QUARTERLY MEETING

February 21, 2012 | Mission San José de Guadalupe, Fremont

Mark your calendar for the next meeting: May 15, 2012. Location to be announced.
Quarterly meetings will also be held on August 21, 2012 and November 14, 2012.

1. Chalet Recreation Field

   The history and photographs have been completed for this site and will be submitted to the Library of Congress by Janet Gracyk. The drawings are not ready for submittal and will hopefully be prepared as part of the mitigations for the city's proposed impacts to the fields.

2. Leadership

   At our last meeting we discussed increasing the amount of time that the chair is in office from 12 months to 18 months. The incoming chair is Cathy Garrett who will vacate the secretary's role. Anyone interested in this position should contact Jennifer de Graaf, Cathy Garrett, or Janet Gracyk. During the trial period, being secretary has led to becoming chair. It was agreed that more flexibility is needed and the position of secretary need not necessarily become chair.

3. China Camp HALS documentation

   Good progress has been made on the history component of this documentation. Base material for the drawings is being sought and gathered. Janet G. offered to inquire with State Parks about availability of maps. Aerial photos and USGS maps may also be of use. We discussed what area to document and tentatively agreed to focus on the core of the site immediately adjacent to the existing pier and other structures. In addition we will include a context map that will show outlying features. The level of documentation is still being determined. The goal is to have the field work completed by July 1. Ellen handed out park brochures for China Camp.

4. Hanna Carter Garden Threatened

   Built in 1959 by Nagao Sakurai and Kazuo Nakamura for oil-man Gordon Guiberson, the Hanna Carter Garden in Los Angeles is under threat. It is the biggest private residential garden built in America in the immediate post-war period and reflects the return to interest in Japanese design. Located in the Bel Aire section of Los Angeles its 1.5-acres were willed by Guiberson to UCLA. UCLA sought and successfully won an application to overturn the stipulations of the will that it be owned and cared for in perpetuity by the university. The university now seeks to sell it. Members are encouraged to send letters of support.

5. Mission Challenge

   At the time of the HALS meeting, all but 6 of California's missions had been spoken for. Since the meeting, several more have been claimed by people clamoring to participate in the California Mission Challenge to complete HALS documentation of all of the state's missions. Those now remaining are the following:

   1. Mission San Buenaventura
   2. Misssion San Luis Obispo
   3. Mission San Luis Rey de Francia

   When documenting these sites, each author will determine the limits of the area to be surveyed. Significance was discussed in the context of HALS documentation. It can be as brief as two sentences; significance for HALS has a slightly different usage than the use of the term by NPS. In terms of integrity, all mission sites have experienced varying levels of change. They reflect the Mission Revival style. Denise B. agreed to circulate documents that relate to the Mission Revival style and how this information is relevant and may be incorporated to the narrative history of the documentation of the missions.

   Chris P. has completed the Carmel Mission documentation. The first paragraph was written to be applicable to all California missions and may be used for multiple site histories. As suggested by Denise B. preparing an overview / context statement for them all may be of use. Tom Brown has done research on mission plants and has offered to write an overview about plants. Chris P. checked with Paul Dolinsky who asked that these two overview pieces be kept separate from the individual mission short forms. The deadline for the Mission Challenge is July 31, 2012.

6. Schilling Garden

   Chris Pattillo reported that mitigation for the proposed development of a 42-story residential building on the site of the existing Schilling Garden in Oakland is a condition of approval. These conditions require the HALS documentation to be done and submitted to the Library of Congress by a qualified historical Landscape Architect.

7. HALS HEROES

   There are three candidates for HALS Heroes awards:

   1. Matt Bossler is currently documenting the Transamerica site. He met with Chris P. and Janet G. when he was here from Colorado doing the field work.
   2. Pam-Anela Messenger has offered several projects and though delayed is still interested.
   3. Fred Reichman has expressed interest in documenting Ranchos Los Alamitos. He mailed a copy of their interpretive guide which includes a sketch of the garden. The guide was circulated.

   To apply for a grant, the applicant must submit a HALS short form. It is hoped that others come forward, particularly those from firms who could document past work of their offices. Janet G. offered to send a mail to the Yahoo Group to repeat this invitation. It would make an ideal project for an intern.

8. State Parks Closures

   Marin State Parks Association and its member organizations are amongst those developing creative ways of keeping state parks open. They are endeavoring to establish a model for others in the state to follow. Parks in Sonoma County are being addressed in a similar fashion. Proposed park closures in Marin County include: Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Tomales Bay, Olompali, and China Camp. Assemblyman Gerard Hoffman (Marin Sonoma) has been enormously supportive. The agreement under AB42 holds that a cooperating agreement can be entered into with State Parks if one of the following is satisfied:

   • A donor provides funding to pay for continued operation (e.g. Henry Coe State Park)
   • A concession contract is let to a for-profit enterprise to operate the park.
   • An operating agreement is established between the State Parks and a government entity or qualified not-for-profit to assume some or all of the functions required to operate the state park.

   HALS member Diane Einstein is actively involved with Marin State Parks and The Olompali People, contact her for more information and with offers to assist. Also see www.parks.ca.gov for the workshop handbook on establishing an operating agreement, www.Olompali.org, www.FriendsofChinaCamp.org

9. California Mission Conference

   Chris P. attended the annual California Mission Studies Association conference in San Rafael and handed out fliers about our challenge. She succeeded in finding more volunteers for our project.

10. List of all sites

    Chris P. shared a list of all sites in the country that have been documented organized by state. California leads with 64 sets of documents. The list is maintained and was made available by NPS.

11. Eden Theme Park Issue

    Eden Magazine has decided to publish an issue focused on children's theme parks and they have invited Chris P. to be guest editor. We have also been talking about hosting joint events. Eden is looking for persons from Northern California who are interested in serving on their board. If interested contact Barbara Marinacci.

12. Membership

    Janet G. reported that we now have 93 members. Melissa Mourkas is continuing to maintain our membership list. Janet and Cate Bainton have been checking email that comes to our e-group. Fredrica Drotos has been checking e-mail that comes to our website.

13. Social Media

    Jennifer suggested we place one or more articles in Land8Lounge. This is an online venue for landscape architects and may be a good place to attract new members or simply share news about our activities.

14. Announcements

    Chris P. announced that she gave a webinar for the California Preservation Foundation which was an introduction to HALS. Half the persons who participated were from states throughout the country. Since the webinar, the participant from New Jersey reported that she was inspired to start a HALS chapter in her state.

    Kelly Commis contacted us regarding Temescal Canyon Camp in Pacific Palisades which is threatened. She is looking for someone to complete a HALS drawing of the property for use in a campaign to save the resource. A modest amount of funding may be available. If interested please contact Kelly.

    During dinner Chris P. reviewed a correspondence she'd received from Brian Collett who wrote regarding the potential for designating Mare Island in Vallejo as a regional park and also about his concern regarding how cultural resources are being treated. We agreed to ask Brian about his hosting a meeting at Mare Island in 2013.