Documents Supporting Historic Survey Grant

This coming Monday, City Council will meet to discuss (and possibly take action) on accepting a grant to do an historic survey of downtown so that the El Paso downtown can be nominated for National Registry status and become a National Historic District. Becoming such does not obligate any owner to do anything. If an owner chooses to restore a building to its historic integrity, then she would have access to 45% of the project costs.

Please try to attend the meeting on June 20 at 9PM at City Hall. Please also consider contacting your city representative. A contact list is HERE.

Documents supporting seeking National Registry status can be found with links below. Peruse or read them thoroughly. You will easily see the advantage of having our downtown become a National Historic District.

The documents in the folder with link above are:

April 29, 2015 letter from Senator José Rodríguez to the Mayor and City Council supporting an historic preservation policy.

May 28, 2015 letter from Adair Margo supporting a National Historic District for downtown El Paso.

Letter from Steve Sandowsky, Historic Preservation Officer of Austin, TX supporting the survey.

Office of Economic Development, Dallas Texas report

Dallas Downtown Connection TIF District 2014 Annual Report

Letter from Eric Liefeld, President of the Mesilla Valley Preservation, Inc. urging Mayor and City Council and City Manager to value historical buildings in El Paso.

Letter to Max Grossman from Lloyd C. Engelbrecht, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati urging the historic survey.

Letter from Mark Wolfe, TX Historic Commission, pointing out the rich heritage El Paso has in its downtown historic buildings.

Letter from Catherine Gorman, Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Galveston touting their experience. [I've been there on a weeknight and the areas are crowded.]

Historic Preservation Essential to the Economy and Quality of Life in San Antonio, Feb. 18, 2015

Letter from David Bush, Deputy Directory of Preservation Houston giving financial benefits of having an Historic District.

Letter from Shanon Shea Miller, Historic Preservation Officer of San Antonio giving financial benefits of having an Historic District.

Letter from Leah Wood, President of Sunset Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association, urging El Paso to be pro-active and preserve history.

Letter from Geoffrey Wright, Wright and Dalbin Architects, Inc. of El Paso strongly supporting the creation of a national historic district in downtown El Paso.


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Council to Discuss Historic Survey Grant

Street sign in the Congress Avenue Historic District in Austin, Texas

Should downtown El Paso become a National Historic District, here are the facts:

If you are a building owner of a building on the national registry and you want to tear it down, put up a parking lot or build something new, YOU CAN. It's your property.

If you are a building owner and want to update your property without preserving the historic character, YOU CAN. It's your property.

If you are a building owner and want to restore the building to its historic character (while updating the inside), YOU CAN. And you can get 45% of the project cost to do so!

It's all up to the property owner. Period. If indeed you want to preserve an historic building that you own and refurbish it to maintain the historic integrity, you will have to follow some rigorous requirements. But you get 45% of the project cost. That's up from just 20% available when the Mills Building was 
redone.

Not only does a National Registry National Historic District mean money in the pockets of building owners, it means money in the pockets of the city. According to Shannon Shea Miller, the Historic Preservation Officer of San Antonio:

"[o]ur historic downtown has contributte greatly to the heritage tourism industry that supports our local economy . . . The income generated by visitors has an overall economic impact of more than $12 billion and employment generated by the tourism industry tops 112,000 jobs. Most of these visitors are staying, eating and shopping Downtown."

So why did the executive director of the El Paso Downtown Development District Joe Gudenrath call City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and Gonzalez then order the return of grant money to do an historic survey that would have led to an Historic Register District, 45% of project money to willing owners and billions of dollars in heritage tourism for the city?

Not only does it not make sense BUT it doesn't make sense that the City Manager took it upon himself to return the money rather than letting City Council make that decision as Rep. Claudia Ordaz argues. (See Why didn’t City Council decide? Historic survey funds returned without rep vote in last weekend's El Paso Inc.)

According to an El Paso Times story "the Downtown Management District said it opposes the survey because 'the simple act of preserving historical buildings does not advance the DMD's goals of revitalizing Downtown El Paso and discourages other investment.'

What other investment? What's the hidden agenda?

Apparently there has been enough outcry to place the grant on next Monday's City Council agenda. 

elpasonaturally has much more to say about this particular item. For now, here is a message from Max Grossman, Vice-Chair, El Paso County Historical Commission:

We just learned that our plan to conduct an architectural survey of downtown El Paso and establish a national historic district there is not dead after all! On Monday, City Council, Mayor Leeser and City Manager Gonzalez will meet and decide once and for all whether to move forward with our plan or terminate it completely.

Please write to the them IMMEDIATELY and express your support:

district1@elpasotexas.gov; district2@elpasotexas.gov;district3@elpasotexas.gov; district4@elpasotexas.gov;district5@elpasotexas.gov; district6@elpasotexas.gov;district7@elpasotexas.gov; district8@elpasotexas.gov;mayor@elpasotexas.gov; tgonzalez@elpasotexas.gov

I just sent a letter on behalf of the El Paso County Historical Commission (below). Please make certain that your own letter is productive and positive. For background information, see the two recent front-page reports:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_28459519/city-el-paso-give-back-texas-historical-commission
http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/article_35bf4106-2977-11e5-a92a-f74d7cb7c552.html

Feel free to share your letter with us as a Facebook message.

Many thanks,


Max


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