The recent Duluth City Council debate over replacement windows for City Hall illustrated how our city officials are either uninformed about or have no regard for the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission.
It must be out of either ignorance or disrespect that our councilors, mayor, city attorney and city architect apparently don't understand or appreciate the role of the preservation commission. Hoping it is simple ignorance, I sent each a copy of the ordinance that created the Duluth Historic Preservation Commission as well as the bylaws that guide it.
Briefly, the commission is a group of citizen volunteers that, according to its bylaws, is "designed to serve in an advisory capacity to the City Council and Administration and is further empowered to perform certain quasi-judicial functions."
One function is to designate landmark buildings and, through the Certificate of Appropriateness process, guide landmark building owners in making historically compliant renovations. It is against Duluth law to alter a landmark building's exterior without first obtaining a Certificate of Appropriateness, or COA.
As a landmark building, Duluth City Hall, including its windows, cannot be altered without a COA. The preservation commission has issued no such certificate -- yet the city is allowing itself to circumvent the law to install windows declared inappropriate by the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office, which regulates historic building renovations.
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Yet when the owners of Duluth's historic City Hall at 132 E. Superior St. wanted to install replacement windows the state historic preservation office declared inappropriate, the city denied a COA. It is nothing less than hypocrisy for the city to deny one landmark building owner a COA and not bind itself by the same law. It also sends a message to other landmark building owners that it is OK to circumvent laws that govern those buildings.
This is hardly the first time city officials have thumbed their noses at the local heritage preservation commission. Last year, the City Council voted to allow St. Louis County to demolish its historic jail -- a Duluth landmark building -- if the county reapplied for a permit after an established date. Fortunately, a buyer stepped in. Not only would demolition have violated Duluth law, it would have potentially exposed taxpayers to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by preservationists.
Another attempted move by the city makes it clear it doesn't want the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission in the way. The city recently tried to eliminate the commission by making it a body in name only and by turning over its duties to the Planning Commission -- this despite the new Comprehensive Plan's emphasis on heritage preservation. Eliminating the preservation commission would have negated Duluth's status as a Certified Local Government, a status that makes the city eligible for federal funding through the state historic preservation office. Fortunately, the city abandoned the idea.
The city's lack of regard for its historic preservation commission is nothing new, and it is hardly unique to this current administration or council. The commission is the only one known in the nation in a city of Duluth's size and with Duluth's historic building stock that operates without a budget and without a professional staff member. Currently, the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission doesn't even have a secretary, even though its bylaws state that the city planning director or surrogate must act in that role.
This disregard for both the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission and city laws to protect and preserve landmark buildings puts Duluth on a slippery slope that could lead to the compromise and depletion of our historic building stock. Indeed, it jeopardizes some of the very architectural assets that make Duluth ... well, Duluth.
Without a historic preservation commission -- or without our elected officials showing respect for the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission and its bylaws -- Duluth could easily become Anytown, USA, at a time when we need to stand apart to attract more business and tourism. Our rich history is one reason visitors flock to our shores. Continued disrespect of the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission could compromise the financial well-being of both the city and its residents.
It's time for our city officials to change their attitude and start working with -- not against -- the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission.
Tony Dierckins of Duluth is an author, publisher and historian who served on the Duluth Historic Preservation Commission from 2005 to 2009.
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