Consultant shares update on nomination to National Register of Historic Places

Advertisement
Mary Saltarelli

By AMANDA KIMBLE
TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (February 14, 2017) – The busy intersection of Washington and Graham Street. The comings and goings from city, county and law offices. Shoppers popping in and out of boutiques and other retail stores. Traffic rolling into the night as residents and visitors pop into the area bar, dine at downtown restaurants and stroll along the square.

In recent years, downtown Stephenville has been revived, with façade improvements across the area and unique shops and eateries filling vacancies. But, the bustling history of the city center was the focus of a recent meeting of the Stephenville City Council.

Mary Saltarelli was contracted by the council last year. The consultant has been charged with preparing a nomination for the city’s downtown district to be submitted to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The registry is the federal government’s official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation and could bring benefits downtown and to property owners in the area.

Downtown’s history is colorful, as detailed in finding Saltarelli shared with the city council.

“I have done a lot of research on the city and found some fascinating items of history,” she said.  “I noticed over the years, particularly at the end of the 19th Century, Stephenville developed to the north and west, away from the river and toward the railroad tracks.”

John Tarleton College was established around the same time, and Saltarelli said the town continued to grow toward education and transportation.

Stephenville City Park remains a hub for community activities, and Saltarelli said in the early 20th Century it was a lawn were community barbecues and picnics were held. The property was purchased by the city in 1910.

“It was also used by the county as the Erath County Fair Grounds,” she said.

“There was also a tabernacle there before the rec hall,” council member Carla Trussell, who serves on the Stephenville Historical House Museum board of directors, added.

While the county-owned Long Hotel may be an eyesore today, Saltarelli said the area around the hotel was once home to a busy public square where the community gathered for first Monday trade days.

“People would come from all over to trade horses, mules and other commodities,” she said, adding carnival barkers hawked medicine men’s wares. 

“I read that Milton Brown, ‘The Original Father of Western Swing,’ grew up in Erath County and he would come to the square,” Saltarelli added, saying the cadence and pattern of the barkers, live entertainers and foot traffic influenced Brown throughout his musical career.

Meanwhile, The Rockin’ P, the bar located on Washington Street across from the county courthous =e has a colorful – and fitting – past of its own.

“The legend is that in the western most building, they have found evidence of an underground saloon,” Saltarelli said, adding there appears to have been an underground tunnel – likely utilized during Prohibition – running under Graham Street.

Saltarelli said those are just a few of the many examples of what qualifies the area as historic, and document the significant places and events of their past takes time. The initial contract between Saltarelli and the city included an application submission date of March 1, but she requested an extension until May 1.

She also said additional time would help make the nomination more viable.

“Originally, the district included 105 resources (buildings or other items) with 53 – or 51 percent –  contributing (to the nomination),” she said. “After consultation with the Texas Historical Commission, the district now has 120 resources with 77 – or 63 percent – contributing.”

The minimum requirement of 51 percent contributing resources must be met for a district to be considered for placement on the registry.

The additions – 15 resources – expanded the district to north to include several notable additions, including Graham Street Church of Christ, Cornelia Graves Schoolhouse and John Beech House.

Meanwhile, Saltarelli explained the potential impact of being added to the NRHP. She said it preserves the community’s sense of place and provides another layer of protection for built resources when the area is threatened by potential future projects.

“The department of transportation would have to take a step back and consider every other alternatives before beginning a project that would impact any of the built resources here,” Saltarelli said.   

She also said the status improves property values by as much as 20 percent, attracts visitors seeking authentic historic sites, attracts redevelopment and offers tangible opportunities for owners of historic commercial buildings.

“Contributing buildings and some non-contributing buildings qualify for the Texas Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program,” Saltarelli said.

According to the Texas Historical Commission, the state historic tax credit program – effective January 1, 2015 –  allow property owners to recoup up to 25 percent of rehabilitation costs for buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as well as those recognized as Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks and Texas State Antiquities Landmarks.

The state incentive can be combined with the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program, which offers a 20 percent tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic buildings.

“Property owners could qualify to receive up to 45 percent of what they spent rehabing a building back through tax credits, which can provide a key to economic growth,” Saltarelli said. 

In regard to non-contributing resources, she said building with newer façades could also receive the credit if the improvements were removed and the building was brought back to its original architectural integrity.

“Public entities or nonprofits qualify to apply for federal, state and private foundation preservation grants,” Saltarelli added. “The first question for state and federal preservation funds is if the building is eligible for listing or currently listed in national registry.”

She explained the submission process, which includes a report on each of the 120 buildings in the district and offered reports for similar projects in Childress, Mineola and Glen Rose.

Saltarelli also said after the application is submitted, a notice of public meeting will be posted so that all building owners can hear a report on the process.

While the city council approved the contract extension and extended the project to May 1, Trussell made a point about the project and similar issues in the past.

“I have to say this is the second time a consultant has recently come to us and asked for additional time,” Trussell said. “I just met with you a few weeks ago and you had just started doing what I can the leg work, where you visit our libraries, our courthouse and our archives and do that type of research.”

Still, Saltarelli said the additional two months would be adequate to complete the project.

The original fee associated with the project is $17,000 plus expenses, and in presenting the extension request to the council, Deputy City Administrator Jeremy Allen made a recommendation it not be increased. He also said Saltarelli had been paid a little less than $13,000 to date and the remaining funds shouldn’t be dispersed until the nomination is submitted and accepted.


Advertisement

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.