Commission finds former Flagstaff City Hall eligible; requires documentation, interpretive mitigation and review with Indigenous Commission

The Heritage Preservation Commission voted July 16 to accept a revised Phase 1 cultural resource study for the former Flagstaff City Hall at 19 West Birch Avenue and to require further documentation and mitigation before any demolition could proceed.

Cornerstone Environmental, the consultant hired to re-evaluate the property, told the commission its follow-up research tied the building to local social and government history and to events connected with the American Indian Movement. "Historic preservation is an iterative and collaborative process of research, field work, law and city code, and implementation with many varied stakeholders," said Caitlin Stewart, owner and director of Cornerstone Environmental. "This care is put into every project we work on."

The consultant recommended the property be considered significant under City of Flagstaff criterion B and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criterion A for associations with government and social history, and locally significant under City of Flagstaff criterion D for architecture. "Based off of that follow-up research and our reevaluation ... we do recommend the property significant under City Of Flagstaff criterion B and NRHP criterion A," the consultant told the commission.

Commissioners and members of the public pressed staff and the developer about the next steps. Staff clarified that accepting the Phase 1 study does not authorize demolition. "They will not have approval for the demolition at this phase," staff said, adding that demolition would require a separate certificate of appropriateness covering both the demolition and the new design.

Public commenters and several commissioners said plaques and photographs alone are inadequate mitigations for impacts tied to social history and architecture. Anthony Garcia, who identified himself as a longtime Flagstaff resident, urged the developer to retain street-facing facades where feasible. "I will hope that they think about and consider adding the facade, leaving the bones ... and then building your design within that," Garcia said in public comment.

After discussion the commission approved a motion to accept the revised Phase 1 study with minor corrections and to require additional documentation and mitigation before any demolition is permitted. The motion, passed by the commission, directs: measured architectural drawings and archival-grade photography (a focused Phase 2-style documentation) to be submitted for commission review; interpretive mitigation addressing the property's association with social-history events (NRHP criterion A/Flagstaff criterion B) to be developed in coordination with the city's Indigenous Commission and returned to the Heritage Preservation Commission for review; and proposals for Malpais stone from the existing building to be incorporated into the replacement design where salvage is feasible, with feasibility and final treatment to be reviewed as part of the certificate of appropriateness submission. The motion also asked that the Phase 1 and any Phase 2 documentation be made publicly accessible (city website and/or library/archive).

Bill Collins of the State Historic Preservation Office attended and discussed the state office's input; he did not oppose the consultant's eligibility recommendation. Rose Tohey, the city's Indigenous Affairs Administrator and liaison to the Indigenous Commission, volunteered the Indigenous Commission as a resource and encouraged coordination. "I do encourage that. I think we have a multitude of community experience," she said.

What the decision means now: the commission's acceptance of the Phase 1 report establishes the property as a significant cultural resource under local code and sets a mitigation checklist. It does not grant approval for demolition; a later application for a certificate of appropriateness will trigger review of the new building design and any design-based mitigations. The commission specifically preserved the right to review and approve the final interpretive materials and documentation at that later stage.

The commission also requested minor editorial corrections to the consultant's report (spelling of some local names) and asked staff to coordinate next steps with Cornerstone, the developer's representative, SHPO and the Indigenous Commission.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to accept the revised Phase 1 cultural resource study for 19 West Birch Avenue, require measured drawings/archival photography (Phase 2 documentation), request interpretive mitigation developed with the Indigenous Commission, and request consideration of salvaged Malpais stone for incorporation into the new design: approved (commission vote recorded in meeting minutes).