April Fools

Spotted this when out for a walk on April 1st...

It was a glorious 80 degrees, and it seemed like all of St Paul was out strolling along the Avenue. The 'hidden garden' on the North side of street between Kent and MacKubin had a strange new sign on its gate:




The sign disappeared a few days later, but I will admit that SARPAexpress was contacted by more than person who was worried it might be true... :0

Historic State Tax Credit Signed into Law!

This week the state legislature passed, and today Governor Pawlenty signed into law, a new state historic tax credit. After years of work by preservation groups, community advocates, and others, Minnesota has become the 31st state in the nation with such a provision.

The bill is exciting on a number of levels. For individual property owners, it offers a significant tax credit for renovation and rehabilitation. Piggybacking on the federal tax credit, it allows a state income tax credit of 20% when rehabbing a qualified property. The property must be on the National Register of Historic Places (so all properties in the Summit Avenue West Historic District would potentially qualify), and must be income-producing (homesteaded residential properties are not eligible). In an innovative new approach, non-profits such as churches can take advantage of the credit, which they can choose to receive as a grant or against the insurance premium tax.

However, perhaps the deeper impact of the bill is that it is included in the Minnesota Jobs Stimulus Bill, directly recognizing the significant economic impact of preservation. Rehabilitation work employs more people, in better-paying jobs, than either manufacturing or new construction. Other states have seen this impact; in Rhode Island, a recent credit has created 5,334 direct construction jobs in just two years, and in Missouri, the cost of the tax credit has been recouped in payroll taxes alone. If Minnesota follows national models, preservation-related projects would create more jobs than other similarly-sized "shovel ready" projects, including road construction, manufacturing, or new construction.

If projects further leverage their resources, by using green construction techniques, or by purchasing materials at local independent establishments that keep the money in the community, the economic impact increases proportionally. The tax credit is poised to have an important effect not just on Summit Avenue and in Saint Paul, but all over Minnesota.

977 Summit, Continued

I am having technical problems uploading more images to the blog right now.

Here are the highlights (abridged) from the written application:

• Construct new flat-roofed porch/entry breakfast room with second story roof terrace on east elevation
• Construct new open porch addition on north elevation
• Additions will have stucco to match existing house, double-hung and fixed sash windows to match existing "as closely as possible"
• Convert existing tuck under garages to bedrooms.
  
• Remove existing two car garage and replace with new four car garage. (Note: apologies for technical difficulties. Cannot upload drawings of proposed garage at this time.)
• Remove and rebuild existing original entry. Rebuild with slightly larger footprint.
• Construct new concrete retaining wall along Chatsworth (west) side of home.

977 Summit

More detail on the complete renovation application before the HPC:
(Click on any image to see it larger)

Birdseye view of 977 Summit.

(Image from www.bing.com)


Principal facade of 977 Summit

Side Elevation, from Chatsworth Street

(Image from www.google.com)

HPC Agenda: Summit Items

There are three summit items on the upcoming Agenda.

Here is the agenda in its entirety, with the Summit Items in bold.

Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission
City Hall Conference Center Room 40
15 Kellogg Boulevard West
(Enter the building from Fourth Street)
Business Meeting Agenda
Thursday, April 8, 2010
5:00 p.m.

I. Approval of the Agenda

II. Conflicts of Interest

III. Approval of the meeting minutes

• A. March 11, 2010 Business Meeting

• B. March 25, 2010 Public Hearing Meeting

IV. Chair’s Announcements

V. Staff Announcements

• A. March Design Review Statistics (see attached)

VI. Old Business

• A. 2115 Summit Avenue, Summit Avenue West Historic District, by Opus Northwest Construction, LLC, for permits to construct the new 225,000 sq. ft. Anderson Student Center at the northeast corner of Summit and Cretin Avenues. File #10-017 (Spong, 266-6714). Continued from the March 25, 2010 Public Hearing.
  

VII. Public Hearing/Permit Review

• A. Summit Avenue at Cretin Avenue, Summit Avenue West Historic District, by University of St. Thomas, for a permit to alter the radius of the boulevards and add/increase paving at all crossings. File #10-018 (Spong, 266-6714).

• B. 977 Summit Avenue, Hill Historic District, by David Heide Design Studio, for a building permit for complete renovation including, alteration of the front entrance and terrace, construction of two rear and side elevation additions, conversion of the tuck-under garages into living space and alteration of the driveway. Also proposed is removing the two-stall garage at the alley, and constructing a fourstall garage and other site improvements. File #10-019 (Boulware, 266-6715).
  

VIII. New Business/Discussion

• A. Review and approve Section 106 comment letter for the Phalen Arch Bridge.
  

• B. Comment on the draft 2010 Annual Report

Fun Family Event: Third Annual Cathedral Family Day on Sunday, March 7

St Paul's Cathedral is located at the corner of Summit and Selby Avenues. This coming Sunday, the Cathedral is hosting its Third Annual Cathedral Family Day.

Sunday, March 7
1-4:30 p.m.
239 Selby Avenue
(Selby and Summit)

Costumed tour guides * Pipe Organ demonstrations *
MN Children’s Museum Art Projects* Science Experiments

(Saint Paul, MN) The Cathedral of Saint Paul welcomes everyone and especially families to tour this historical landmark, listen as a resident musician plays the massive Skinner Pipe Organ, create your own Michelangelo “Pietà” with the Minnesota Children’s Museum and do oxidation experiments on copper with the Minnesota Science Museum on Sunday, March 7th from 1:30-4:30 p.m., located at 239 Selby Avenue, Saint Paul (www.cathedralsaintpaul.org).

“The music of the Cathedral will be special focus this year for Family Day. When music is created in this grand place, it appeals to all the senses,” said the Very Reverend Joseph R. Johnson, Rector of the Cathedral. “Come visit on Family Day and learn how the Great Pipe Organs work and get up close to watch one of our organists create music that fills the Cathedral.”

In addition to pipe organ demonstrations, tour guides will be dressed in period costume and standing at stations throughout the building. Move around to all the stations to hear the stories from the historical characters who played a role in building this great monument on the hill.

After experiencing the history and music in the Cathedral, visitors are invited to enjoy a host of activities on the lower level:
• Minnesota Children’s Museum staff will have materials for children to make their own clay Michelagelo’ sculpture to take home.
• Minnesota Science Museum staff run oxidation experiments on copper (dome).
• LEGO Builder Roy Cook will be on-hand to answer questions about the finished LEGO replica of the Cathedral.
• The Cathedral Gift Store and Museum will also be open to visitors.
• Refreshments will be available for purchase from the Cathedral Young Adults.

The Cathedral Heritage Foundation is a non-profit, non-sectarian, historic preservation, cultural and arts organization established to meet the objectives of restoring and preserving the national historic treasure of the Cathedral of Saint Paul for generations to come. The CHF provides leadership in developing educational programs to showcase the cultural, historic, and artistic influence of the Cathedral on people throughout the world.


For more information, visit www.cathedralheritagefoundation.org or call the Welcome Center at 651-228-1766. To view photos of the Cathedral of Saint Paul’s interior and exterior go to http://www.cathedralsaintpaul.org/about/photos.asp.


More info: http://www.cathedralheritagefoundation.org/