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Preservation
Texas’ oldest psychiatric facility faces demolition but is eligible to be a historic landmark
This past legislative session, lawmakers identified the Austin State Hospital as a top health care funding priority and set aside $165 million for its refurbishment. Texas Health and Human Services and the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Oct 8, 2019
State law leaves the Historic Landmark Commission in gridlock
Getting a property zoned historic when the owner opposes it requires a supermajority vote at City Council. Yet even getting such a case before Council is an endeavor that requires the support of the Historical Landmark and Planning commissions. Prior…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Oct 2, 2019
Historic Herrera homestead heads to Council with Planning Commission approval
It’s rare that a structure is zoned historic against an owner’s wishes. According to Preservation Austin, it has happened only three times since 1974; however, that number may be about to grow to four. Following in the footsteps of the…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Oct 1, 2019
Council questions, and approves, new Old West Austin historic landmark
The last item on City Council’s most recent agenda passed without much notice, but for some Council members it spoke to ongoing issues of disparity in Austin’s preservation program. Council members voted 8-3 to designate the 1928 Italian Renaissance Revival…
Preservation • By Elizabeth Pagano • Oct 1, 2019
Historic Landmark Commission contemplates bending rules for influential Mexican American activist
Sometimes a house is more than a home. In the case of Edward Rendon Sr., his home served as a community center that some say is as meaningful to the neighborhood today as it was 40 years ago. Rendon was…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 27, 2019
Masonic Lodge construction plans may never satisfy Historic Landmark Commission
For three months in a row, the Historic Landmark Commission has made it clear that the design for a modern addition to the Royal Arch Masonic Lodge on the corner of Seventh and Lavaca streets will not easily get its…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 26, 2019
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East Austin grocery's future is sealed
Austin City Council was set to decide on the fate of a well-known east side grocery store at its most recent meeting, but instead endorsed a deal that had been struck before the meeting convened. The Tuke-Lyon grocery, at 220…
Preservation • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 24, 2019
Rainey Street bungalow bar seeks to expand, HLC expresses concerns
The popular watering hole Clive Bar inhabits a small Craftsman house at 609 Davis St., which is just on the corner of Rainey Street. The owners are looking to reconfigure the property to add a two-story structure with a mezzanine…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 5, 2019
Masonic lodge face-lift sent back to the drawing board, again
After the Historic Landmark Commission vetoed designs for a modern addition to the Royal Arch Masonic Lodge on the corner of Seventh and Lavaca for being a “desecration” of a landmark, a new design came before them at their Aug.…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 3, 2019
Planning Commission unmoved to recommend preservation for East Austin grocery store
After a unanimous recommendation from the Historic Landmark Commission to preserve the 1922-era corner grocery at 220 Comal St., the momentum behind preserving the East Austin structure slowed at the Planning Commission. “I’m getting the sense that the owner can…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 16, 2019
HLC recommends design in Old West Austin historic district, sidesteps opposition's concerns
In Austin, commissions are divided based on their areas of expertise and are required to remain within their purview when addressing the merits of a case. This question of jurisdiction was raised at the July 22 meeting of the Historic…
Preservation • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 1, 2019
Historic zoning for childhood home of AISD's first two Hispanic teachers recommended
In a unanimous vote, the Historic Landmark Commission is sending a 100-year-old house that was the home of the Austin Independent School District’s first Hispanic teachers to City Council with a recommendation for historic zoning. When photos failed to depict…
