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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-05-09 i . • HISTORIC DISTRICTS COMMISSION play 9, 1984 A meeting of the Historic Districts Commission was held on Wednesday,riay 9, 1984, in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, Lexington. Present were Commissioners John L. Davies, Chair; Roland B. Greeley and Ann Wallace, and Associate Commissioners Stephen B. Cripps, Mary Nye, Walter S. Pierce and Albert T. Pitt. Mr Davies, Mr. Greeley, Mrs. Wallace, Mr. Cripps and Mrs Nye sat as voting members. The chairman explained the Commission pol- icy of having the more senior Associate Commissioners present sit as voting members as necessary to reach a quorum of five. At 8:05 PM, Ms. Carolyn S, Creelman appeared on behalf of Spaulding Co., Inc., with respect to a sign at 1666 Massachusetts Avenue. The hearing for the proposed sign for Oriental Rug Importers was postponed until the June 6 meeting. The sign for Hannah Shoes was presented as a carved sign, 6 ft, 10 in. long and 22 5/8 in. high, with a black frame and a "Lynchburg green" background. The letters will be incised a~1d finished with gold leaf. The sign will conform to the previously approved sign system for the building. The proposal was VOTED with the exception that the spaces at the end of the sign will be larger than shown on the submitted drawing, and the space at the center will be smaller. At 8:30 PM, Kenneth E. and Margaret N. Brooke appeared with respect to architectural changes at 26 Hancock Street. The changes will involve the fenestration at the kitchen and at the rear wing of the house, and the addition of a lavatory which would project from the southerly wall of the rear wing. The window at the north wall of the existing kitchen will be replaced by an Andersen unit of two casements flanking a fixed unit, with a muntin grid. The existing rear door to the Kitchen will be removed and walled over with matching clapboards. The window at the north wall of the rear wing will be replaced with a Eft. Andersen sliding door with muntin grid, centered in the wall. The window at the west wall of the wing will be replaced with an Andersen unit identical to the proposed kitchen window. The southerly window of the rear wing will be removed and walled over with matching clapboards, and there will be a lavatory addition of approx- imately 2 ft. by 6 ft., aligned with the south side of the main house. The cor- ner board of the main house will remain. All windows will be equipped with wood blinds to match existing ones. There was discussion of the window sill alignment at the south side, where the new sill will align with the existing dining room window, and discussion about the house corner boards, which will remain. The proposal was then VOTED. At 8:55 PM, Mlr. Joel Greenstein appeared on behalf of Reit of America, Inc. and J & J Ice Cream of Lexington, Inc. with respect to signs, and awning, and architectural changes at 1749 Massachusetts Avenue. The proposed sign was to be blue letters reading "Steve's", with an ice cream cone "apostrophe" on an imitation colonial style sign board. There was discussion of this sign and it was concluded to omit the sign board and install white letters with a white and orange ice cream cone directly on the brick, with the large "S" not to exceed the size of the neighboring "CVS" letters. The awning was proposed to be blue, with a white and orange "Steve's" on the front and ends of the valance. After discussion, it was agreed to omit the logo on the front and to have it appear on the ends only. With these amendments approval of the sigh and awn- ing on the front of the building was VOTED. _ r i flay 9, 1984 - page 2 At 9:50 PM, Ms. Beth Bryant appeared on behalf of Unicorn Books at 1644 Massachusetts Avenue for an informal discussion of a sign. She pointed out that her establishment occupies most of the first floor, but that the sign for the bicycle shop approved earlier dominates the front of the building. She presented a preliminary proposal for a sign, but it was pointed out that the proportions as drawn did not agree with the intent of the proposal. Ms. Bryant agreed to return with a formal presentation at a subsequent hearing. At 10:20 PM, Mr. Dean Nicholson, Mr. William Glazer and Mr. Mark Reis appeared for an informal discussion concerning. the signs for Sack Theaters. They brought with them Mr.Kenneth Sawyer and Ms. Lenore Yegendorf from Uni- versity Brink Sign Company. There was extensive discussion of the signs at 1794 Massachusetts Avenue and 10 Muzzey Street. The original Cinema 3 sign had been approved in 1974, but there was doubt as to whether the original Massachusetts Avenue sign had ever been approved or whether it pre-dated the i Historic Districts Act. Mr. Davies said that the recent additions to the signs went beyond the mere changing of letters, and that they substantially changed the signs to the point I where new approvals were required. Mr. Pierce observed that the internally illuminated white sign overwhelms the original portal of the building, and expressed a strong preference for a design that would restore the lines of the i original building. He suggested that changing of the numbers to white on black squares might help resolve the problem of the dominent white sign face. Mr. I Greeley suggested that the sign changes already made were sufficient to void the grandfather clause on which the Massachusetts Avenue sign was apparently relying. Mr. Davies saaid the typeface of the "1", "2", and "3" signs was poor and that a citizen had expressed the opinion to him that the sign looked like the combat zone. The typeface and the proportions of the "Sack Cinema" sign was criticized, as well. Mr. Davies said that to him the main point was that the existing signs were not integrated designs, and were merely additions applied to old signs. He expressed the hope that the representation would return with cosidered, inte- grated designs in which all the information, such as directional arrows, are part of the design. Bills for the Beacon Communications in the amount of $32.04 and Miss Barbara Gilson in the amount of $83.80 were VOTED and the meeting was adjourned at 11:20 PM. John L. Davies Chairman i • ADDENDUM - h[ay 9, 1984 - page 3 At 9:35 P.ht. a hearing was held on the application of J J & R Realty Trust for a Certificate with respect to building an atrium area on the building at 1730 Massachusetts Avenue, which is within the Battle Green District. Lawrence Werrick presented the proposal. hir. Davies stated that the atrium would be totally invisible so he proposed issuing a Notice of Determination stating that the addition is not visible from a public way. So VOTED. At 9:45 P.hl. and adjourned hearing on the application of The Candy Castle for a Certificate with respect to the installation of an awning on the store at 1853 Massachusetts Avenue, whichis within the Battle Green District. Barbara Doherty stated that the awning would extend 4" from the wall and would not be retractable. bars. Nye was appointed a committee of one to choose the color of the awning cloth in a solid neutral color to blend with the brick. A scalloped valance with white piping will be added to the awning. So VOTED. John L. Davies Chairman