Historic Zoning Commission

Kern's Bakery H-1 Individual District: Level II

6-Q-19-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Construction of addition or outbuilding

An adaptive reuse of the existing Kerns bakery building into a multi-tenant building containing offices, restaurants, retail, and food market. The proposed plan maintains the use of the existing historic façade facing Chapman Highway, while updating the other elevations with new materials that compliment the building's past industrial use. The existing metal structure located at the southeast corner, a Quonset Hut, has been evaluated and deemed structurally unsuitable for reuse. The proposed plans include demolition of the existing Quonset Hut and replaced wit ha new 2,500 sq. ft. addition. The scope also includes a second floor addition on top of the northeast corner of the existing building.

Per the submitted plans on June 4, 2019.

Site Info

Art Deco in design, the Kerns Bakery building is a red, wire-cut brick building. The building contains a central pavilion of three bays that is two stories in height, with flanking one-story wings. Three central entries mark the first floor of the central pavilion; they are recessed and flanked by square brick pilasters. Each of the three doors contains a full light in a wood frame, with a segmental arched transom of eighteen small panes; the doors and transoms are flanked by small paned transoms. The entries are topped by sixteen-light metal windows with metal awnings, each of which has a decorative wrought iron grill. The entries and windows form units that are set into a smooth cut stone surround. Between the doors and second-story windows is a paneled cut stone section containing three recessed panels. These surrounds mimic the segmental arch of the transoms on the first floor. Flanking the central entry bay are bays that contain three windows on the first and second story; with windows also of metal, composed of twelve lights with a central six-light movable section. These windows are marked by soldier courses at the top of the window and below the stone sills. Connecting the windows is an applied detail that creates the appearance of recessed brick. The entry doors are reached by a set of poured concrete steps that are flanked by oversize buttresses. Simple painted metal pipe rails traverse the center of these stairs. Applied oversize letters spell the name "Kerns Bakery" and are located in the cornice above the second-story windows.
Flanking the central portion of the building are one story wings on a raised basement, also constructed of brick and matching the materials of the central pavilion. The soldier courses, sills, and brick detail are also present in the wings. The windows on the first floor of the wings are tall and narrow twenty light windows, with a four-light pivoting central section. Windows in the raised basement are shorter but also contain the pivoting central section.
A stone coping tops all three sections of the building, with a metal coping above it. A small hip-roofed penthouse with metal siding is located on the northernmost wing.
One of the most distinctive features of the building has always been the neon sign that is located on the roof of the building. Although it has been modified in recent years, it was a painted metal form in the shape of a loaf of bread, painted to resemble the Kerns Bread packaging, and outlined in neon. As the moving neon sign display changed, it revealed slices of bread that were falling out of the package into a horizontal stack.

Per the submitted plans on June 4, 2019.

- The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize the property are being avoided.
- Changes proposed to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right are being retained and preserved.
- New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction proposed will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work is differentiated from the old and is compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.
- The rotation of the landmark sign to maintain it's view is permitted as long as the relocation adhere's to Article 8, Section 8.5e. (Landmark and historic sign regulations).
- Demolition of the non-contributing Quonset Hut structure is acceptable based on the structural accessment provided by the applicant. It is considered a non-contributing strucuture.