QUARTERLY MEETING

August 12, 2014 | Lake Chalet, Oakland

Mark your calendar for the Q4 meeting: Tuesday, November 4, at the California Nursery in Fremont.

Chair: Larkin Owens
Recorder: Gretchen Hilyard
Attendees: Cathy Garrett, Gretchen Hilyard, Melissa Mourkas, Larkin Owens, Chris Pattillo, Fred Rachman, January Ruck

We enjoyed our meeting in a beautiful setting on the back deck overlooking Lake Merritt, at the Lake Chalet in Oakland.

Minutes:

1. SHPO Subcommittee

   Cathy Garrett reported that there has been some progress on coordination with SHPO since the last meeting. The focus is on developing standard landscape terms for SHPO to use and revisions to the DPR 523 Form series to include landscapes. Cathy will follow up with Amanda Blosser of the State Office of Historic Preservation (SHPO) for a follow up call in the coming weeks.

   Since the meeting, Cathy, Janet Gracyk, and Amanda Blosser met by phone on August 14. Melissa Mourkas will join in next time.

2. HALS Heroes Photography / Oakland Museum

   Chris Pattillo reported that Dane Pollok has submitted the Oakland Museum photos to Washington, D.C. and has successfully completed his HALS Heroes project. Chris has initiated the process of having ASLA pay Dane the $1,000 stipend for this work. Chris will follow up with Dane to discuss approximate costs to complete this effort for us to take into account when scoping future photography projects. Thanks to Dane for seeing this task through!

3. Berkeley Path Wanderers HALS Documentation Project

   Larkin Owens reported that she spoke to Fredrica Drotos who has discussed the project with various neighborhood groups including the Berkeley Path Wanders, Panoramic Hills Association, and Friends of Piedmont Way. The HALS group recommended soliciting student volunteer support for the documentation project. Chris urged the group to have a plan in place for completing the drawings after the volunteers complete the field measurements.

   Gretchen Hilyard will follow up with her Cultural Landscape Documentation students at UC Berkeley Extension for volunteers. January Ruck offered to assist in this effort as part of the class.

   The stair is a City of Berkeley Landmark and part of the Panoramic Hills National Register Historic District. Many architect-designed houses, including examples by Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, Walter Steilberg, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others, front on the stair.

4. China Camp HALS Documentation Project

   The group discussed how best to finalize the China Camp documentation project which is partially completed. Fred Rachman volunteered to look at the CAD drawings to see what tasks still need to be completed and give a better indication of the progress. PGA has the source CAD files. Gretchen and January will follow up with Eddie Chau at UC Berkeley Extension, if appropriate, to solicit student volunteers to assist with the project.

   Since the meeting, Fred has obtained all of the China Camp digital files from PGA

5. 2014 HALS Challenge Submittals / Landscapes of the New Deal

   Chris Pattillo announced that at least 6 short forms were completed for the HALS Challenge by our chapter members (Temescal Waterfront, Tule Elk Preserve, Morcorn Rose Garden, Zoo at Griffith Park, Alvarado Park, and Mountain Theater). The challenge has grown significantly over the last 5 years. The total number of entries was 9 in 2010, 11 in 2011, 20 in 2012, 30 in 2013, and 45 in 2014!

   Melissa Mourkas announced that she and Jan Wooley at State Parks have discussed how to make State Archives images available for permissible use in the HALS documentation. Melissa will follow up with Jan.

6. HALS-NCC 10 year Anniversary Party -- Save the Date: Saturday, October 11, 2014!!

   Larkin will follow up with the San Francisco Botanical Garden to host the party. The garden has asked that we add a volunteer project before the party and the group agreed that this is an excellent way to make hands on gardening part of the event. In return, the garden would waive any permit fees. Larkin will confirm the venue as well as create and distribute a flier to advertise the event.

7. Quarterly HALS Liaison Meeting

   Chris Pattillo reported that the meeting was held and participants included ASLA members, NPS staff, and other state liaison. Announcements at the meeting included:

   1. Landscape Architecture Magazine published two articles for the HALS Challenge this year.
   2. HALS was featured on the ASLA webpage recently.
   3. Upcoming ASLA conference in Denver, CO will feature 12 tours and sessions related to historic landscapes.
   4. HALS National will have a booth at the ASLA conference again this year. Contact Chris Stevens, if interested in volunteering.
   5. The Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualification Standards for Landscape Architect are under review. These would be new standards incorporated into the existing framework.
   6. HALS chapter annual reports due: Chris shared a copy with Gretchen for our chapter files (and attached).
   7. Announcement about idea to create online map/database of HALS landscapes by state.

8. Announcements & Upcoming Events - All
   1. Garden Conservancy Gardens Are For Living Lecture, Flora Grubb, San Francisco - September 4, 2014
   2. TCLF Garden Dialogues, Sonoma Winery Tours - September 13, 2014
   3. HALS 10th Anniversary Picnic, SF Botanical Garden - Saturday, October 11, 2014
   4. TCLF Oliver Ranch Tour & Luncheon, Sonoma - October 12, 2014
   5. Garden Conservancy Natural Discourse Symposium, LA County Arboretum & Botanical Garden - October 18, 2014
   6. CGLHS Annual Conference highlighting Lockwood de Forest, Santa Barbara - October 24-26, 2014
   7. TCLF What's Out There Weekend, Landscapes of Ralph Cornell, Los Angeles - November 8-9, 2014
   8. ASLA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO - November 21-24, 2014

   Chris Pattillo brought up some concern at the lack of other landscape architecture firms engaged with HALS. The group discussed reaching out to other firms, ASLA Young Professionals, and other groups to seek participation. We should invite these groups to the HALS 10th Anniversary picnic.

   Chris Pattillo reported that she recently spoke with a woman from Alabama who was using a HALS short form Chris completed as reference for a grant application. Chris was thrilled to see the documentation used for promoting the preservation of historic landscapes.

9. Upcoming meetings
   1. November 4, 2014 (Please note change of date!) - California Nursery in Fremont. Chris Pattillo will send out more information about the site before the meeting.
   2. February 10, 2015 Location - State Capitol, Sacramento (tour of Capitol grounds)
   3. May 12, 2015 - Location to be announced
   4. August 18, 2015 - Lake Chalet, Oakland
   5. Ideas for future meeting venues: Petaluma, Oakland Museum, Ruth Bancroft Garden.
   6. Ideas for future events: Capitol Towers & Brutalist Sacramento Tour (Melissa)