APPROVE Certificate No. 22511GEN. The proposed changes are consistent with the Secretary of Interior's Standards in minimizing the exterior changes and in restoring near copies of original features like the exterior lantern-shaped lights.
1) Repair or restore all doors; 2) repair or restore all windows; 3) install a codes-compliant railing system at exterior ornanental railing (where necessary) while protecting the original railing; 4) convert window at rear (south elevation) of building facing the Holiday Inn to a code required door accessing the electrical room; 5) install new exterior lighting attached to the building, using new fixtures similar to the attached lantern style fixture on the north elevation, and a new unobtrusive fixture on other locations, painted to match the existing columns, etc., along the existing ornamental railing; 6) repoint and repair existing chimneys, using the provisions of Preservation Brief No. 2.; 7) extend existing glazed enclosure on rear (west) elevation; 8) reroof flat-roofed section on east side.
NOTE: The applicant is currently trying to determine a solution for installing the necessary security hardware on the existing doors. If that solution does require an alteration of the existing doors or lock systems, the applicant will submit an additional application for your review.
The L&N Station is Chateauesque in design, with large dormers with curvilinear outlines and heavy stone detailing. The use of consoles and quoins combining stone and brick enhance the style. The building is constructed in an L-shape with wings projecting west and south from the large pavilion constructed at the north and east corner of the property. The wings are topped with built-up roofs and cut stone parapet walls. The façade shows two stories above the street and one below. The three bay façade boasts an eastern section topped with a steeply pitched, vitrified clay tile hipped roof with an iron finial. The two outer pavilions are separated by a lower, wider center section of two stories in height, with a flat roof and a cut stone parapet that joins the eaves of the hipped roofs on the two pavilions. The western section has the same eave height as the eastern or main pavilion but has a lower pitched hip roof of vitrified clay tile. The primary section contains large dormers. There are no dormers on the western section of the building.
The façade is designed with a simulated water table indicated by a cut stone base course. Two addition band courses appear above the water table. A projecting cornice terminates the cut stone treatment. The stone band is penetrated by door openings with the cut stone window sills sitting on the projecting cornice. The remainder of the first floor is brick, articulated in a reverse rustication by projecting every seventh and eighth course outward to provide a shadow of larger units. The windows and doors of the corner pavilion on the ground floor have simulated flat arches with voussoirs formed by turning the projecting courses above the windows down, to form wedge shapes. A decorative keystone of cut stone in a baroque style with curvilinear detail ornaments each of these flat arches.
The east corner pavilion is forty-six feet wide on the north façade and projects four feet in the front of the center section. The center section is sixty-eight feet wide and contains the formal entrance door to the main waiting room. The door is set off by cut stone pilasters framing the double doors and double transom window. Curvilinear consoles hold an outward extension of the stone cornice at the second floor level, which forms a porch covering emphasized by the stone paneled corner pedestals terminating a balustrade and rail all of cut stone and above the porch. The main entrance door is flanked by two pairs of windows on each side placed symmetrically on the façade. The windows are double hung and have a single transom. The western pavilion contains the ladies' waiting room and what was built as the Colored Waiting Room. Its front (north) elevation has one large rectangular opening that contains both the double entrance doors with double transom and sidelights. The frames and headers enclosing the opening are stone. Stained leaded glass forms the window and transom lights. The extensive use of stained glass in the building is remarkable; the current windows and transoms are replicas of the original windows of the station, and were installed during the renovations of the station prior to the 1982 World's Fair.
The treatment of the second story (north) elevation is similar to the treatment of the first floor. Windows are placed in pairs or groupings to align vertically with the openings on the first floor. Each of the pavilions has heavy stone quoins that emphasize the pavilion corners. The western pavilion and the central pavilion are not heavily detailed. The four windows of the western pavilion are framed with a large rectangular opening and have a decorative projecting cornice common to all four windows. The eastern pavilion is highly decorative. It has paired windows, enclosed in a stone casing and has a decorative stone hood. The balance of the second story elevation is brick laid in a standard running bond, in common with the remainder of the brickwork on the building. The central section has five pairs of double hung windows with a single transom above each. The paired windows on the second floor have a stone mullion between them and there is also a continuous stone beltcourse across the façade at window head level and at transom head level.
The third floor of the corner pavilion is set within the pointed hipped roof and on the interior the walls are only four feet tall before the underside of the hipped roof is encountered. A stone beltcourse indicates the third floor level and curvilinear stone brackets support the heavy cornice of the eave of the hipped roof. The cornice is broken by the massive central dormer that is a continuation of the wall of the elevation. The corner contains a paired double hung window. The window grouping has a decorative hood forming a projecting cornice supported by console brackets. Stone quoins form the ends of the north and east facing corners and provide a transition to the distinctive cut stone curvilinear gable fronts which give the station its dominant Chateauesque architectural theme. Carved stone cresting and cut stone panels ornament the curvilinear gable fronts.
The north elevation of the passenger station is below the level of the Western Avenue viaduct. A brick paved ramp provides access to the station's ground level. Concrete retaining walls with wrought iron balustrades form the formal approach to the station.
The east elevation is visible from Henley Street, which except for fenestration is identical to the north elevation. Paired windows placed symmetrically substitute for the doors of the north elevation.
On the south and west elevations is a large veranda which wraps around the sides of the building. The veranda is at waiting room level and is accessible from the building's interior. It is supported by cast iron columns on brick pedestals with ornamental cast iron brackets. Elaborate wrought iron railings between wooden top and bottom rails form the balustrade for the veranda. A tower penetrates the veranda and originally housed the freight elevator. The elevator was removed during the renovation of the L&N Station for the 1982 World's Fair; the space within the tower houses staircases which provide access from the ground level.
A great deal of restoration is included in this application, both inside and on the exterior, and only minimal changes are being made to adapt the building to the proposed school use. Some of those changes include replacing alterations made during the initial rehabilitation of the building to make the lighting more appropriate, repairing features like the chimneys, which have deteriorated greatly since the building's construction in 1905, and protecting and enclosing the historic banister in a fairly transparent, codes-compliant, new banister while leaving the original one intact. The change being made to add a door to the south elevation is in the least visible location on the building, and is necessary to meet building code requirements.
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