Historic Zoning Commission

Market Square H-1: Level II

10-E-19-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Major repair or replacement of materials or architectural elements

Proposed replacement of all second-story windows at 2 Market Square, including single-pane wood windows fronting Market Square, single-pane windows fronting Union Avenue, and single-pane windows above awning windows fronting Union Avenue. Proposed replacement windows are Fibrex composite material, with rectanglular frames. Awning windows are also proposed to be replaced with Fibrex windows.

Site Info

Two-story, three-bay brick building with modern single pane windows on front façade, chamfered corner. Two-story Italianate Commercial rear portion with access from Union Avenue, arched brick corbelled windows, corbelled cornice. C.1950 stairfront with recessed entry.

1. The building is a contributing resource to the Market Square Historic Overlay and the National Register Historic District.

2. The section of the building fronting Market Square, including the single-pane second-story windows, was modified in 1935 and 1950. The first (leftmost) section of windows fronting Union Avenue reflects the same period of modifications and utilizes the same rectangular, single-pane windows. The second (middle) section of the building fronting Union Avenue features two segmental-arched windows and one round-arched window. The third (rightmost) section features six round-arched windows with decorative brick corbelling. None of the second-story windows are historic.

3. The proposed shape and scale of the replacement single-pane, rectangular windows on the Market Square elevation and leftmost section of the Union Avenue elevation is appropriate. The replacements will fit the existing fenestrations and not require further modifications to alter, enlarge, or modify the window openings.

4. For the middle and rightmost sections fronting Union Avenue, the proposed replacement windows are rectangular, single-frame, fixed windows above small rectangular awning windows, similar to the existing. The proposed replacement windows would not fit the shape of the original window openings, which feature half-round arches at the top.

5. Market Square features numerous examples of windows where the window frames and panes fit the round-arched fenestrations, including 12 Market Square; 22, 24, and 26 Market Square. The HZC reviewed window replacement at 1 Market Square/407 Union Avenue in December 2018 and January 2019. These windows were rectangular, but installed from the inside and mounted behind the arched openings so that the original arched window openings were unobscured.

6. The use of Fibrex, a composite window material, is not in keeping with the Market Square design guidelines, which state that replacement windows on the second story "shall be wood."