HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-29-25 Public Comment - A. Sweeney - Historic Whittier School!From:Alison Sweeney
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Historic Whittier School!
Date:Saturday, April 26, 2025 9:55:25 AM
Attachments:Screen Shot 2025-04-26 at 8.54.02 AM.png
Screen Shot 2025-04-26 at 9.01.41 AM.png
Screen Shot 2025-04-26 at 9.18.06 AM.png
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
City Clerk, could you please make sure that this public comment makes it to theCommissioners, Director of Community Development, and all members of the Community
Development Advisory Board? Thank you.
Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Commissioners, and Director George, members of the board,
It was a very helpful experience to witness the commission retreat with department directorsthe other day. Thank you for inviting members of the public, and thank you for including us
so nicely.
I would like for you all to please take some time to read this article by a former HistoricPreservation Officer in the Bozeman Magazine.
https://bozemanmagazine.com/articles/2014/08/31/101393-historic-whittier-school
I had heard someone somewhere say that Whittier was a Fred Wilson school, so I've always
repeated that, but it's always nice to know more accurate information. I loved reading thisarticle because my neighborhood was also built to accommodate this post war population
boom. We see the same combination of Minimal Traditional and Ranch Style homes in theJandt Neighborhood.
I loved the detail about the clerestory windows! My great grandfather, Frank Messmer, with
Haggerty Messmer construction actually built the Bozeman High School mentioned in thearticle, and the description of the main corridor with "fingers" going off, that is just how I
remember it, and Whittier School as well! I love that the clerestory windows had a functionalpurpose, to offer indirect light into a space. We have several homes in my neighborhood with
this feature and it's just so neat!
Here's one that was recently renovated with new insulation and windows. I think it may have
been the exact same set of plans, just built 3 blocks away.
The carport was enclosed to provide more living space. This small home actually belongs to afamily of 6!
There are so many really neat homes in our neighborhood. I would really love to get itsurveyed, but that seems so frightfully expensive. Maybe the City's Grant Coordinatorcould explore whether there are any grants available for historic architecture inventorysurveys? Obviously the mid century neighborhoods around Midtown need priority, becausethey are zoned for redevelopment and in acute danger. They are also a completeneighborhood, with a church, a school, a park, and neighborhood scale commercial. The Jandtneighborhood does not have a park, a school, or a church, though the Westgate Village is oneof our neighborhood scale commercial nodes.
It really is time to celebrate and protect Mid-Century neighborhoods in Bozeman!
Here are some more really neat examples of Mid-Mod architecture in our neighborhood:
I know in today's push for density the homes in my neighborhood could be seen as god-awful,overly consumptive, selfish, wastes of land. Yes, you could put enormous apartment buildingson each lot. But think of what we lose. Unique design, small starter homes, affordable rentalhousing close to campus, and the history. I can tell you stories that would make you laugh andcry about the people who built this neighborhood and raised their families in it. Remember,my neighborhood doesn't have a park! Our open space IS our lawns, and trees that arebecoming mature green assets. Neighbors walk and talk and socialize on the sidewalks andwe close down a street once a year to have a block party, because again, we don't have a park.
I just realized both mid century modern neighborhoods (Jandt and Midtown) also have/hadsenior living options. Midtown had the convalescent center, and we have the ChequamegonVillage. I hope Chequamegon Village isn't going anywhere soon. We actually have severalresidents come to our neighborhood meetings and gatherings. We also have severalsingle level homes that allow elderly residents to age in place. We used to build completeneighborhoods. Rather than redeveloping these complete neighborhoods, let us replicate themand exert an effort to make new complete neighborhoods.
I guess the purpose of writing you this today is to ask a few things:
Whittier School should NOT be removed from the NCOD in the historic preservationand UDC updates (though we are experiencing problems with the NCOD right now).The school is a public asset. Even if the school district wants to sell the property, thatdoes NOT mean it should be redeveloped without having to go through some sort ofCOA process, which will hopefully be more robust with actual standards in the nearfuture.Please allow for Landmark Districts with an easier architecture inventory form process,and design review standards, or at least appropriate zoning to protect theseneighborhoods as the appreciating asset that they are.Please fully commit to Historic Preservation in Bozeman. It's one tool for managinggrowth and change (not preventing it) that would help us maintain our sense of placewhile we grow. We will grow, we should grow. But we don't have to plow everythingunder all the time!
What does a commitment to Historic Preservation look like? It looks like full time staff witha budget, and code that includes enforceable standards! The consultants at CPCrecommended that for a city the size of Bozeman, experiencing our level of redevelopmentpressure, 2 full time staff members would be adequate. One person to do the nitty gritty, day
to day stuff of evaluating COA's, and another to work on broader policy and architectureinventory surveys. At least one member should be a historic architect, which is a more
specialized discipline. HPAB could be in charge of reviewing applications for the Landmarkprogram, whether that's individual buildings or structures or neighborhood scale districts.
Budget conversations are coming up, and I would urge you to prioritize this along with police
and fire. Historic preservation (or the lack of it) is one of the pain points in this communityand a source of the conflict I mentioned the other day between the residents and the
organization of the City of Bozeman.
Thank you for reading and considering these options.
Alison B. SweeneyBernadette's Handmade Jewelry
Bozeman MT406-404-5740
alison-bernadettes.com