Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Heritage Commission approves RL Lofts renovation, subject to SHPO amendment reviews
Summary
The Salina Heritage Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for Hutton Building’s renovation of the Roosevelt–Lincoln School complex (now RL Lofts), accepting staff findings that the project meets Secretary of the Interior standards while noting three pending State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) conditions.
The Salina Heritage Commission on May 14 approved a certificate of appropriateness for application CA-25-1, clearing Hutton Building’s planned rehabilitation of the Roosevelt–Lincoln School complex (now marketed as RL Lofts), and separately found the project will not “damage or destroy any character-defining features” of the property as required under the city’s certified local government review.
The commission’s decision follows a staff presentation that summarized the project, its historic status and SHPO review. The rehabilitation plan covers exterior repairs, window restoration, roofing replacement that preserves stone coping, limited interior work to retain the existing 61 apartment units for residents 55 or older, and site improvements including a trash enclosure and minor landscaping.
Why it matters: the Roosevelt–Lincoln property is listed on the Kansas State and National Registers of Historic Places (state: 2006; national: February 2007), which makes the project eligible for state and federal historic tax credits and requires local review of work that needs building permits. The commission’s approval advances a renovation that retains senior housing and seeks tax-credit funding; several SHPO conditions remain under amendment review and must be resolved before all permits are issued.
Staff presentation and SHPO conditions Dustin Roberts, development services staff, told commissioners the property was originally platted as a school park and that Roosevelt and Lincoln schools were constructed in different eras (Lincoln in 1915, Roosevelt in the early 1920s) by architects William Schmidt and Charles Shaver. “The packet was posted and the required notice was provided,” Roberts said at the meeting, confirming compliance with the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
Roberts summarized the project as a renovation rather than a change of use: the 2005 adaptive reuse created 61 apartments for residents 55 and older and removed nonhistoric additions; the current proposal will keep that unit count while restoring character-defining exterior features and performing nonabrasive masonry and window repairs. He said staff’s review identified several Secretary of the Interior standards applicable to the project and recommended the commission approve the certificate of appropriateness subject to conditions.
The Kansas State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Park Service reviewed the tax-credit application. Roberts read SHPO’s three conditions that are currently under amendment review: 1) submission and subsequent review of examples for proposed exterior lighting fixtures; 2) additional information on the materials and installation method for a below-grade waterproofing barrier to the foundation; and 3) submission and review of proposed interior lighting examples. Roberts said staff is conducting a concurrent local review while SHPO and NPS complete their tax-credit reviews.
Applicant response Kristen Anderson, design project manager for Hutton, told the commission Hutton has submitted an amendment addressing the three SHPO conditions and is awaiting SHPO’s response. Anderson said exterior and interior fixtures in primary corridors will be relamped and that the original historic wood windows will be preserved in place. On waterproofing, Anderson said the team provided product and installation details for a nonvisible, below-grade damp-proofing treatment “installed per the manufacturer's instructions.”
Signs and other site elements Roberts showed proposed ground signs for each building’s courtyard-facing side — one for Roosevelt and one for Lincoln — described as carved limestone panels on brick masonry bases, roughly a little over 2 feet high by about 5 feet wide (about 10 square feet apiece). He said the signs will be reviewed by the Design Review Board and must follow additional plan-development approvals through the planning and city commissions.
Commission action and conditions A motion to approve the certificate of appropriateness as proposed, with the condition that any significant changes to the approved renovation be returned to development services staff and the commission for review, passed unanimously. A second, separate motion — required by the city’s certified local government responsibilities — approved a finding that Hutton’s project would not damage or destroy any character-defining features; that motion also carried unanimously.
What remains next Roberts and Anderson said SHPO’s requested clarifications remain under review; Anderson said the project team and a historical consultant are coordinating responses. The applicant will appear before the Design Review Board the following day and then will seek plan-development and city commission approvals as required.
Ending With the local certificate of appropriateness and the commission’s state-review finding approved, Hutton may continue through the SHPO/National Park Service tax-credit review and the city’s design and development-review steps; SHPO’s responses to the three conditions remain a prerequisite to final permitting and tax-credit determinations.
