QUARTERLY MEETING

May 15, 2007 | Pardee Home, Oakland

Minutes:

1. INTRODUCTIONS AND WELCOME

   Our host, David Nicolai welcomed us to the Pardee Home and told a little about the Pardee family, the property and some detail about the furnishings and collection in the family dining room where we were meeting. He announced that a meeting is scheduled for June 7th to discuss the future of the Pardee Home Foundation. HALS members Michael Crowe and Cathy Garrett will participate.

2. ASLA LOBBY DAY

   Chris Pattillo reported on our group's contribution to the first in-district lobby day organized by ASLA to encourage funding for HALS and sponsorship for the Small Communities Visioning Initiative. We were successful in scheduling meetings with several local representatives. Nationally, ASLA was satisfied with this initial effort though as of this date I am unaware of a firm commitment for funding for HALS.

3. KAISER ROOF GARDEN

   Marlea Graham reported on an interview with Lisa Guthrie who worked at Osmundson and Staley after John Sue had left the firm. Unfortunately, Ms. Guthrie had little to add to what we already know about the Kaiser roof garden. Otherwise, Marlea has put her research aside while she works in her garden and prepares her newsletter. Future plans include attempting to locate and interview John Staley. Anyone knowing about Mr. Staley should contact either Marlea at maggie94553 AT earthlink DOT net or Tom Brown at hortulus AT sonic DOT net.

4. HALS WEB PAGE

   Steve Rasmussen Cancien was unable to attend the meeting but sent a written report. Though his report announced that we had retained a web master, we learned at the meeting that the selected person would be unavailable to work with us, so we are again seeking a web master to get our site set up.

   Committee member, Betsy Flack suggested we schedule two meetings to organize what needs to be written and by whom. July 12th and June 7th were selected as dates. Betsy will host these meetings at the Garden Conservancy office. JC Miller was invited to participate on the committee. Chris also suggested that Miranda, who replaced Carrie McDade at the Environmental Design Archives, be invited to participate. Anyone interested in attending should contact Betsy at bflack AT gardenconservancy DOT org or Steve at canciansteve AT hotmail DOT com

   Cathy noted that she had spoken on a panel with Paul Dolinsky who heads the HALS program for the National Park Service and that he has many web links related to HALS that she would provide so they can be listed on our site.

5. CPF CONFERENCE REPORT

   Cathy Garrett reported that California is showing leadership in implementing HALS and that our chapter's progress may be of interest as a national model. Jim Horner spoke on the landscape planning and design efforts at UCB. Bob Page, NPS spoke about cultural landscape reports. The wonderful Partners in Preservation program sponsored by American Express and the National Trust received a CPF President's award. Paul Dolinsky offered to seek funding for our chapter, possibly for photography. Saxton Hold and Brian Grogan were suggested as good HALS photographers.

   Betsy Flack reported that the American Public Garden Association will be hosting their annual conference soon and suggested that we might want to produce some sort of promotional material to display at the conference.

6. OLOMPALI STATE PARK

   Cathy reported on work that is underway at Olompali funded by the CCHF grant secured by The Olompali People. PGAdesign, Carol Roland-Nawi and Potomac Waterworks will work with State Parks and the Olompali People to complete the research, documentation and rehabilitation plan of the four-acre Victorian-era garden.

7. PIEDMONT WAY

   Fredrica Drotos reported that the rehabilitation plan for Piedmont Way is now complete. She also commented on how this effort has accomplished several goals in addition to the development of the plan. It did a lot to raise awareness of student and residents and helped bridge the relationship between the City and University. Students are enthused about getting involved and a planting day is scheduled.

   Friends of Piedmont Way is now pursuing opportunities for funding and support. Approaching a real estate company was suggested as was having one or more fraternities take this on as a community service project.

   Fredrica noted that she appreciates how their HALS status helped the project and conversely how Piedmont Way Friends' success helped HALS. A true win-win effort.

   It has been suggested that Friends apply for National Register designation. Michael briefly described the tax credits available through the program and the value of creating a historic district.

   Chris reported that she was successful in submitting an education session for the ASLA conference in San Francisco on HALS. The session will focus on recent progress made by ASLA and NPS, the status of funding for HALS, and how chapters are organizing to do the documentation. Panel members include representatives from ASLA, NPS, the Florida and Wisconsin Chapter and Chris who will also moderate the panel. If you plan to attend the conference plan to attend the session on Saturday Oct. 6th at 3:15.

   Concluding the meeting, Chris noted that each of our 3 current nominations is well on their way and making progress. At some point we will need to select a new site. Working with pre-existing Friends groups like those for Piedmont Way and Olompali has been a good strategy for expanding our capabilities. Members should be tuned in to finding similar sites/groups to team with.

   After the meeting Tom Brown gave a slide show and talk on the Pardee garden history and he and Cathy led a tour of the garden and recent rehabilitation work.

8. NEXT MEETING

   Our next HALS meeting date is set for August 14, 2007 4:00 PM at a TBD location. Please make a note on your calendar.