HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-27-25 Public Comment - A. Sweeney - Historic Preservation Month XFrom:Alison Sweeney
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Historic Preservation Month
Date:Sunday, January 26, 2025 10:51:41 AM
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City Clerk, could you please make sure that the City Commission, our Historic Preservation
Officer, all the members of the Historic Preservation Advisory Board, and the Consultantswith Community Planning Collaborative receive this public comment? Thank you,
-Alison Sweeney
Hello Historic Preservation Advocates!
Thinking ahead to Historic Preservation Month in May I'd like to share some ideas and some
concerns about the future of Historic Preservation in Bozeman.
I would like to suggest that the theme this year be something to do withcelebrating mid-century modern neighborhoods, architecture, historyand cultural events and Bozeman's Postwar Expansion Phase.
I'm not aware that this has been done before, and it could be a terrific opportunity to educateour community about our Mid-Mod treasures and history. I don't know if Westgate Villagereceived an award last year for their preservation efforts, but since then they have gainedlisting on the National Register. This period of Bozeman's history is often dismissed orunderappreciated, and the Midtown Neighborhood and the Jandt Neighborhood are looking for(and struggling with) ways to preserve some of their remaining character and community.
This theme could be a way to make historic preservation more relevant to more peoplebecause we could talk about the civil rights and women's rights movements of the time. Thefinal end to the antimescegenation law in 1953, the remaining prejudice even decades after thekkk was active in the 1920's including the trials of famed opera singer Dorothy Maynor whenshe came to town and was turned away from the Baxter Hotel and stayed at the home of MSUvocal director Carl Sandvig. Actually that article mentions Esther Nelson. My dad lived inthe Esther Nelson mobile home park for a few years. We could talk about the establishment ofmobile home parks in the context of the housing conversation today and historically. That wasthe first one in Bozeman, built after the war!
This theme is relevant to today as well because Bozeman was experiencing a housing shortageafter the war due to returning veterans needing housing. They employed all kinds of creativemethods to bring housing online including the Veteran's Priority Housing Program,manufactured housing, and shipping in housing by train from military bases no longer needingthem. I can only imagine that the spirit of community, coming together to solve a problem,after the war victory, fostered the ideal that we could accomplish difficult challenges by actingtogether.
Here are some ideas for activities for May:
enlist MSU architecture students to do the kind of windshield survey to quantifyneighborhood character in a Mid-Century Modern neighborhood like they previously
did in the Vision Northeast project. I realize that this was an extensive grant fundedeffort, but something smaller scale could be accomplished and presented during the
awards ceremony as a way to get people thinking about what to preserve as we moveforward.
get Extreme History Project to put together a Mid-Mod walking tour! If we start now,we might have time for someone to put enough research together. Maybe they could
start at either the Westgate Village or the Sapphire Motel.We should do a workshop on how to use/navigate/qualify for state and national historic
preservation tax credits. Someone from SHPO, or federal could be brought in for this. This would be valuable for anyone owning any historic resource from any period, but
we could specifically try to get Mid-Mod property owners to attend (like Brian Eck,grandson of Hugo and Dorothea Eck, and owner of at least 3 buildings that need some
love) and open it up to SWMBIA.Coordinate with Bozeman Antique Auto Club for a parade or mini car show to celebrate
the amazing design boom the auto industry experienced at this time. My first car was a1964 Ford Mercury Comet so I may be totally biased here, but cars were sooooooooo
cool during this time and had a huge effect on how we developed Bozeman after thewar.
Get the Ellen to have a showing of a James Dean film, or To Kill a Mocking Bird.Maybe someone from the Gallatin History Museum could put together a presentation on
the big players in architecture and development at this time. We all love Fred Wilson,but what about Hugo Eck, Hagarty Messmer Construction (Darigold, Roskie hall, and
the Field house) Martel Construction, Sievert Construction. Those last two are still inbusiness and could potentially be hit up for some sort of sponsorship?? $$$$
I know this could be sad, but we could use it as a way to encouragerestoration/preservation of what's left; we could have a root-beer social,
encouraging "the new look" costumes with a slide show of old places that are gone, andsome that are still here but overlooked. Maybe we combine this with the car show! I
enjoyed this article: https://my1035.com/old-bozeman-residents-will-remember-these-10-popular-places/
Get Jerry Cashman to present on landscape themes of the postwar expansion period. Iswear every other house in my neighborhood has a flowering crabapple tree! It's
gorgeous at that time of year. Maybe we incorporate this into the walking tour?Have Mark Sullivan do a book talk and signing for his book The Last Green Valley
about Emil Martel's journey to Bozeman. Coordinate with both Isle of Books andCountry Bookshelf.
Anyway, those are just a few ideas.
I know Bozeman is crying out for tools to actually protect things; regulations that actuallyhave teeth! At my Neighborhood UDC meeting January 22nd (sorry the sound is terrible, start
at about 55 minutes for HP discussion) we were told the NCOD will NOT be expanding.Which is unfortunate because even though it isn't working the way folks want it to, a
conservation overlay is a super valuable tool and I know Midtown was looking to expand theboundary west as well. So we were a little bit let down by that.
We were also led to believe that the Landmark Program is intended to be voluntary and
honorary, but not regulatory? So that was sad too, because I know some of us Mid-Mod folks
were maybe thinking a Landmark District could be a valuable tool for preservingneighborhood character... anyway, just feeling a little dispirited about how we actually protect
things in Bozeman. Other places seem to be able to do it, we're just struggling so hard inBozeman for some reason.
Anyway, thanks for considering this theme for HP month! Brainstorming about it
was a way to lift my spirits after the crushing neighborhood meeting. And I want to help withany and all of these activities and events! If you chose this theme of course...
Alison B. SweeneyBernadette's Handmade JewelryBozeman MT406-404-5740alison-bernadettes.com