Meetings and Agendas
MINUTES
LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION
DECEMBER 3, 2007
The Landmarks and Historic District Commission of the City of Florissant met at the Florissant City Hall on Monday December 3, 2007 in the second floor conference room at 7:00 p.m., with Joe Schulte presiding.
On the roll call the following members were present: Marion McGuinn, Joe Schulte, and Richard Hennenhoefer. Also in attendance were Bill White, Deputy Building Commissioner, Cynthia Treiber, Recording Clerk, Rosemary Davison and Gretchen Crank the petitioners. With a lack of a quorum Joe Schulte declared the Landmarks and Historic District Commission (LHDC) could not conduct business, however the petitioners could present their presentation.
Rosemary Davison appeared before the Commission announcing that the year 2008 marked the beginning of the preservation movement from Florissant. Ms. Davison stated that the Florissant Historical Society was established in May of 1958 and The Friends of Old St. Ferdinand was established in December of 1958 and to the best of her knowledge was the oldest Civic organizations in the County dealing with preservation. Ms. Davison stated that they were planning a big celebration and would like to invite the LHDC Commission members to be a part of it. Ms. Davison stated that the Florissant Valley Historical Society, The St. Stanislaus Historical Society and Historic Florissant have agreed to be co-sponsors of the different events. Ms. Davison stated that the Friends of Old St. Ferdinand were invited to participate, however they chose to celebrate on their own.
Ms. Davison distributed a calendar for 2008 from Historic Florissant Inc. with the different events that would be going on. Ms. Davison stated that if the LHDC Commission members decided to participate there was a lot of room for them to do their own thing. Ms. Davison made a suggestion that the LHDC Commission could designate Landmark properties and if the Commission needed any assistance someone from one of the groups participating would be more than happy to approach the residents. Ms. Davison stated that this was a tentative schedule and that some of the events may change however some were set in stone, such as the January 20th program by Esley Hamilton who is the Historian for St. Louis County. Ms. Davison stated that they were going to try and do all the events in some type of Landmark structure. Ms. Davison stated that they had approval from the Mayor to use the City Hall on Sunday’s during the course of the celebration.
Further discussion was held regarding the different events and the places where the events would be held. Ms. Davison stated that they were very excited about the events and was hoping to stir up interest, excitement and new commitment to the Historic preservation. Ms. Davison stated that the Commission members could be a part of the program or be listed as a co-sponsor. Ms. Davison stated that in the last edition of the quartile the History of the different organizations began and that they were in the process of gathering information with hopes of by the end of the year there would be a section on the City involvement.
Ms. Davison asked if there were any questions. Mr. Schulte asked why the Friends Of Old St Ferdinand did not want to corporate. Ms. Davison stated that it was not that they did not want to cooperate however they did not attend the first meeting and when following up with Mr. Bray she was informed that the Board of Directors had decided to do their own celebration. Mr. Schulte stated that without a quorum the LHDC Commission could not give her an answer whether they would participate or not and would pass the information on to the rest of the members. Mr. Hennenhoefer asked Ms. Davison what her idea would be for the LHDC Commission to do. Ms. Davison stated what would appeal to her was if the Commission took a look at the City for any additional Landmark Designations, such as the Knights of Columbus building next to Mortuary who she thought was interested in becoming a Landmark. Ms. Davison also stated that one of their houses on their tours was a third Gettemeyer house and may be interested in being designated. Ms. Davison stated that she would like to see the LHDC members participating because it maybe helpful, beneficial and possibly educational. Ms. Davison stated that it would also let other people know that the City Commissions and Boards were a part of the celebration. Mr. Schulte asked if they had asked the City Council for their participation. Ms. Davison stated that they had not yet however, was planning on doing so. Further discussion was held on the different possibilities and events with everyone being invited to participate.
Gretchen Crank stated that in March was the forty second anniversary of the establishment of the Historic District and may be something that the Commission members would want to be involved with. Ms. Davison stated that the Florissant Historic District was one of the first zoned Historic Districts in the State of MO. Mrs. Crank stated that they had a list of all the people that were involved in the first Commission and if any of those people were around the Commission may be interested in some type of reception. Mrs. Crank stated that recently St. Louis County had had a dinner and had invited all the past members. Mr. Schulte stated that they would put their thinking caps on and see what they could do. Mr. Hennenhoefer requested that the information obtained tonight be mailed out before the next meeting. Ms. Davison thanked everyone for their time as she left the meeting.
Discussion was held regarding the celebration events and Dunn Road being declared part of Historic route 66. Mr. Schulte stated that hopefully they would be putting up the signs for route 66 soon. Mr. Schulte stated that they had the signs up for route 66 across the whole state except Kansas City and St. Louis. Bill White asked if the Commission wanted to put the discussion of participating in the preservation movement celebration on the January 2008 agenda. Mr. Schulte stated that he did not feel there should be a special meeting to discuss the celebration and would like to see it put on the next scheduled meeting for discussion. Mr. Hennenhoefer stated that he would like the information received be mailed out before the next scheduled meeting.
Respectfully submitted:
Cynthia Treiber,
Recording Clerk
