HomeMy WebLinkAboutA008 - Email from Gloria Betcher supporting landmark status "Betcher, Gloria J [ENGL]" To "bobanncamp@aol.com"<bobanncamp@aol.com>,
., <gbetcher@iastate.edu> "tom@tomwacha.org"<tom@tomwacha.org>,
"jlarson101@aol.com"<jlarson101@aol.com>,
12/14/2010 02:19 PM cc "sschainker@city.ames.ia.us"
<sschainker@city.ames.ia.us>,
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Subject Correction on Item 27, Council Action Form, 12-14-10
Mayor and Council,
I am writing in regard to tonight's discussion of the Rezoning of Land at 1013 & 1025 Adams Street. I
wanted to correct an error that appears on the Council Action Form for Item 27 that might have a
negative impact on the outcome of a vote on this item.
Paragraph 2 of the Background Information section includes the misinformation that the
house at 1013 Adams Street was "constructed in 1958." That statement is incorrect. The
house was constructed over a period of 9 years from 1949 to 1958 and represents design
principles that were new for the mid-nineteen-forties when most of the design was rendered
by Bert Adams. It is the house's forward-looking application of design, which incorporates elements of
the Prairie School (Frank Lloyd Wright style) with Postwar Modernism, that makes this home
architecturally noteworthy. If you were to believe the misinformation on the construction date
and not read ahead to the design criteria for item 31 on the agenda, you might be misled into
thinking of this structure was merely a badly rendered example of Prairie School or a late
example of Postwar Modern. In fact, it is neither of these things.
I know that at the September 28 meeting, along with questions regarding the landscaping of the property
(now dealt with in Item 31), Council members expressed some concerns about this property and its
worthiness to be designated as a local landmark. Regardless of whether you personally like the design,
this home is a unique construction, progressive in its interpretation of national trends, and linked to the
life of a person significant in Ames' past. I hope that you will vote in favor of landmark status for the
property.
I will be present at the meeting tonight to address this issue and answer any questions that might arise.
Best,
Gloria
********************
Gloria J. Betcher, Ph.D.
Chair, Ames Historic Preservation Commission
(515) 292-5177