Let It Be

The Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on 501 Union Street this morning. Then, after some discussion, the HPC made a decision about how to deal with the problem.  

To review the situation, in September, limewash was applied to the building in violation of this stipulation in the building's certificate of appropriateness: "The original patina of brick shall be maintained." A stop-work order was issued, but in violation of the stop-work order limewash was applied to the newly reconstructed brick chimneys as well. 

Last month, the Galvan Foundation, which owns the building, proposed resolving the problem by applying more limewash. Kurt Hirschling from Jan Hird Pokomy Associates, the expert Galvan hired to advise them, explained that two coats of a 3 percent solution (97 percent water to 3 percent hydrated lime) with been applied to the Union Street side of the building, and one coat of the 3 percent solution had been applied to the other three sides. His recommendation, and what Galvan was seeking a certificate of appropriateness to do, was to apply another two or three coats of a 20 percent solution of limewash (80 percent water and 20 percent hydrated lime). He told the HPC the limewash already applied to the building could not be removed without damaging the brick and predicted it would take three to five years for the limewash now on the building to wear away naturally. 

Today, it was revealed that there was something more at stake. Apparently, work on the building is now complete, but a certificate of occupancy cannot be issued while the building is in violation and a stop-work order is in place.

The four people who spoke at the public hearing--Margaret Morris, Christabel Gough, Matt McGhee, and me--all advocated for letting the building to remain as is and not allow the application of any more limewash. Earlier this week, McGhee sent these photographs of 342 Allen Street to the HPC, which he said "illustrate what 501 Union would look like if allowed to age and patina over time."

Hirschling argued that leaving 501 Union as it is now would result in uneven weathering and applying more limewash would ensure uniform weathering. By more, he meant three more coats of a higher lime concentration. The HPC briefly entertained the possibility of allowing a second coat of the 3 percent solution on the three sides of the building that had gotten only one coat, but in the end the unanimous decision by the HPC was to approve the existing condition and deny the request to apply more limewash or anything else. Based on the HPC's decision, code enforcement officer Craig Haigh said he would lift the stop-work order and initiate the inspection required for issuing a certificate of occupancy. Commenting on the rationale for the decision, HPC member Paul Barrett said the HPC had chosen to "live with the damage that was done rather than increase the damage."

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