Recording in progress. Heard it. All right. Call the order. Sorry. Call the August 5th Heritage Preservation Commission meeting to order. Liz, if you could do please do roll call. Yes. Uh, Commissioner Dupe present.
Nagisetti Phillips present. Pice Welbert here. Vice Chair Snider present. All right, that moves us on to item number three, which is adopting the agenda. Has everyone had a chance to review the agenda?
Would anyone like to make a motion? I'll move to adopt. I'll second. Motion by Commissioner Wellelvert, seconded by Commissioner Dupe to adopt the agenda. All in favor say I. I. I. And that is all eyes. So the motion
carries. That move us on to item number four, which is visitor presentation. Is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom? We've got a big following. Uh that would like to speak about something that's not already on the agenda. I don't see anyone online.
Great. Wonderful. All right. All right, we'll move on to item number five, which is approving the previous HPC minutes. Has everyone had a chance to review the March 4th, 2025 minutes? Would anyone like to make a motion? I will move to approve the minutes.
And I will second. All right. Motion by Commissioner Phillips, seconded by Commissioner Welbert to approve the March 4th, 2025 HPC minutes. All in favor say I. I. And none opposed. The motion carries.
That'll move us on to item number six, which is the consent agenda. And there are no consent items, so we will move straight into item number seven, which is our action items for today. Um, Liz, do you want to start? Yeah. So, we we did go through this
protocol at our March meeting to appoint a chair and a vice chair. Um, Chris Coleman was appointed as chair. Uh, Caleb was appointed as vice chair. Um, unfortunately with Chris's recent passing,
um, we are, uh, in the situation where we do have to appoint a new chairperson for the HPC. So, that's really, um, what you're being called to do this evening is to make that formal motion. So, um, I
do want to put out there that any one of you is, um, eligible for that. So, if you're feeling called to the position, um, you know, put your name in the hat or let your commission members know this evening that you're interested in doing
that. Caleb, you're more than welcome to step up to chair. Um, if you're feeling comfortable for it, um, if that's the case, then we would be making two different motions this evening for chair and vice chair. Um, so you guys can
discuss and see who would like to be appointed. Uh, I'm happy to transition that way. Uh, if that feels like a natural fit for everybody, but happy to hear any any
thoughts. I think I'm only here until December and then I'm actually done, right? Yeah, unless you want to reappoint or apply for reappoint nine years maybe. I mean, yeah. So, you're probably
I'll set this one out because by default term limited, so it wasn't your I mean, I could, but just going to be doing this again come January. That's fair. Um, okay. Would anyone like to make a motion?
A motion to appoint the chair for HPC. A motion if you are interested in serving as chair for you to continue on. Take the next step. I'll second. All right. Uh motion by Commissioner Dupe, seconded
by Commissioner Phillips to appoint Commissioner Snder as the chair of the Heritage Preservation Commission. All in favor say I. I. I. And there are none opposed. So the motion carries. So then we'll add another action item to appoint a vice
chair if anyone would be so interested. I would be open to um the vice chair. Motion. All right. Service vice chair. All right. So we have a motion from
Commissioner Dupe. I will second that motion. Seconded by Commissioner Snder to appoint Commissioner Phillips as the vice chair of the Heritage Preservation Commission. All in favor say I. I. And there are none opposed. The motion carries. That will move us on to
item number eight, which is discussion items. So once again, floor back to Liz. Thank you. Um I'm just going to do a quick introduction before we get um Alyssa started on her presentation. Um but just wanted to give a recap of kind
of uh what we've been working on this summer. Um, so the city has partnered with the University of Minnesota's Resilient Communities Project or what we call RCP um to pro progress one of our um goals with the HPC um about expanding
our local uh historic nomination list. Um this list has been in existence since the 90s um and has periodically been expanded over the years with our last um uh addition to the list in 2006. Um so
now we have 55 properties on that list and it's again a goal or an objective of the HPC to continue to add significant properties to this list that are deemed um to have historic significance.
Um, so at the start of the summer, uh, we did partner again with the U of M, um, and specifically got Alyssa Bidwell on board, who is a student, um, uh, with the U of M through the RCP program. Um, and she was tasked with researching a
few properties, um, that have potential in being nominated on the local register. Um and those properties were identified by the HPC um in previous years. So even before some of um the current commission members were on the
HPC um to look at those further to see if they're eligible to be um potential nominees. Um nominations do require an extensive amount of research um uh of the property uh looking at a variety of things like
architectural character, cultural resources, notable persons or families uh associated with sites um or having uh the embodiment of certain architectural styles. Um so Alyssa has been doing that background work uh for the last few
months um gathering information on these varying topics for three specific properties in downtown. Uh so tonight she is giving a presentation to kind of give you an update of all the work and research that she's been able to collect over the last few months. Um and we're
very excited for you guys to see um that work. Um, I do just want to preface that, um, again, tonight is simply just a progress report. We're not taking any formal action on anything. Um, that is ultimately the goal to get there, but
that would h happen at a later meeting. Um, and we would go through the proper steps to kind of get that um, uh, put in place for you guys to act on. Um, so with that, I mean, ultimately, um, you know, once Alyssa completes her work,
hopefully we'll have, um, official nomination forms to present to you, um, from staff, um, to be able to give a recommendation on on whether or not they deem eligible uh, for being nominated. And that would ultimately be a
recommendation to city council um and any other affiliated organizations like CHIPO or the state historic preservation office to make that more official. Um so with that I am going to pass it over to Alyssa. She's going to come to the
podium and we're going to get her presentation up here. So just one moment and then just confirm that you can see it in front of you. So, we're not Okay, I'm gonna
put this in full screen mode here, too. And there we go. Lovely. Thank you, Liz. Um, as she mentioned, my name is Alyssa and I am going into my second year as a PhD student at the University of Minnesota.
And I have had a wonderful time this summer being having the opportunity to do this research and understand these properties a little bit more and why they might be potentially really strong candidates for historic nomination. Um, and I'm really excited to introduce these properties to you all and let you
all in on some of the historic background that does make them special. Um, so as Liz mentioned, we sort of narrowed down the work here from a very big long list to a much shorter list of properties um that we thought would make
special especially strong candidates. And some of that came from a couple of different qualifiers. First being their architectural background and significance. Um whether they had maintained or displayed some sort of specific element to the city of Chaza. Um the second would be their connection
to the culture and significant historical figures in the city of Chaza. And the third potentially the most important would be the degree of consent that we were able to obtain from the property owners. Obviously that was very important in this process. And the properties that I am showing you today
are all properties that owners have expressed an interest in pursuing this process with. Um those three would be the Glatzel House which is at 403 First Street West. the Meyers House, which I continue to mispronounce unfortunately,
um at 307 North Cedar, and the Liverman House at 515 First Street West. So, we'll begin with the Glatzel House. As you can see, there's a photo here. Um this was built in 1868. According to my research, I believe that
this house will meet two sections of HPC's criteria under section 31 of the ordinance. The first being associated with the life of a person or persons who significantly contributed to the city's culture and development and the second being contains elements of design,
detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant innovation. So in this circumstance that would be the use of chaza brick. Um this for its historic functioning use the glatal house has been a single family resident both historically and currently. So into
the fun part a little bit. First, here's a bit of an aerial view, just so you know where this house is positioned on the northeast corner of Elm and First Street. Now, on to the fun part. Um, so some of the historical narrative here. This house was built by Wilhelm and
Clara Glatzel in 1868 with construction costs of approximately $1,500. The Glatzel family had immigrated from Nent, Germany in 1850 following the German Rebellion of 1848. Um, I think it's important to note, I
know for certain with the Glatzel House as well as the Liverman House, these were likely sections of land that had been renegotiated in a treaty and were originally indigenous land that were then sold by the United States government. Um, so Ed Glatzel, who was
the son of Wilhelm and Clara Glatzel, was known as being a shoemaker and a repairer, as well as a local historian who was responsible for a significant amount of Chaza's historic documentation. um including a series of genealogies and documentation of obituaries that were
printed in the Chesca Herald from 1864 to 1954. Those genealogies were actually very helpful to me. Um I was able to use genealogies for the Glatzel family, the Meyers family, and the Lieberman family in my research, all compiled by Ed
Glatzel himself. Um, JA Glatzel, which is the uncle to Ed Glassel, had opened a local harness shop in the 1890s, and Ed Glatzel worked as an apprentice for his uncle at the original harness shop, which was in First Street in
Shakapei in 1916. Um, eventually they would open up a second business and move that business to 113 Second Street West in Chaza. And by 1922, demand would increase so much that Ed Glatzel became a full-time shoe
repairman in the city of Chaza. Um, and eventually would own and operate the business himself well into the 1970s. Uh, one of the original shoe repair machines actually remains in permanent um, collection at the history center, which I think is pretty neat. Um, I have
some photos here for you as well. The top photo is that of Ed Glatzel, I believe, and his wife. Um, this middle photo right here is going to be of the original saddle and shoe shop. You can see Ed Glatzel is in the white shirt
with the vest on. He's got a mustache as well. Um, and a tool that had become very helpful for me was searching through historical newspaper databases. So, I was able to actually find an original advertisement for the shoe store, um, which I thought was pretty
neat. So, an additional element to this house that's important is its architectural significance. Um, namely the fact that it is original Chaska brick construction. Um, it has a cross gable roof with three added enclosed porches. You can kind of see two of them here. There's one on the north facing
side of the house as well as the east and west facing sides of the house. Um, there are two original Chaza brick chimneys. And you can kind of see on this side of the house ghost marks and discoloration that indicates that they
were previously used and functioning. I don't know if they are still functioning chimneys at the moment. Um but they did were used in the past. Um many of these original elements namely the chaska brick and the use of the chimneys sort of indicate this preservation of the
materials that have been used and the construction trends from this era. Um, the house endured two major floods in its time. The first was in 1951 when the water pulled up all the way through the cellar level. The second one being in
1965 which resulted in nearly 2.5 ft of water pooling on the main floor of the house. Um, it's recorded that the Glatel family upon that second flooding actually went and stayed at the shoe shop while their house was being fixed um and ate food off of a hot plate. um
which is quite impressive considering they had I think five children. So they were all squeezed in there. All right, so now we can move on to our next house which would be the Meyers house. This one was built in 1875.
And I would say the criteria met is largely the association to a significant historical figure in the community of Chaza who contributed to the city's development and culture. This is also a single family residence both historically and currently
there is the location as you can see a little bit farther north on Third Street. So the historic narrative for this house um it was originally owned by John Nkins. There are two spellings there because of immigration changes. Um who
sold the house and plot to Matias Henry Meyers in March of 1880 for $600 cash. Um Meyers at the age of 10 had immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands to a 120 acre farm in
Dogrren Township just near Chaza in 1861. Um Meyers eventually married his wife August Augusta Schindler at the Guardian Angels Catholic Church the same year that he purchased this house. Um he would go on to learn the printers trade
and work at the Weekly Valley Herald in 1875. Um but by 1881 he had purchased what is now 210 Chestnut Street and established a lumber yard and hardware store. Um that being said he held a lot of
positions within the community. Um he worked as an insurance agent, a notary agent, and a real estate agent. Um and held many different roles. In 1880, he even served as the representative for the city of Chaza on the county commission for the Democratic County
Convention. Um, this committee was responsible for reporting the number of delegates for their towns in preparation for the 1880 presidential election. Um, I think something that's important to note in my research I gathered that Meyers had actually owned lots of
different pieces of property in the city of Chaza and also a few farms in Sterns County. Um, so this house, the photo of the house you see right here is another house that's been dubbed a Meyers house because the family had lived there for a while. It's close to where the uh
Guardian Angels Catholic Church is located. Um you can see on the top left there is a photo of the hardware store that he had owned as well as another ad that I was able to find. Um and then an interesting little tidbit I found in one
of the historical newspapers. This bottom chunk right here is his father had reported a person who had taken one of his harnesses from the farm that they had owned. Um, and had said he would like them to bring it back or at least
come back and take the other one, which I thought was pretty funny. Um, so I just I one thing I want to express here because there's a little bit of a fuzzy narrative. We know MH Meyers owned this house and I read a newspaper article
suggesting he had bought it with the intention of living there with his new wife in the same year. Um, but he also owned many, many different pieces of property. And I have I had a tendency to find his name popping up just about everywhere. So I'm not sure exactly how
long or if he lived in this house, which I think is worth noting. Um, for its architectural significance, this is a 1.45 four fivestory woodframed house with a front enclosed porch. Um it was likely built on foundational block from
the Sears catalog. It has a symmetrical facade with a front gabled form and traditional shiplap sighting that remains in good condition. Uh sandborn maps from 1891 indicate that there was actually a shingle roof shed that existed in the back left corner of the
property. It has since been removed. Um and there is now a garage on the opposite side. And there is also an original chimney that remains, but I am not quite certain whether or not it is chaser brick. And onto our final house. This is the
Liberman house. Um, I found some inconsistencies about when this house was built. Uh, based off of the information I gathered at the history center, it was looking about 1922, but according to Zillow, it's 1918. So, it could be either of these dates. Both of
them make sense given its historic background. Um, this house would also qualify for two sections of HBC criteria. The first being associated with a person who's significantly contributed to the city's culture and development and the second being the
design, detail and materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant innovation. And this is similar to Chesca brick but there's a little bit of a twist in here and I'm excited to tell you about it. Um this is also a sing single family residence both
historically and currently. So another glimpse of where we are located. This is a little bit further west from the Glatzel house. So the historic narrative of the Liverman house. It's really interesting. Um the family had immigrated from
Prussia to St. Paul in 1872. They had a family lineage of being brewers both in Prussia and when they arrived in St. Paul. Um by 1881 both of their sons were born and Bernard uh purchased the Brit and Almer brewery in Chaza. Just prior
to that he was working in St. Paul as a brewer. Um this brewery burnt down in 1897 which resulted in his decision to rebuild and expand as a Leverman Brewery. And you can see a Sanborn map of the Leverbin Brewery down here from 1911.
Um then in 1891 he would also purchase the Brick Hotel on the northwest corner of Walnut and Second Streets where his son would open a saloon and sort of carry on the family legacy of brewery brewing. Um the Liverman Brewery remained a family business um which
would eventually be run by his son August um following his death in 1904 and is credited actually with producing Chaza's first bottled beer. Um, however, following the ratification of the 18th amendment and subsequent prohibition of
intoxicating liquors in 1919, the brewery was forced to close its doors and was ultimately sold um to make way for the construction of Highway 212. August being the man that he was, decided to take this as an opportunity and using the labor of his customers who
owed him money for beer, he decided to demolish the existing building and use those materials to build the house that stands on 515 First Street West, which I would say is a contributing factor to its architectural significance. Um, this
indicates to me that it was likely Chaza brick because of the time period and how long the brewery was there, but I can't say that with absolute certainty. Um, here on the slides there is an image of the Liverman family as well as an ad for
the brewery and again that Sandborn map that shows the brewery layout. Um, my architectural background for this property is somewhat limited because I haven't had the opportunity to go visit this house in person myself. Um, but
from what I've been able to gather, this was a onestory framed low pitched front gable roof which sort of indicates Craftsman and bungalow style influences. It has a stone based facade. Unknown if it's Chaza brick, like I said, but I
would I would heir to say that it likely is. Um, it has an enclosed front porch and a symmetrical facade as well as a yellow brick base and decorative trim. So, that is my presentation on the houses I've looked into so far. Um, I
wanted to give a special thanks to Lisa and all of her help the past couple of months, which has been really instrumental. Um, as well as having access to the history center, which is a fountain of information, which has been really lovely. Um, and then I'd like to
offer you the opportunity to ask me any questions if you have them. Well, first just a comment. I love the research. For me, this really brings to life just the rich history behind these properties um and is really representative of the great cultural impact that um you know these properties
have on Chesca. So, really nice job and thank you for all the effort and time spent on this. Yeah, thank you. Um, I don't know if if people have been following what's happening in Minneapolis with the private homeowner who unearthed the sighting and found that there was a advertisement for a general store, but
it got me thinking with the Myers house like what's under that sighting, right? Um, kind of fun. But no, great research. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I don't know that I have any questions, but I definitely echo that. That was great. That's awesome information for us to have and we really appreciate uh you doing all that work.
Absolutely. Thank you. want to dig up the story about the guy tearing down the brewery and using his debtors as neighbor. That was nice. It's a great story. Used his debtors, used the brick, brought it up here. Well, I I have a fun tidbit. I'd gone to
the history center and Lisa had introduced me to some history center regulars who led me to that information. So, it was quite a quite a fun way to end up there. Um, I'd also like to mention that in my work, I have prepared or am in the process of they're nearly
finished three forms for the nomination. So, they should be finished um by August 22nd and then you'll be able to take and do with those forms whatever you will. So, um assuming you know in the future we have to replicate something like this,
what were your biggest learnings or takeaways or information that you wish you had? I would say the most the thing that had my largest obstacle was keeping the information of the various different houses clear from one another. So remembering lot and block information,
which houses we had abstracts available for, um, which property owners had expressed interest. Um, and so something that I did throughout my work was create a Google Sheets that kind of organizes that information. So if this project is passed on in the future, somebody should
be able to have everything in a clear format um where they'll be able to see and understand like this is lot and block number abstract, that type of thing. So yeah, thank you. Thank you. All right, Liz, do you have anything
else on this? I don't. I think she did a very good job kind of encapsulating the entire project and giving credit to where it's due in terms of all the resources she's been able to tap into. So, um and I I do want
to acknowledge that there's um uh two homeowners here. Um we have Yeah. So, if you guys have anything to say, you can certainly say whatever you want or any commentary. Uh this is your time. or if you're just listening that's
fine too. access basement. Have you found a second entrance or anything like that? Underground tunnels. Oh, interesting. I know
people used to live next door. Yeah. Well, congratulations on a new awesome story about your house. Yeah. Um, all right. We will move on to item number nine, which is other business. Does any other commission member or Liz
have any other business you'd like to discuss this evening? I think the only thing I just want to put on record um which you guys are um obviously aware of is just the passing of our former chairperson Chris Coleman who served on the commission for nine
plus years. She's been a longstanding community member not just in on the HPC but I know in other organizations of the city. Um so it was very devastating to hear of her recent passing. Um, so I just want to acknowledge all of the hard
work and service that she's put into this commission and keeping the atmosphere here really carefree um, and caring. So, just want to mention that. Thank you very much. Um, all right. Would anyone like to make
a motion to adjurnn this evening? I'll move to adjourn. All right. And anybody second? I'll second. Perfect. All right. All right. So, we have a motion by Commissioner Welver to adjurnn and that is seconded by Commissioner Phillips. So, that will
adjourn our meeting for this evening. Uh, thanks everybody for coming and thank you again for that presentation. It was wonderful. Very good. Recording stopped.