QUARTERLY MEETING

November 16, 2006 | Merrill Morris Partners Office, San Francisco

Minutes:

1. INTRODUCTIONS

   Our host, Cathy Merrill, welcomed us to her office of Merrill Morris Partners in San Francisco.

2. PIEDMONT WAY STATUS REPORT

   Fredrica Drotos of Friends of Piedmont Way reviewed the existing conditions plan, the site analysis drawings, comparative tree canopy plans, and the rehabilitation plans for Piedmont Way prepared by Cathy Garrett of PGAdesign. These documents, which are part of the HALS documentation, have been used in a series of meetings with the Friends, the City of Berkeley and the University of California Berkeley. They, along with verbal testimony by the Friends, contributed to the UC Regents' rejection of the University's current plan for a new athletic complex at the UC stadium. Such rejection is quite noteworthy in that the regents routinely approve such actions.

   Fredrica noted that Page & Turnbull Historic Architects found an 1865 stamped survey which had been lost and is thought to have been done by Olmsted's surveyor, giving further evidence of Olmsted's direct involvement.

   She also noted that the above mentioned documents were proving to be tremendously helpful in educating the city and general public regarding why this landscape is important and why it is important to maintain the existing tree canopy. Friends' and the HALS documentation influenced the City's decision to drop their plans for installing a traffic signal and for shortening one of the median islands.

   Fredrica concluded her report by noting that our selection of Piedmont Way for HALS documentation has been tremendously helpful to the Friends' efforts -- "it has had a huge impact."

3. KAISER ROOF GARDEN

   Marlea Graham reported on her recent research, which included reviewing files at the Oakland Museum and the Oakland Library History Room. She has scheduled an interview with the widow of Tony Flood, who was one of the first crew of gardeners under Al O'Mara's direction (he was the first head gardener) at Kaiser. After O'Mara's retirement, Tony became the head gardener and remained in that position for 30 years until 1991. Mr. Flood came to California from Ireland via Canada and worked at St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland for 18 months before taking the position at Kaiser.

   Marlea noted Ted Osmundson mentioned that Edgar Kaiser was greatly influenced by the roof gardens at New York's Rockefeller Center and that the Kaiser Center complex was referred to as "Rockefeller Center West" in at least one Kaiser publication. She has still not been able to find any documentation substantiating David Arbegast's mention of Dick Shae (possibly Shay or Shea) as the designer of the reflecting pool.

   Barbara Newcombe, a retired archivist, has volunteered to work with Marlea and contacted the person responsible for setting up a display of photographs and other Kaiser memorabilia at the Center when Summit owned the property in 2003. She has also been pursuing leads at Oakland City Hall, the library and the museum. Deborah Lindsay said that Sheila Ray, from Swig, has offered to provide access to their files. Deborah will make an appointment for Marlea and Barbara to see these files. Swig currently has plans to develop property adjacent to the roof garden. According to Deborah, who has consulted with Swig, they have expressed interest in preserving the garden and fabricating replacement furnishings that match those originally designed but are now deteriorating. They are concerned about how the development and resulting changes to light and wind might impact the garden.

   In a telephone conversation with Chris Pattillo, prior to this meeting, Lorraine Osmundson expressed interest in having the garden designated as a city landmark. Chris contacted Joann Pavlinec with the Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board to inquire if the board might be interested in teaming with our group to submit the nomination. Ms. Pavlinec said, "The board is interested, but believes the property owner currently opposes such designation." Deborah Lindsay confirmed their resistance.

   Chris Pattillo reported on her and Marlea's interview with John Sue, the landscape architect who prepared the contract documents for the Kaiser Roof Garden. At the time, Mr. Sue was a recent graduate from UC Berkeley. He confirmed much of what was learned from their interview with designer, David Arbegast. It was John Sue who had primary responsibility for the grading, drainage and planting design for the garden. Mr. Sue worked with UC Davis faculty to develop the lightweight, quickly draining soil mix. John said he designed and made the clay models for the fountain, benches and other elements that were later built by a pre-cast concrete company on the peninsula south of San Francisco.

   Marlea scheduled a meeting with Tom Brown and Deborah Lindsay to discuss how to proceed with the written portion of the HALS documentation for December 5th at 10:00 AM at Tom Brown's office in Petaluma. If you are interested in being involved with this task please contact either Marlea at maggie94553 AT earthlink DOT net or Tom at hortulus AT sonic DOT net

4. HALS WEB PAGE

   Steve Rasmussen Cancien reported that no student has been identified to fill the position of web master yet and that the position will continue to be advertised. If a student cannot be found, the position may be filled another way. Steve will contact Betsy Flack to determine if progress is being made on compiling a comprehensive list of historic and cultural sites and gardens in Northern California.

5. OLOMPALI STATE PARK

   Diane Einstein updated the group on progress made towards receiving the $100,000 grant money for the restoration of the Mary Burdell Victorian Garden and Grounds. Her group has been working to document the land tenure and to provide a budget breakdown for the California Cultural Historic Endowment. The grant money will be used to prepare contract documents based on the preliminary work of Gudrun Baxter, California State Parks and the pro-bono preliminary work done by Rick Storie, SWA Landscape Architects.

   Chris Pattillo offered to have the existing documents reviewed by our group. Anyone interested should contact Betsy Flack at bflack AT gardenconservancy DOT org.

   As the meeting concluded, Chris reported that thanks in part to our group, the records of Mai Arbegast and additional documents from Ted Osmundson have or will be given to the Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley.

6. NEXT MEETING

   Our next HALS meeting date is set for February 13, 2007 4:00 PM at a TBD location. Please make a note on your calendar.