by MOSES LEOS III
Get your hammers and ladders out and ready for work. The call for restoring properties of historical significance within Buda has been made.
At its April 2 meeting, the Buda City Council unanimously approved a Historic Preservation Award, which honors residential, commercial and mixed use properties that best restore and improve the historic appearance of their structures. The award is the brainchild of the Buda City Council and the Buda Historical Preservation Commission.
“We have great tenants, property owners and citizens that recognize the fact we have great resources to preserve the historic fabric of the Buda,” said Historic Preservation Commission Chairman Nate Wensowitch. “This award is a ‘thank you’ to the folks who are working hard to save history.”
The award also allows the city to work on further improving the economic development, both in the commercial and residential aspect. “This award could spur development within the community,” said Mayor Todd Ruge, who was most in favor of this award at the meeting.
Further restoring the historic appeal of many structures within the city is the primary goal of the Historic Preservation Award, with the idea of creating awareness, Wensowitch said.
The award process begins with an application that property owners can fill out, or property owners can also be nominated by a third-party source. The application requires both residential and commercial property owners to submit photographs of their restoration, as well as provide reasoning for the property’s nomination.
When selected, the owner of the property will receive an official marker, which designates their efforts toward preserving history. However, the city and the commission hold the power to revoke the award should the owner make any changes or restorations that are considered “inappropriate.”
Commission members say they understand that many property owners will nominate themselves at the beginning of this project. However, they also said they think the project will bring in different stories about the history of some buildings. “We want people to provide as much data as possible,” said Wensowitch. “We want the owners to coax the stories from their buildings.”
The ultimate goal is to have third-party sources regularly nominate commercial and residential properties.
Currently, the city has opted to hand out one award each year in the following categories:
• Exterior Restoration for Residential – Restoration of a residential structure that best respects the historic fabric of the property, as well as utilizes techniques and materials within the properties’ time period.
• Exterior Restoration for Mixed Use/Commercial – Restoration of commercial property, which also respects the historic value of the property and utilizes techniques and materials that fall within the time period.
• Adaptive Re-use – where structures are converted from original use, while still employing the historic feel of the original structure.
• Architecturally Compatible New Structure – Recognizing new structures that pay homage to the historic feel of the properties around them.
Five members of the commission along with the city council will judge the entries. They score both commercial and residential properties on a 100-point rubric, are based on:
1. That the restoration project is sensitive to the historic character of the structure, as well as the architecture and make up of the property.
2. Materials and techniques used to restore the property adhere to the style of the original time period.
3. Measure how much difficulty the restoration/renovation project faced.
4. How much impact the project has on the community, as well as the historic appeal of Buda. Additionally, how much leadership and organization went into the project.
Commercial properties also are scored on one final criterion, which is how much funding the project receives from the Buda Improvement Grant (BIG). That is determined by a formula, which takes the amount of the BIG and divides that by the total project amount. That dividend is then multiplied by 100, giving the commission a percentage of how much of the BIG was used.
That percentage is then subtracted. “The commission agreed that commercial property owners and tenants use their own money to fund restoration, as opposed to the BIG grant,” said Wensowitch, who added that this was not to penalize. Rather, it is to ensure that property owners fund these projects on their own, said Wensowitch.
According to Ruge, the city is discussing possibly giving out more than one award in each category per year, since there is a potential for a considerable backlog of nominations. Still, Ruge was convinced that citizens and business owners alike would make an effort to preserve the historic appeal. “When there is an award to be won, people will make an effort to win,” Ruge said.
The ability for Buda to further preserve the historic feel of the city is the greatest aspect in the mind of Wensowitch. “Buda is fortunate to have a great historical fabric,” Wensowitch said. “They are fortunate to have citizens who appreciate what they have, and that it will be there when they leave.”
