Following hefty city pushback, the Board of Architectural Review unanimously advanced plans to renovate City Hall and Market Square with a new certificate of appropriateness at last night’s public hearing (Wednesday).
Board member Andrew Scott introduced a motion to approve a final design stipulating the inclusion of decorative chimneys, lifted archways and other 19th-century flourishes at the site of the 1871 building, garnering some dissent from Director of General Services Jeremy McPike.
The aforementioned features were not part of the city’s design plan, McPike said.
“Madam Chair, I’d be clear that what has been just described by the motion before you, has not been submitted, in any concept, whatsoever, by me,” McPike said. “It is now a complete revision to the entire design and arcades and the rest of the center bays.”
In response, Scott said every condition in the design “was presented to us as a question, as an option, in the last meeting.”
“There is not one thing that is mandatory in this motion that has not been asked to us by the city — not one item,” Scott said.
Scott’s motion included two modifications to previous staff recommendations, which are listed as follows.
- “Restoration materials shall match the historic materials in color and texture.”
- “The final design and detailing at the fifth floor exterior shall be similar in appearance to the adjacent slate roofs.”
At the start of the meeting, Board member Margaret Miller had successfully motioned to add the Board’s support for chimneys and Aquia Creek sandstone to its previous meeting minutes.
“There was a unanimous vote for chimneys, and that is not in the notes,” Miller said. “By unanimous, I mean all seven members here … two weeks ago, said they were on team chimney.”
The city aims to break ground on the project in January, according to the project’s webpage.
The BAR’s approved design includes the following features.
- South facade pilasters made of stone, Aquia Creek-colored sandstone, or a similar light gray/golden beige color, that embrace “classical proportions”
- Arched ground floor entryways in the center pavilion, potentially with keystone and stone water table base elements
- Center entrance doors made of wood, clad in bronze, or other metal in a “colonial style” with divided lights and external muntins
- Decorative brick chimneys
- A first floor extension of the center entryway pavilion “on the same vertical plane” as the upper floor
- A fifth floor addition functioning as an “unobtrusive backdrop” with glass or glazing not visible from the street level, without lighting
Additionally, the project’s shade structure, terraced seating area, stage canopy and stair elevator enclosure passed under the following conditions.
- “The applicant shall study integrating the stage canopy structure with the opening of the stair elevator enclosure.”
- The features “shall be complementary, using the same architectural style design language and materials.”
- The stage canopy “shall be tall enough to accommodate a temporary stage beneath” and may exceed 14 feet in height
- 1871-era architectural elements should be studied and explored for incorporation into the features; specifically, curved brackets on support columns
- Terraced seating and the stair elevator’s stone elements shall be made of granite stone
- Conduit and drainage piping must be enclosed
Finally, glass hyphens must feature “unobtrusive glazing,” and the canopy roof at fire exits should be minimized, “so as to not create confusion” about the location of the front entrance.
