Historic Zoning Commission

Market Square H-1: Level II

3-E-13-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Replacement/repair

Modifications to the existing faux wrought iron balcony to include roofing the existing metal grate floor of the structure with black metal roofing material and enclosing an 8-inch space under it to house the wiring of a new hanging blade sign. The new blade sign will hang from the balcony floor grating and will be edged with single exposed bulbs. Also, install edge-lighting of a series of single, exposed marqui bulbs along the edge of the balcony valance as per submitted drawings.

Site Info

Peter Kern Building. Three story, three bay brick building with similar facades. Bracketed ornamental metal cornice. Segmental arched replacement windows. Ornamental metal window hoods. Ornamental brick string course between second and third stories. Applied keystones above windows. c. 1980 storefront. Entrance to upper stories on south elevation (407 Union).

The first recorded occupancy of the building was by Peter Kern Co. bakers and confectioners in 1876. The building housed the Cole, Inc. Pharmacy from 1935 through 1965, and the upper floors have served as a small boutique hotel since the 1980s. The building is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places as The Mall Building, and is included in the Market Square National Register Historic District as well.

STAFF FINDINGS
1) Covering of the balcony floor grate with black metal and hanging a new blade sign hanging underneath the balcony was approved by the HZC on January 17th, 2011. That Certificate of Appropriateness expires on January 17th, 2013.

2) The designs of the edge-lighting with a series of single, exposed marqui bulbs along the balcony valance as well as the hanging blade sign are appropriate treatments for an entry overhang on a building from this era.

3) The edge lighting could be removed in the future without damaging the historic wrought iron of the balcony.

SECRTARY OF INTERIOR'S STANDARDS
5. Distinctive stylistic features or examples of skilled craftsmanship which characterize a building, structure, or site shall be treated with sensitivity.

10. Wherever possible, new additions or alterations to structure shall be done in such a manner that if such additions or alterations were to be removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the structure would not be impaired.