Attachment C - Historic Preservation.pdf

Attachment C

Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission

Proposed Historic Preservation (HP) Overlay Zoning
for the Phoenix Indian School
Application No. 82-92-4

Staff Recommendation

Background

In early 1987, the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, began an assessment
of the historic and cultural resources present at the Phoenix Indian School site.

By November 1987, President Reagan had signed legislation enabling the Federal
Government to exchange the Indian School property for a $35 million payment to the Arizona
Indian Education Trust Fund and 100,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land in Florida.
In the initial agreement, the City was to receive 20 twenty of the 108 acres for use as a city
park.

At that time, the three buildings in the proposed district were determined eligible for the
National Register of Historic Places.

In January 1988, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed that required the Federal
Government to offer the three historic Indian School buildings for sale to anyone willing to
relocate the structures off-site. The MOA also allowed the demolition of all remaining
buildings. Mitigation was to be provided by documentation prior to demolition or removal.

In July 1991, the MOA was amended to eliminate the requirement for public sale of the
buildings prior to transfer of the property from the Federal Government.

In November 1991, the City and the Barron Collier Company reached an agreement on a new
proposal that would transfer a much larger portion of the Indian School property to the City
in exchange for downtown property owned by the City. This new proposal allows for
retention of the three most significant historic structures within the larger parcel that the
City will receive.

Site

As shown on the attached map, the proposed Indian School Historic District is a rectangular
three-acre parcel situated approximately 1,250 feet northeast of the intersection of Indian
School Road and Central Avenue. The parcel is approximately 280 feet by 480 feet and
constitutes one intact block of the original Indian School campus.

Description

The proposed Phoenix Indian School Historic District is a three-acre tract of land located in
the north central area of the larger 160 acre original historic school campus. Within the
proposed district are the three most significant buildings remaining from the historical
period. They are: 1) the Dining Hall built as an auditorium in 1902 and soon changed into
a dining hall; 2) the Memorial Hall constructed as an auditorium in 1922; and 3) the 1931
Elementary School that was converted to the Band-Chorus Building in 1964. Also included
in the proposed district is the site of the campus swimming pool, the mature streetscape

Historic Preservation Commission
Staff Recommendation

Indian School Historic District
August 24, 1992

Page 2

along Midway Street from the Memorial Hall to the Dining Hall which features Washitonia
palm trees, and the 1922 concrete War Memorial which is located in front of the Memorial
Hall.

This area is representative of the campus because of its integrity, the significance of the three
buildings included, and the historical time frame represented. The remainder of the campus
has suffered significant losses of integrity, especially from the major development program
of building classrooms and dormitories in the mid-1960s.

Architecture

The Memorial Hall is a two-story Mission Revival design executed in natural red brick.
Rectangular in plan (104’-6" x 72’-4"), the building features twin towers at the southeast and
southwest corners of the building. The towers rise three stories to open attics shaded by deep
low pitched pent roofs supported on paired brackets and surmounted by low curvilinear
parapets.

The primary facade faces south between the towers. It features a broad concrete stair
leading to two (originally three) arched entries each with double leaf doors. The doors are
flanked by brick pilasters. Above the doors are three pairs of round topped windows which
light the entry vestibule. Above these are seven larger round topped wood frame double-hung
windows with a common sill course. The brick facade rises to a curvilinear parapet with a
concrete coping. The gable frames a cast concrete tablet enscribed with the date 1922 and
the building’s name.

The Dining Hall was originally constructed as an auditorium in 1902, but was modified by
1904 into a dining hall with a kitchen to the north. It is a one-story building constructed of
a common red brick with a north-south axis and flanking east and west one-story wings. An
early example of Mission Revival design, the Dining Hall features curvilinear parapets with
concrete copings, moderately sloping gable roofs and unbalanced towers flanking the main
facade. The original auditorium was rectangular measuring 70’-8" in width by 78’-2" in

length.

The primary facade faces south with arched entryways below each tower. The southwest
tower has first story beveled walls and a second story inset panel with denticulated lintel and
three small stepped vents. The top story of the tower has paired round topped vents with
horizontal slats and is topped by a pent roof supported on paired brackets. The brick walls
rise to a low curvilinear parapet. The shorter southeast tower features similar first story
beveled walls and a smaller inset panel with only two stepped vents. This tower rises to a
pyramidal roof supported on beveled framed corner piers covered with wood shingles. This
tower is topped by a small pressed metal spire. The main facade has a first story horizontal
stuccoed tablet with brick frame, a second story group of five round topped wood frame
double-hung windows with connected brick sill, and a quatrefoil gable vent.

Historic Preservation Commission
Staff Recommendation

Indian School Historic District
August 24, 1992

Page 3

Like the Dining and Memorial Halls, the Elementary School Building faces south onto
Midway Street. The building is symmetrical with the north facade matching the south and
the east matching the west. It is a one-story building measuring 55’-10" x 107-4" with a flat
roof and parapets with concrete copings. Stylistically, the building has been influenced by
Moderne trends in its massing and use of materials. The building is constructed with
concrete foundations, brick lower walls and hollow clay tile on the upper walls. The primary
wall areas have been stuccoed while the buff brick is used for a watertable, accent surrounds
and quoins. Each facade is divided into three bays with the central bay projecting slightly.

The north and south facades feature a central entry with brick surround and at the attic
level, six 6 inch terra cotta pipes form a triangular vent. The central bay parapet is stepped.
The side bays are plain stucco except for three tall narrow recesses (windows to the left and
niches to the right) and brick dentils at the parapet. Small storage rooms have been added
to the north facade flanking the entry.

Significance

The Phoenix Indian School, founded in 1891, is among the most significant historic and
cultural properties within the City of Phoenix. The site has a strong cultural association with
Arizona’s Native American community due to the large number of prominent Native
American graduates. The second largest Indian school in the country by 1900, the school
played an instrumental role in the emergence and maturation of the Federal Government’s
policies towards the education of Native Americans in the twentieth century.

The three structures on the site have been determined eligible for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places for their significance to the State of Arizona and the City of
Phoenix due to their architectural merits and for the role the school played in the education
of Native Americans.

Architecturally, two of the buildings are regionally notable examples of Mission Revival
architecture. The Dining Hall, constructed in 1902 as the original auditorium, is the first
established use of the Mission Revival style in Arizona. It also is the only known Mission
Revival building designed by the Federal Government. The Memorial Hall, constructed in
1922, blends the Mission Revival forms with the Spanish Colonial Revival style, which was
the emerging style at that time. Both buildings share a stylistic relationship as well as being
in the forefront of architectural design in the Southwest during the early twentieth century.
From a historic and cultural standpoint, the Memorial Hall also is a critically important
building in that it was built to recognize the Native American contribution of Phoenix Indian
School students to World War I. The Elementary School Building dates to 1931, and relates
to the expansion of the student population during the heydey of the school in the early 1930s.
The building is notable in the context of the campus and as a modest expression of Art
Deco/Moderne architecture, which represents a departure from the more traditional designs
of the other buildings.

Historic Preservation Commission
Staff Recommendation

Indian School Historic District
August 24, 1992

Page 4

The Phoenix Indian School campus has always been an important part of the civic life of
early Phoenix. The campus was used as a recreational site by local Phoenix residents well
into the twentieth century. In part, this was because it was a green oasis at the edge of the
City, and in part because of the affinity between Phoenicians and the school population. As
the campus evolved, it was landscaped with a variety of vegetation, some of which still
remain within the proposed district.

Recommendation
Based on this information, staff recommends that the Commission:
approve Historic Preservation (HP) Overlay zoning on the Phoenix Indian School; and

transmit a recommendation to the Planning Commission that the Indian School parcel receive
HP Overlay zoning; and

transmit to the Planning Commission a copy of this report, and the Commission’s decision.

Dbooal Ede Aloedeh 0

Deborah Edge Abele
Historic Preservation Officer

DEA:ishpoz/vjv
Attachments

7 ( yf
(il YJ
pO bolle sgt sb eg sak Hed) of

MIDWAY WAR MEMORIAL ~

PHOENIX INDIAN SCHOOL HISTORIC DISTRICT ~

NEAR INDIAN SCHOOL ROAD AND CENTRAL AVENUE, PHOENIX, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA

A ' 50 100 | 200 FT

MAP BY J. GARRISON FEB 92

cam nee

Ty (eampoens

os moun

R-5

APP. C-2 H-R
a 91-89
bY

CENTRAL

Sooweeexexsess

APP.
c-2%
65-9/

Sewoo

:
4

° 400 800
GRAPHIC SCALE IN FEET

CITY OF PHOENIX PLANNING DEPARTMENT

ENCANTO VILLAGE

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4

INDIAN —y-—ape— SCHOOL,

APPLICANT'S NAME C/7Y OF PHOENIX HISTORIC REQUESTED CHANGE

PRESERVATION COMMISSION

FROM:

APPLICATION NO. 82-92-4 HPC. Pc. c.c.

HEARING DATES R-5

8-24-92

TO:

GROSS AREA INCLUDING 1/2 STREET + AERIAL PHOTO & ZONING MAP R-5 HP

AND ALLEY DEDICATION IS APPROX. QUARTER SEC. NO.

3.00 ACRES

17-28 H-8(6-6)

MULTIPLES PERMITTED -

UNITS STANOARD OPTION %_UNITS P.R.D. OPTION

% MAXIMUM UNITS ALLOWED WITH P.R.D. BONUS

Sheet 1 of 2

OFFICIAL SUPPLEMENTARY ZONING MAP NO. 908

ORDINANCE NO. AMENDING SECTION 601 OF THE CITY OF PHOENIX foe ORDINANCE
Passed by the Council of the City of Phoenix, Arizona nis PA say of

1992

vad .
we) =Mayor City Clerk
95-92
M-7iL 5)

[------------2: 656 wi
a proce atten i] H
> ’ ' ‘ ’
ww ct ts > '
> at iz a 2 1
< 1 t zZ '

TKS =
ti, '
! 2 '
5 t
H-8(G- ) 95-92 H
ion
e or
e '
1
z '
- 216 '
Z ao fe- BE
z ' i
w ' '
' '
: '
lin '
ie SCHOOL———— ROAD —__— 12 1
o 1 '
| = ' '
e 1 '
roa 1 !
2 ' H
| Ly 443 1
' in +
+ 1 “ 1
UNION TALES 2 privi
NOW TE v
SCALE VARIES H%  Zonmy subset to stiputatious

Drawn By RY.

AREA INVOLVED BOUNDED THUS:

Checked By JN.

Zot

waus
806