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I. The Sad History of Zoning in the Wedge (Lowry Hill East)
Map of Lowry Hill East |
As followers of the Healy Facebook page know, in October, the Zoning and Planning Committee for the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association (LHENA) met to look at a proposal by the Lander Group to redevelop a site on the northwest corner of Colfax Avenue and 24th Street in the Wedge. The proposal, presented by Peter Keely of Collage Architects, called to wreck two extant houses, 2316 and 2320 Colfax, and erect a five-story, 48-unit apartment building. While emphasizing the “green” aspects of the proposed building, Keely also repeatedly stressed that it was considerably smaller than R-6 zoning allows.
After Keely’s presentation, the large group in attendance spoke of their concerns. Comments ranged from outrage at the size of the project to arguments in support of it from the man who owns the two houses, Michael Crow. The majority of the response was decidedly negative. At the end of the discussion, Steve Benson, chair of the 2004 LHENA Zoning Task Force. spoke eloquently of the need to secure the livability of the neighborhood by preserving the extant houses. Keely, after saying earlier that the proposal was the only “economically feasible” one for Lander, agreed to come back with another one at the November meeting.
What has all this to do with Healy? The Orth House at 2320, currently a 17-unit rooming house, was designed and built by Healy. According to Michael Crow, the original architectural features are gone, and it would be no loss to wreck it. The architect reported that City Planning agrees, saying that it has “no historical value.” Well, if the house really is as torn up as they contend, I wonder who’s responsible. Could it be Crow, who has run the place as a rooming house for the 21 years he’s owned it?
I will return to the historical and architectural importance of 2320 in another post, but now I’d like to focus on zoning issues and how they relate to preservation. I know, zoning is one of those topics that put people to sleep. But before you start dozing off, please try to keep awake long enough to learn the background of zoning in the Wedge.
In 1963 the City upzoned much of Minneapolis, including the Wedge, to high density R-6 zoning. These were the postwar days when much of old Minneapolis fell to the wrecking ball (the Metropolitan Building, for example). When the Wedge was upzoned, the houses started to come down by the scores, replaced by two-and-a-half story walkup apartment buildings. The City made the north-south streets into “paired commuter one-way corridors”, that is, racetracks for suburbanites to speed through the scary inner city.
In 1970, a group of Wedge residents banded together to form LHENA for the purpose of cleaning up and stabilizing the neighborhood. They picked up trash, they fought slumlords, they put unruly tenants on notice, they started “The Wedge” neighborhood newspaper. Their main goals, however, were to better control traffic flow and to downzone the Wedge to a lower density designation.
Minneapolis’s first co-op market, the Wedge, was founded in 1974. |
Amazingly, LHENA partially succeeded in meeting these goals by getting rid of the north-south one-ways and by downzoning the inner core of the area south of 24th Street to R-2B. North of 24th Street, however, R-6 zoning remains in place for all of the existing houses. In 2004 LHENA’s Zoning Task Force submitted a detailed plan to the City, arguing why downzoning the Wedge apex is essential for retaining the unique character and livability of the neighborhood. The City (figuratively) threw the study into the wastebasket. Apparently the City is quite happy with R-6 in the apex and is looking forward to cramming into it as many units as possible.
On November 14th, Peter Keely returned to the LHENA Zoning and Planning Committee with a new plan for the 2316-20 redevelopment. The revised proposal, it turns out, requires no variances from the City to build. Big surprise, eh? The fact is that as long as R-6 zoning is in place, developers can build pretty much whatever they want, without the blessing of the community. Presenting this plan to the zoning committee is simply window-dressing for Lander. At the second meeting, the focus was on hearing and commenting on the proposal. Anders Christensen was allowed to speak briefly on the historical significance of the houses. A man who identified himself as a supporter of Michael Crow claimed that the Minnesota Historical Society says that 2320 has no historical importance (more on this in next post), and the committee’s attention returned to issues such as parking, the placement of garbage cans, the wonders of brownstone, etc. “Progress” marched on.
Returning soon to the Wedge? |
The most alarming aspect of this seemingly benign proposal is that it signals a return to the Bad Olde Days of house demolition, with the attendant fallout of displaced tenants. After nearly four decades of stability, the residents of Lowry Hill East–and those at City Hall–must decide if they really want to see the apex of the Wedge turned into a nondescript Midwestern version of the Bronx, indistinguishable from other redeveloped urban areas–or if they want to retain the distinctive charm of the existing blend of houses and smaller apartment buildings.
The reality is that with R-6 zoning, developments like this cannot be stopped via the mechanism of City government. But that is not to say they can’t be stopped. Lowry Hill East’s nickname “The Wedge” came about not only to reflect the shape of the neighborhood, but the direction of its political thrust.
If and when these two houses fall, others will inexorably come down, too. It would be the end of the Wedge as we know it. Preservationists, those who love the Wedge and its houses, it’s time to stand up and be counted.
–T.B.
Next: The architectural and historical importance of Healy houses in the Wedge.
Detail of the front porch: the ball-and-stick fretwork and stained glass windows. |
The south side, showing the barn (one of the few unchanged Healy barns still standing) and the back porch. |
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John Cuningham and Anders Christensen celebrate the former’s acquiring the Bennett-McBride House (house next door in background), June 28, 2012 (photo by M. Douglass) |
–T.B.
The Civil War monument at Lakewood Cemetery, where the memorial service, with a speech by Gov. Dayton, was held today. |
Years ago, my family would go to Lakewood on Memorial Day to place flowers from the garden on the graves of family members who once lived in our house. We had no relatives’ graves to visit in Minneapolis, so we adopted the Beardsleys, if only for a day. As we learned more about local master builders through researching the history of houses in the neighborhood, we added to our Lakewood visits a trip to the grave sites of the three most prominent of them: T.P. Healy, Henry Ingham, and Henry Parsons. (When we eventually found and contacted the descendants of Ingham, his granddaughter remarked, “So you’re the ones who have been putting flowers on Granddad’s grave!”)
1712 Dupont Avenue South: An 1897 Healy house whose exterior hasn’t changed much over the last century. |
The marker, with caterpillar and feather. |
The fireplace nook in a beautifully preserved 1894 Healy Queen Anne. |
The stained glass windows on the staircase landing of an 1899 Healy house. |
The original tiled floor in the vestibule of another 1899 Healy. |
On Memorial Day we thank T.P. Healy, Henry Ingham, Henry Parsons, Nels Jenson, C.C. Johnson, and the other master builders and architects who created the old houses that we live in or pass by every day on the streets of Minneapolis.
Let me conclude with my favorite quote about builders and their buildings from the “Lamp of Memory” section (appropriate for Memorial Day) of John Ruskin’s 1849 work, The Seven Lamps of Architecture:
When we build, let us think that we build forever.
Let it not be for present delight nor for present use
alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will
thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on
stone, that a time is to come when those stones
will be held sacred because our hands have
touched them, and that men will say, as they look
upon the labor and wrought substance of them,
“See! This our fathers did for us.”
I think Healy and the others could relate to that.
Staircase spindles in an 1895 Healy. |
–T.B.
Note: This is a corrected version of the May 23rd posting, edited after a recent interview with Wayne Tinberg. A new post on that interview will follow.
The roadbed for 35W being laid in Richfield in 1960. |
The previous blog post was devoted to three Healy houses lost to freeway construction and one to changes in fashion. So far, the entries on this blog have presented the building list of Healy houses in roughly chronological order.
At this point, it may be helpful to take a look specifically at all the houses wrecked for I-35W construction in 1959-60, no matter what their building date.
According to city records, nine houses designed by T.P. Healy were built on the west side of the 3100 block of Second Ave. South. In order of house number, they are:
3106, built in 1888 for $3,000
3108, built in 1888 for $3,000
3142, built in 1887 for $4,000
1896–3116
An old photo of 3130 Second Avenue (courtesy Robert-Jan Quene). It would be interesting to find more photos of these lost Healy houses. |
The most famous resident of that block was Richard W. Sears, co-founder of the Sears and Roebuck Company.
–T.B.
425 Groveland Avenue |
Gilbert Walker would die in 1928; his wife lived until 1951.
From Wikipedia: The (Walker) Museum’s focus on modern art began in the 1940’s , when a gift from Mrs. Gilbert Walker made possible the acquisition of works by important artists of the day including sculptures by Picasso, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and others.
T. P. Healy had built a house for J. B. Gilfillan at 218 Clifton Ave. in 1905-06, designed by the same architect, Ernest Kennedy.
Nels Jenson, the builder of this house, was Healy’s foreman.The second floor porch below the tower, the front of the house curved, the balcony railing curved, unique among existing Healy houses. |
Detail of front porch, with the classic double entry doors. For everyone who has been here, this is the spiritual center of the Healy Block. |
The front gable end with half-round window and fishscale shakes. |
-A.C.
Bev Wigney, a native of eastern Ontario, is doing some checking into Healy’s life and work there. She is the owner of a house that had been built by T.P.’s brother, John H. Healy. She reports:
“Now that I am back in Round Hill, I went through some of my papers and found this survey page on a house that lists Theron Healy as owner from 1867 to 1870. Interesting is that the previous property owner was John H. Healy, who was the owner-builder of my old place here at Round Hill. I will post a link to the reverse side of this page which lists the history of ownership. Unfortunately, this house has been radically altered and I would not have recognized it but for my neighbour next door knowing the house as soon as he saw the photo and I asked him about the last owner.”
The document with image of Healy’s first family home, dated 1996. The original house was undoubtedly a simple Greek Revival design. |
Theron and Mary Anne were married in 1866. He was 22; she 19. Their first two children, Lena (1867) and Alice Edna (architect John Cuningham’s grandmother, 1868) were born in Round Hill. By 1870 they apparently had moved to Annapolis, NS, where their first son, Charles, was born.
John Cuningham on a recent trip to Nova Scotia discovered that T. P. Healy owned ships moving hardware up and down the New England/Maritime Canadian Coast. Did his hardware business grow out of the Round Hill Woodworks?
Theron Potter Healy was born in Round Hill, Nova Scotia, Canada, on May 14th, 1844. In 1866 he married Mary Anne Jefferson, also of Round Hill. From what we can piece together, Healy started his career as a shipbuilder. He moved to Halifax, where he continued in the shipbuilding trade. However, disaster struck in 1883, when one of the vessels he owned was lost in a storm. Because of this loss, and probably also because wooden ships were at the end of their commercial use, Healy picked up his growing family and moved to Minneapolis. Three years later his first house went up at 3137 Second Avenue South.
Theron and Mary Ann with their children. l-r back row: Alice, Charles, Dora, Lena; middle row: Reginald, T.P.,Mary Anne, Erena; front row: Birdie, Chester, Bessie. |
(Thanks to the Halifax (NS) Public Library, info on the shipwreck that spurred T.P.’s move to the US–Vessel: Mary E. Banks, Type: Schooner (wood, 2 masts, 1 deck), Tonnage: 50.2, Length: 62.4′, Breadth: 17.6, Draft: 8′, Built at Barrington, NS, 1863, Date lost: August 30, 1883, Cause: Stranded during gale on shoals off L’Ardoise, Cape Breton, Value: vessel $1,500+ cargo $2,000, Owner: Theron Healy.)
Much research remains to be done on Healy’s work in Canada. Round Hill is a small community on the Annapolis River, off the Bay of Fundy on Nova Scotia’s west coast. Here are images from Round Hill currently on the Web:
This vernacular Gothic Revival house in rural Round Hill is listed for sale at $198,.000. No building date is given, but its style suggests it was built mid-19th century. Shown at right is its barn with the gambrel roof Healy used so frequently in his later designs. |
The Annapolis Valley from Round Hill in autumn. |
–T.B.
Permit information:
3120 Third Ave. So.
Owner: T. P. Healy
Architect:
Builder:
B24031
11-4-90 / 5-1-91
Est. cost: $6,000.
The significance of this house is told by the building dates. Healy begins to build a house in the winter. Now how difficult would that have been in 1891? |
Although the house has been clad in asbestos shakes sometime mid-20th century, according to Mina Blyly-Strauss, who grew up in the house, it’s “not so pretty on the outside, but has all the stained glass and natural woodwork throughout. The second floor layout matches 3116 Third and the first floor is similar. including a very similar entry staircase in the front, though–unlike 3116– the third floor is unfinished. It was duplexed at one time, but the only thing left of the second floor kitchen are the sink and some upper cabinets.“
Underneath the siding and porch enclosure, one can still see remnants of the original Healy exterior in the second-floor bay window and balcony, the rounded section under the side gable, and the high front gable end. |
A collage of images of 3120 from the Healy Block 1998 photo series (photo courtesy Mina Blyly-Strauss) |
–A.C.
Permit information:
3101 Second Ave. So.
30 x 60 Wood dwelling
Owner: T. P. Healy
Architect:
Builder:
B23331
8-23-90 / 11-1-90
$6,000.
Originally the residence of Dr. Rufus H. Lane, this Queen Anne is one of the most visible Healys, well known by people exiting 35W at 31st Street. |
Detail over the porch entrance |
The entrance has classic double solid doors. The classical porch columns, dentils, and this appliqué decoration look like a very early attempt to neo-classicise a Queen Anne. Healy built a house on the southern corner of this block the previous year. He seems determined here to show us everything he’s got.
The third floor enclosed porch, with detailing above echoing design above entrance. The paneled gable end is similar to that of 2936 Portland, built the same year. |
Back porch on the side, eyebrow dormer curved bay under northside gable end (probably with both curved glass window sash and curved glass storms, curved wraparound front porch, corner tower with a bell roof, and that is just the north side.The trees in front protect this house from the western sun in the summer and help absorb the noise of 35W. |
Third floor porch below paneled gable end, the corner tower with the bell roof, and the second floor porch with the cat-slide roof. |