquiry by a representative of the owner. Entered on the National Register of Historic Places on 29 August 1978. These twenty-five houses were erected in 1852 by William Allison, house carpenter, and altered slightly in 1925 by Tilden, Regimter and Pepper, architects. They retain intact and represent the form of housing available in the era of the Civil War to the working classes; the 1870 and 1880 census returns indicate that they were occupied by shopkeepers, dressmakers, laborers, brick masons, mostly native born whites with a few first COMMITTEE ON CERTIFICATION 2 13 February 1979 generation Irish. From 1925 until 1934, George Howe maintained his office in 1500 Waverly Street. In these years he and William Lescaze designed the PSFS building at Twelfth and Market Streets. The Committee recommended the certification of these houses. 1032 Waverly Street. Nominated by the owner. The chain-of-title indicates a date it was erected between 1863 and 1891. Now stripped and rehabilitated, the house has no distinguishing architectural features and no known historical association. In addition, although 1016-1024
and Market Streets. The Committee recommended the certification of these houses. 1032 Waverly Street. Nominated by the owner. The chain-of-title indicates a date it was erected between 1863 and 1891. Now stripped and rehabilitated, the house has no distinguishing architectural features and no known historical association. In addition, although 1016-1024 Waverly Street are certified, this building lacks a meaningful context. The Committee recommended that this house not be certified. 2408 Chestnut Street. Nominated by the occupant. Built about 1850, this house possesses neither architectural distinction nor known historical association. Moreover, it stands within the University City urban renewal area and is now within a context of new construction. It is owned by the Redevelopment Authority. The Committee recommended that this house not be certified. 629, 631, 633 North Twentieth Street. Nominated by the Spring Garden Civic Association. Like most of the Spring Garden neighborhood, these houses, built ca. 1867, represent the speculative development which characterized residential subdivisions and the marked physical expansion of the City in the decades following the Civil War. These houses stand within the Spring Garden National Historic District. The Committee recommended the certification of these houses. 562, 564, 566, 568 North Twentieth Street. Nominated by the Spring Garden Civic Association. The Committee recommended the certification of 562 and 564 North Twentieth Street for the same reasons given for 629-633 North Twentieth Street. The Committee, however, recommended against the certification of 566 and 568 North Twentieth Street because of the paramstone and altered, out-of-scale openings on the first floor. These two houses could be certified upon restoration or the submission of a proposal for restoration. 600, 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614 North Twenty-third Street. Nominated by the Spring Garden Civic Association. These houses also date from the 1860's and are within the Spring Garden National Historic District. The Committee recommended the certification of these buildings for the reasons cited in the recommendation for 629-633 North Twentieth Street. COMMITTEE ON CERTIFICATION 15 February 1979 The following is a summary of the decisions by the Committee. After some discussion of a recently completed examination by a Commission staff member with Chairman Weill and Mr. Farnham relative to the Commission, Chairman Weill and Mr. Farnham reported their survey of the plans to the Commission and, accordingly, to present for the Committee's ratification. The Walnut Lane Bridge over Lincoln Drive, Fairmount Park. Nominated by the Committee and discussed in
staff member with Chairman Weill and Mr. Farnham relative to the Commission, Chairman Weill and Mr. Farnham reported their survey of the plans to the Commission and, accordingly, to present for the Committee's ratification. The Walnut Lane Bridge over Lincoln Drive, Fairmount Park. Nominated by the Committee and discussed in its January 11 meeting with Chief Inspector and Director of Parks in 1932, this is the first major, linear, prestressed concrete structure erected in the United States. It has been widely published as a very significant structure in the history of engineering and technology. The Committee recommended the certification of the bridge. PLAQUES Blanes: The Committee discussed the issues of the replacement of a faulty plaque, removal of plaques from one property to another, and if there, which it longer meet the present standards for plaques. The Committee requested that all requests for plaques, including replacements, be subject to the new written procedures. In effect, whereby the placement applications would be treated as initial applications. The Committee also recommended that the latter of notification to the owner of a house to which a plaque has been awarded contain the stipulation that the plaque be fastened to and remain on the approved building and that the plaque may be recalled by the Commission should the house fall below the standards adopted for the plaque. A procedural member suggested that the Commission establish ownership of a plaque by requiring that the owner of a building donate the plaque to the Commission; this could facilitate the recall of a plaque in such an action necessary. The Committee thought, however, that the particular language for the recall of the plaque should be drafted in consultation with the assistant city solicitor. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Committee on Certification will be held on 9 May 1979 at 3:00 p.m. in 1313 City Hall Annex. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Richard Tyler Historian RTmk