Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation Training topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultant reviews Bangor’s 1911 Great Fire and local architectural styles at HPC training
Summary
Consultant Mike Pullen led an illustrated training for the commission on the Great Fire of 1911, the city’s post‑fire rebuilding and a survey of local house styles from colonial/federal to Craftsman, emphasizing character‑defining features relevant to review decisions.
Consultant Mike Pullen gave a slide‑illustrated training March 12 for the Historic Preservation Commission on the Great Fire of April 30, 1911, the ensuing rebuilding period, and the spectrum of residential architectural styles found in Bangor.
Pullen framed the session with the fire’s scope—“At 04:00 on Sunday, 04/30/1911, the fire broke out in a large hay shed,” he said—and described how the disaster destroyed large parts of the downtown, triggering reconstruction by firms such as Peabody & Stearns and a shift from wood framing to more fire‑resistant masonry. He traced the city’s historic districts, noting the number of certified and National Register properties and highlighting surviving 1912–1915 buildings that shaped Bangor’s downtown character.
The presentation then reviewed house styles commissioners commonly see in applications: colonial/federal five‑bay houses, Greek Revival temple fronts, Gothic Revival details (barge boards, lancet windows), Italianate brackets and towers, Queen Anne massing and shingles, second‑empire mansard roofs, and Craftsman era features. Pullen illustrated each style with local examples and pointed to specific character‑defining components—cornices, window glass size and sash proportions, column capitals and returns—that staff and commissioners should weigh when determining whether proposed changes meet preservation standards.
Pullen also referenced technical guidance: the Secretary of the Interior’s preservation briefs and the need to consider material, design, texture and finish when replacement is necessary. “The new material should match the material being replaced in composition, design, texture, and finish,” he said, citing the standard the commission applies when deciding whether replacement rather than repair is appropriate.
Commissioners discussed examples from the slide set and asked clarifying questions about historic materials, profiles and technical feasibility; Pullen suggested resources and preservation briefs where commissioners can find illustrated guidance for storefronts, slate roofs and windows.
The training closed with staff plans to share the presentation materials on the commission’s website for reference in future reviews.
