03-D Historic Pres (12/10/02) JAN 2 2 2003
December 10, 2002 Minutes of the Paris Historical Commission
CITY ATTORNE¥
PARIS. TEXAS
The meeting of the Paris Historic Preservation Commission was called to order by the
Chairman Arvin Starrett. In the absence of the Secretary Paul Denny, Ann Rogers was
asked to take the minutes. The roll call was made by Ann Rogers, acting secretary
The following members were present. Alvin Starrett, Ann Rogers, Linda Ryan, Sue
Lancaster, Barbara Wilson, Bceki Norment ,Ex-Officio member Tommy Haynes
and City Attorney Larry Schcake. The following guests were present: City Manager Mike
Malone, Skipper Steely and Paul Swasko.
After determining that a quorum was present, the Chairman began with Item # 4 on the
agenda: Discussion and possible action on Commission Rules and Policies. At the
November meeting the following persons were named to a sub committee. They were
Paul Denny, Sue Lancaster and Ann Rogers. They were asked to develop and prepare
rules and policies of the Commission. The members of the Rules Committee Sue Lancaster
and Ann Rogers were present, but the death of the mother of the absent member Paul
Denny, was noted and it was felt that the committee needed more time to prepare a report.
A motion was made to postpone the report on the Rules and Policies of the Commission
until the January meeting. The motion carried unanimously after a voice vote.
Item # 5 Discussion and possible adoption of standards for historic building rehabilitation,
maintenance and construction guidelines. After meeting with Run Emmerich of Dallas
Historic Preservation Commission, it was recommended that The Paris Historic
preservation Commission adopt the National Guidelines for Historic Preservation. After
a brief discussion ,there was a consensus of opinion that the Commission quickly adopt
guidelines so that current pressing issues with tenants in the downtown area could be
resolved. There was a motion to formally adopt the Department of Interior guidelines for
Paris, Texas Historic Preservation Commission by Barbara Wilson and it was seconded by
Beeki Norment. The motion was carried unanimously after a voice vote.
To facilitate discussion on Item # 6, the Chairman presented a short synopsis of the history
of the downtown commercial district. This is the synopsis presented.
"The downtown commercial district of Paris, Texas, long the heart of the business
community, contains the original fifty acres donated for the city by early settler
George WrighL Some thirteen acrres of the area were destroyed by fire in 1877, and the city
then initiated a new fire code, requiring all buildings in the central business district to be
constructed of brick or stone. In 1914 the City of Paris sought the professional advice of
landscape architect W. H. Dunn of Kansas City, commissioning him to propose specifw
improvements, including making the central square a formal public pla~a, and creating a
vastly scaled muunicipal plaza district east of the commercial area, between Lamar and
Ciarksvitle streets. In April, 1916 afire destroyed many buildings in the district leaving to
survive the Dulaney Building, the Gibralter Hotel, the Beiford Apartments, the Cotton
F~cchange and the First National Banl~ Within#five years essentially the entire commercial
district had been rebuilt, harmoniously composed by architects strongly influenced by
architecture found in Chicago, $~ Louis, and Kansas City. This phenomenon created a
downtown district with remarkably compatible design, scale material and detain, worthy of the
preservation of it's beauty and integreity for future generations."
It was suggested by Barbara Wilson that we include the fact that the city and county
governments are inside this district, and the following sentence was reworded to say,
"The downtown commercial district of Paris, Texas, long the heart of the business
commmunity including county and city governments, contains the original fifty acres donated
for the city by early settler George Wrigh~ ' Another error, "In Apri~ 1916,
afire destroyed many buildings in the district, leaving to survive the Dulaney Buildings, the
Gibraltar Hotel, the Belford Apartments, The Cotton Exchange and the First National
Bank .~The date of April, 1916 should read March ,1916 and the Gibralter Hotel should
be spelled Gibraltar. The Chairman called for a motion after the correction and the
Chairman asked for a motion to include the synopsis in the minutes and the motion was
made by Barbara Wilson and seconded by Sue Lancaster. The voice vote was unanimous.
Item # 7 on the agenda dealt with the discussion and possible action on boundaries of the
Downtown Historic District. A discussion was held on the differences in the boundaries
recommended by the Main Street Board and the boundaries recommended for the Down-
town in 1984-85. It was decided that item #7 was rendered moot, because the item in
question had already been voted on and was included in the November minutes.
Item # 8 was on the discussion and action on formal proposal of the Downtown boundaries.
After a discusssion of the correct terminology and the advice of the City Attorney, Larry
Schenke, a motion was made by Barbara Wilson to offer to the City Council a
recommendation to adopt the boundaries of 1985 for the Downtown Area only.
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.
Item 09 dealt with a discussion of a possible historical survey update and potential funding
sources for this update. It was suggested that we seek funding for the update. The
discussion centered on how best to avail the Commission of these needed funds. Shall we go
through the CDC for funding? Shall we seek matching funding for grants?
Barbara Wilson has made inquiries about types of funding available and will report on
these sources at a later date.
Item # 10 was a discussion and possible action of agenda for regular meeting of the
commission on January 14, 2003. It was decided to schedule Ron Emmerich of the Dallas
Preservation Society. Commisision members were asked to bring any questions
to the meeting they think may arise when we begin heatings with homeowners.
At this time the commission was asked to consider changing the meeting time to i~ter in the
day to accomodate working members. The time was changed for the
January meeting to 4:00 after a motion by Sue Lancaster and a second by Barbara
Wilson.
The meeting was adjourned.
Arvin Starrett, Chairman
Paul Denny, Secretary
Ann Rogers, Acting Secretary
Date