Loading...
LTC 340-2009 North Shore Historic Disctrict listed on the National Register of Historic Places;``~~~~IV`.~C~l.~~"~.~f 7 200~D=C-i Pt94:3~ OFFICE OF THE CIfY MANAGER i l NO LTC#340-2009 LETTER TO COMMISSION ro: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission FROnn' Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Managers DATE: December 4, 2009 ~ J C~- SUBJECF: North Shore Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places The purpose of this LTC is to inform the Mayor and City Commission that the North Shore Historic District was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 18. 2009. This district generally encompasses the area from Harding Avenue and Ocean Terrace to the Tatum Waterway, and from 73rd Street to 87th Terrace at the City's northern limit (see attached map and summary description). The Normandy Isles Historic District was listed on the National Register last year on November 12, 2008. This makes the City of Miami Beach, an island that's merely 7 square miles, the home of 3 historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register recognition of North Beach architecture is a tremendous opportunity to build community pride, to generate cultural tourism, and to stimulate investment in rehabilitation through the use of financial incentives. The Planning Department is coordinating with various community groups and City departments to create public awareness through media coverage, events, tours, exhibits and a website. The Dress has been invited to a presentation to announce the news at the Historic Preservation Board meetlna on Dec 8 2009 at 9'00 AM Analysis The National Register of Historic Places is an official national listing of buildings and places that are worthy of recognition and preservation because of their contribution to the history of the Nation, the State. or the local community. The benefits of listing on the National Register areas follows: • The national and statewide honor and recognition that National Register listing will bring to North Beach for its special brand of `Miami Modern", also known as "MiMo" architecture. • Contributing buildings in the district are eligible for financial incentives for preservation of historic buildings including the Federal 20% Investment Tax Credit, charitable contributions for historic preservation easements and the Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Property Tax Abatement. • Listing may make a property exempt from certain Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA) requirements and eligible for some American disabilities Act (ADA) and Florida Building Code adjustments. • Projects involving federal or state funding, permitting, licensing or assistance and that may result in damage or loss of the historic value of a National Register properly are LTC # North Shore Historic District fisted on the National Register of Historic Places Page 2 of 7 reviewed by the State Historic Preservation Office and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The National Register does not require property owners to preserve their buildings. In fact. there are no restrictions whatsoever, unless the owner voluntarily elects to take advantage of one of the financial incentives. in which case the owner must comply with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings. Background The idea for this nomination originated with the North Beach Strategic Plan (2001), which recommended "encouraging the rehabilitation of existing properties in order to improve the quality of residential neighborhoods" and "to protect neighborhood scale and character while permitting compatible new development". In subsequent community meetings, consensuswas reached with residents and property owners to support these strategies by pursuing the National Register nomination because it offers financial incentives for rehabilitation. On October 13, 2004, the Mayor and City Commission considered and accepted a recommendation from the joint meeting of the Land Use and Development Committee and the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee containing a motion, approved 4-0, to `direct the Administration to proceed with the analysis and process of designating National Register Districts within the proposed boundaries [in North Beach]." Subsequently, the City applied for and received a matching grant in the amount of $18,000 from the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources. The grant funds were used to hire a consultant, Allen T. Shulman Architect, to assist with the research and to write the nomination reports. The Planning Department staff provided in-kind services. The Planning Department hosted a community informational meeting on Thursday. March 29, 2007 to discuss the effects of pursuing the National Register nomination. The Historic Preservation Board held a public hearing on Tuesday, Apri110, 2007 and unanimously adopted resolutions urging the City Commission and the Florida National Register Review Board to approve the application for listing the North Shore Historic District and the Normandy Isles Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. On May 16, 2007, the Mayor and City Commission adopted Resolution 2007-26546 recommending in favor of listing the proposed North Shore Historic District and the proposed Normandy Isles Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. On July 20, 2007, the State of Florida National Register Review Board reviewed the nominations and recommended in favor of listing the two North Beach districts on the National Register of Historic Places. Subsequently, the Florida Division of Historical Resources delayed the transmission of the nominations to the federal government due to an internal backlog in processing applications. The Normandy Isles district was listed first in November 2008, followed by the North Shore district in November 2009. Please~~le'tttme know if you have any questions or require additional information. JMGlJt~lRCiL/JAM F:IPLANt$ALL.tMeyers~NR nominalionlCommission meetingtLTC Dog 2tM9.tloc I.TC # North Shore Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places Page 3 of 7 tJortii Shore lstoric District National Reyisbrof Fstoric Places • Kctoric DisfriAs in NoNh sea<h LTC # North Shore Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places Page 4 of 7 Summary --North Shore Historic District The North Shore Historic District in Miami Beach, recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places: comprises one of the city's most intact and coherent concentrations of the Greater Miami area's characteristic brand of mid-20th century resort architecture. The district boundaries generally span from Harding Avenue and Ocean Terrace to the Tatum Waterway, and from 73rd Street to 87th Terrace at the City's northern limit. Within this area are 520 contributing buildings. The contributing buildings, constructed between 1935 and 1963, are mainly examples of small tourist hotels and apartment buildings: with varied commercial structures clustered along Collins Avenue between 73`d and 75th Streets. North Shore was founded on the pragmatic planning of the engineer's grid and its development as a coherent district owes much to the repetition of similar building types and styles within a compact space. North Shore, was largely built up aker World War II, and its development was solidly calibrated to the garden-oriented planning, architectural vocabulary and representational motifs ofmid-century America. Its mostly flat-roofed buildings, faced in field stone, slump brick, patterned stucco and perforated concrete screens, punctuated by idiosyncratic pylon forms, projecting concrete fins and decorative modern metal-works, and wrapped around intimate garden patios, convey an architectural sensibility characteristic of the middleclass, tropical resort that flourished in the North Beach area. This style has recently become known as `Miami Modernism" (MiMO). North Shore was initially conceived as a district of homes. However, starting in the 1930's, its grid-based platting was more intensively developed with modern garden apartment building types that sponsored a corresponding urban culture in both the civic and commercial realm. Adapted to both the platting and local environment conditions with patios, surrounding gardens, porches, loggias and exterior staircases and catwalks, these small garden apartment buildings also illustrate a rich variety of popular architectural themes. A number of significant geographical features also define the North Shore district. On the east side, North Shore Open Space Park provides a broad and natural park frontage. Further to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. whose beaches constitute one of the most important lures to the neighborhood. At the southeast corner of the district, the hotels and apartment buildings of Ocean Terrace in the Harding Townsite face directly to this coastal stretch. The west side of the district is formed by the Tatum Waterway, an inland channel whose two sides are lined with small contributing apartment buildings. The district's southern boundary is marked by North Shore Park, whose eastern terminus on the ocean is marked by the North Shore Bandshell at 7250 Collins Avenue (Norman M. Giller & Associates, 1961). The bandshell's streamlined proscenium, circular pylons, cantilevered canopies and embracing walls demarcate a theatrical, modern meeting space that is an emblem for the public architecture of mid-century North Beach. The North Shore Historic District is significant at the local level in the areas of Community Planning and Development and Architecture. This is due to the distinctive layout of the residential and commercial neighborhood, which has been adapted to its artificial island setting and for the variety of its architectural styles that reflect the revival styles and modern movements in the decade immediately prior to World War II and the impact of a more dynamic modernism in architecture in the post-war era. By 1925, Miami Beach's 'North Shore' area presented a nearly continuous grid of streets platted with 50-feet lots from 63rd Street to 87"' Terrace. An exception was the swath of LTC # North Shore Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places Page 5 0( 7 territory belonging to the United States Coast Guard (former site of the Biscayne House of Refuge). A large portion of the government tract was surplused by executive order of President Warren G. Harding just after Harding's January 1921 visit to Miami Beach. This surplus land between present day 73`d and 75"' Streets was surveyed and platted by the U.S. Department of Interior, to be known as Harding Townsite. The remaining government tract between 72nd and 73rtl Streets remained under the control of the Coast Guard until 1941 and became today s North Shore Park.' The platting of the northern and western fringes of the North Shore district was completed by 1946. As the district urbanized; it developed an architectural character calibrated to its resort identity, its modest means and its speculative planning. Beginning in the late 1930's, the district was more intensively developed with modern garden apartment building types. Adapted to both the narrow lot structure of the city and local environment conditions with also mustrate a rich variety of popular architectural themes, including Art Deco, Moderne. Post-War Modern and Classical Revival. These new types, multiplied in large numbers, produce a densely built environment where low-scale buildings allow landscaping to moderate the urban frontages. The scale of architecture in the district is largely consistent; a product of the fact that so much of the area was constructed in a short period of time by a relatively small group of architects whose prodigious production literally gave shape to the district. Young architects like Gerard Pitt, Gilbert Fein, Harry O. Nelson, Naihan A. Seiderman, Leonard Glasser, and Donald G. Smith dominated the new construction. Together, these architects defined a new direction of mid-century modern design in Miami Beach. Their buildings, conditioned to the environmental forces of a hot and humid climate as well as to the need to distinguish buildings within a competitive environment, led to a daring and unexpected expression of modern themes. While the vast majority of the district can be characterized as Postwar Modern, this style nonetheless demonstrates a high degree of continuity with earlier architectural trends, including vernacular, Mediterranean and 1 The House of Refuge site was, 'by authority of Congress. exchanged for a site on Causeway Island, in Biscayne Bay, for the use of the Coast Guard." "Harding Townsite /South Altos Del Mar Historic District Designation Report'' (Miami Beach: City of Miami Beach, Planning, Design and Historic Preservation Division) 1966, P. 16. LTC # North Shore Historic District listed on the Nations! Register of Historic Places Page 6 of 7 Summary -- Normandy Isles Historic District The Normandy Isles Historic District, located on two islands in the northwest area of Miami Beach, comprises one of the city's most progressively planned areas and is largely colonized by small commercial structures and apartment buildings that collectively form one of the region's most coherent built expressions ofmid-20`"century resort architecture. Its boundaries span from Indian Creek on the east, to Biscayne Bay on the south, to Rue Versailles and Rue Notre Dame on the west, and to the Normandy Shores Golf Course on the north. Within this roughly 14 block area are 252 buildings and one object, 222 of which are contributing and 31 of which are non- contributing. Constructed between 1925 and 1963, the contributing buildings represent a variety of styles including Mediterranean Revival, Classical Revival, Masonry Vernacular, Minimal Traditional, Art Deco and Moderne; however the vast majority of the buildings are of the Postwar Modern style with distinct local adaptations that have become recognized as "Miami Modernism" {MiMo). The Normandy Isles Historic District is significant under National Register criterion A and C at the local level in the areas of Community Planning and Development and Architecture. This is due to the distinctive layout of the residential and commercial neighborhood, which reflects principles of the City Beautiful and Garden City movements and for the variety of its architectural styles that reflect the revival styles and modern movements in the decade immediately prior to World War II and the impact of a more dynamic modernism in architecture in the post-war era. The properties are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places within the following historic contexts: Early Development of the North Beach Area (1919-1929), Depression Era and Wartime Development (1930-1945) and Post-World War II Boom (1946-1963). The latter context includes buildings less than 50 years old that are eligible for listing under Criteria Consideration G. The planning of Normandy Isle is an exception to the engineer's grid that characterizes most of North Beach. Henri Levy's Normandy Beach Properties Corporation began development of the Normandy Isles in 1926. The site comprised 450 acres on two natural mangrove islands in Biscayne Bay. directly west of Levy's Normandy Beach South subdivision. Nominally Chemed French (undoubtedly an homage to Levy's homeland), the Isle of Normandy was particularly distinguished by its generous infrastructure and comprehensive planning. The island's Oceanside (1926) and Trouville (1926) subdivisions, both completed prior to the real estate bust of the same year, were designed by D.E. Rossetter, an engineer noted as'a master city builder' who was formerly associated with Carl G. Fisher Properties. The picturesque, gracefully curving and tree-lined parkways, ample waterfront lots and a golf course were combined with esplanades and a civic monument in a central place that functioned as a town center. Bay Drive. which encircled Normandy Island; was a 70-foot "whiteway" boulevard (referring to a roadway lighted with the White Way lighting system, not aneon-lit thoroughfare in the style of the "Great White Way": Broadway). In a strategy reminiscent of Carl Fisher and perhaps inspired by Schultze 8 Weavers contemporary but un-built Villa Biscayne cooperative apartment building project on North Bay Road. a large site at the southeast corner of the island, on the axis of Brest Esplanade, was set aside for the development of a grand hotel. Levy also conceived and promoted the Isle of Normandy as an element of the proposed Everglades Avenue Causeway linking North Beach to mainland Miami s growing northern districts, as well as to Hialeah Park Racetrack, which lay directly to the west. The Miami Beach City Council endorsed the causeway project in December 1925, making it possible to proceed with preliminary work. Initial plans were prepared by an engineer named Lassiter and submitted to the U.S. Corp of Engineers for approval as Miami's third causeway (after the Collins Causeway and County Causeway). The Everglades Avenue Causeway was dependent for a LTC # North Shore Historic District fisted on the Natfona! Register of Historic Places Page 7 of 7 large part of its length on the divided parkway system called North and South Everglades Concourses (later renamed 71 s' Street and Normandy Drive) that bisected the Isle of Normandy. The two roads met at Vendome Plaza, whose triangular layout formed the commercial and civic center for the area. At the center of Vendome Plaza was the Vendome Fountain, a centerpiece of the island's civic arts program. The Normandy Isles would emerge, like Coral Gables, Miami Shores, Miami Springs, Opa Locka, and other Miami garden city suburbs, as a decorous laboratory of "City Beautiful" era planning and modern community development. Although conceived, planned and themed by developer Henri Levy in the 1920's, and initially developed in the 1920's and 30's, the islands were largely urbanized in the postwar period. Comprehensively zoned, the island yielded well-defined areas of nnmmarrial r~A„Ai~.,,.,o.,r of the fact that so much of the area was constructed in a compact period of time I small group of architects whose prodigious production literally gave shape to ~e development of coherent districts of modest apartment-hotels and commer s particularly notable. Largely one andtwo-story garden-oriented resiriantia~ n. ~~i~~ ommumty within each building as well as along the streets. The con around the Vendome Plaza and fountain, is particularly good urban ndy Isles approximates a fully developed garden city. Largely built in the postwar period, the vast majority of the district can be characterized as modern. The architectural vocabulary of its myriad small buildings reflects an unusual assemblage ofmid-century themes. Young architects like Gilbert M. Fein, Frank Wyatt Woods and Gerard Pitt dominated the new construction, while other more established architects like Joseph DeBrita, Leonard Glasser, Harry O. Nelson, and Manfred Ungaro were also quite influential. Together, these architects defined a new direction ofmid-century modern design in Miami Beach. The mostly flat-roofed buildings, faced infield stone, slump brick, patterned stucco and perforated concrete screens, punctuated by idiosyncratic pylon forms, projecting concrete fins and decorative modern metal-works, often wrapped around intimate garden patios, convey a consistent architectural sensibility characteristic of the North Beach area of Miami Beach. It nonetheless demonstrates a high degree of continuity with earlier architectural trends, including vernacular, Mediterranean and Moderne style buildings. The architects acclaimed for the construction of South Beach, only 50 blocks to the south, are still present here. Indeed, significant buildings by L. Murray Dixon, Henry Hohauser, Igor Polevitzky, Albert Anis, Victor H. Nellenbogen and B. Robert Swartburg left a small but notable footprint. For good measure, these earlier styles remain interspersed among its mid-century modern structures.