Tag Archives: historic preservation
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 by Jack Craver
Preservation
Travis County commissioners endorse preserving Palm School
Supporters of preserving the Palm School won a partial victory Tuesday when the Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously in favor of restrictions that will prevent the historic building from being demolished by a future landowner. However, the issue of…
Friday, April 26, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
West Austin home causes impasse at HLC
City code requires a structure to meet two out of five requirements in order to be designated historic. One of the most often-used requirements is that of historical association with an individual who “contributed significantly to the history of the…
Thursday, April 25, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
East Austin home slated for historic zoning against owner’s wishes
It is rare in Austin that a home is preserved against an owner’s wishes. According to Preservation Austin, the city has disregarded an owner’s wishes in this manner exactly three times since 1974. Now there is a chance it will…
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
City may initiate demolition-by-neglect case in effort to save I.Q. Hurdle House
For several years, one North Texas company has been stealthily purchasing properties along East 12th Street and now owns nearly four dozen properties between Interstate 35 and Walnut Avenue, according to Travis County property records. One of those properties happens…
Friday, April 12, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
Family dispute over historic zoning comes to Planning Commission for mediation
Five years ago, the property at 1119 East 11th St. was zoned historic in an effort to preserve both the legacy of the Thomas family and their involvement in the East Austin music scene, and an emblematic example of 20th-century…
Thursday, April 11, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Tourism Commission examines whether hotel tax could keep live music on Sixth Street
The handful of music venues still operating in the city’s historic district along Sixth Street could be considered for preservation and infrastructure improvements using money from the Hotel Occupancy Tax. That idea was one of several offered for further examination…
Monday, March 25, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
Reporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Something we agree on
The link between governmental and residential Texas houses… Occasionally a contentious zoning case stirs up old memories that have been tucked away, but not forgotten. In the wake of the Historic Landmark commissioners’ reaction to the presented plans for 1602…
Friday, March 1, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Planning
Landmark commissioners say they feel double-crossed over West Austin property
Despite a local homeowner and the city spending months compromising, negotiating and working to comply with suggestions from Austin’s Historic Preservation Office, Historic Landmark commissioners were flabbergasted Monday night at the final plans for a multimillion-dollar home in Old West…
Tuesday, January 29, 2019 by Jack Craver
Preservation
Commission divided on whether home of architecture icon should be a landmark
The Planning Commission declined to recommend historic zoning for a 70-year-old home in Old West Austin due to recent changes the property owner made to the house. The case demonstrated the tenuous standards that shape the city’s efforts to preserve…
Thursday, January 10, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
Old home in new historic district is approved for demolition
All things have their moment in the sun, and for an East Austin home at 4200 Wildwood Road, that moment seems to have come and gone. Today, the home is merely a cracked contribution to the Wilshire Woods National Register…
Monday, December 3, 2018 by Austin Monitor
Reporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Lord of the files
Pig-headed politics… At a recent City Council work session, Council members were discussing proposed changes to the ordinance that dictates the extent to which people can exercise their First Amendment rights on library grounds. Specifically, what limits, if any, should…
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 by Jack Craver
Preservation
Property owners who forfeit landmark status will have to pay more
Owning a property that has been designated a historic landmark has its benefits and its drawbacks. The city of Austin, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District all offer hefty property tax exemptions for landmark properties – with the…
Thursday, November 1, 2018 by Jessi Devenyns
Parks
The Norwood House may soon get a face-lift
On the northwestern corner of Interstate 35 and Riverside Drive is a plot of land that the city purchased in 1985 and that most Austinites know to be an off-leash dog park. However, also nestled on that same plot of…
Friday, October 26, 2018 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
Hillside Farmacy recommended for historical designation
There are buildings in this city for which historical zoning is a no-brainer. One of these properties is the Hillside Farmacy at 1209 E. 11th St. The application for this zoning change was presented to the Historic Landmark Commission along…
Wednesday, October 24, 2018 by Jessi Devenyns
Preservation
An East Austin family unites to fight against historical designation for their home
Sometimes, despite their home’s historical ties, a family still believes it is time to sell it to a developer. One such example is a small 19th-century Victorian folk-style home at 1705 East Sixth St. It is one of the few buildings…
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Preservation
Council denies West Austin historic zoning
A divided City Council declined last week to zone a West Austin house as historic, but the owners have agreed to renovate the house in Italian Renaissance Revival style, so that it satisfies them as well as the neighborhood and…
Wednesday, September 19, 2018 by Jack Craver
Preservation
City estimate: Preserving Montopolis Negro School would cost $5.7M
The city of Austin is beginning the process of using eminent domain to seize the 1-acre plot at 500 Montopolis Ave., home of an 83-year-old building that was once the Montopolis Negro School. The structure is a rare vestige of…
Tuesday, September 4, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Preservation
Despite owners’ wishes, historic zoning advances
Staff won a preliminary victory in its quest to zone a 1923 West Austin house historic against the owners’ wishes last week. The City Council vote was 6-3, but with two members off the dais and not voting, the final…
Friday, August 31, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Preservation
Council OKs Smoot Terrace Park Historic District
Council gave final approval Thursday to creation of the Smoot Terrace Park Historic District just west of downtown, after neighbors decided to eliminate three properties owned by people who signed a valid petition opposing the historic district. That meant Council…
Thursday, August 30, 2018 by Elizabeth Pagano
Preservation
Fence unites landmark commission
Should new fences in National Register historic districts come before the Historic Landmark Commission? The answer appears to be “probably.” At their most recent meeting, Historic Landmark commissioners considered whether to summon the owners of 906 E. 14th St., which…
