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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHDC2021-010 AMFA staff reportPage 1 of 19 DATE: May 6, 2021 APPLICANT: Cindy Pruitt, Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects ADDRESS: 501 E 9th Street FILE NUMBER: HDC2021-010 COA REQUEST: Signage, Lighting, and Other Hardscape PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION: The subject property is located at 501 E 9th Street. The property’s legal description is “Lots A Through F, E.O. Bagley's Subdivision of Lots Subdivision, Little Rock and Lot 5 , Block 154, Original City of Little Rock, and Lot 6, and a 60' Street South of and adjacent to Block 154, Original City of Little Rock and Lots 1 Through 3, Block 155, Original City of Little Rock, and Lots 1 Through 6, Block 153, Original City of Little Rock and that part of the NW 1/4 of Section 11, Township 1 North, Range 11 West, lying East of the Quapaw Line, West of McAlmont Street, and North of East 13th Street, in The City of Little Rock and that Part of The SW 1/2 of Section 2, Township 1 North, Range 12 West, Lying South of East 9th Street, West of McAlmont Street, and East of the Quapaw Line, in the City of Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas” The original building of the Arkansas Arts Center was built in 1937. The 2006 survey form states: “Original building was constructed as an Art Center. Over the years, modifications and additions have been made with a major modification completed in 2004.” There have been seven additions to the original building. See graphic on page 11 of this report. It is considered a "Non-Contributing Structure" to the MacArthur Park Historic District. Signage, Lighting, and Other Hardscape is included in this application. The signage portion covers all signage for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (A/MFA) and two signs for MacArthur Park. The Lighting is for the crescent drive and lighting the front area of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The Hardscape portion is to remove the plaza area in the DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 723 West Markham Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1334 Phone: (501) 371-4790 Fax:(501) 399-3435 www.littlerock.gov STAFF REPORT ITEM NO. Two. Location of Project Page 2 of 19 front lawn; add sidewalks and change materials on existing sidewalks; and add benches. A letter from AHPP is included near the end of the staff report on page 10. RECENT ACTIONS ON THIS SITE:  On August 14, 2019, a COA was approved for the renovation and expansion of the main building with lighting along a portion of crescent drive.  On April 14, 2014, a COA was approved for a banner on the northwest portion of the building facing Ninth Street.  On November 9, 2009, a COA was approved for the installation of the plaza area with benches and lighting.  On May 7, 1998, a COA was approved with conditions for a 31,500 sf addition to the building complex.  Other actions were found but are older and not relevant. PROPOSAL AND WRITTEN ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION BASED OFF OF INTENT AND GUIDELINES: The signage portion covers all signage for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (A/MFA) and two signs for MacArthur Park. The Lighting is for the crescent drive and lighting the front area of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The Hardscape portion is to remove the plaza area in the front lawn; add sidewalks and change materials on existing sidewalks; and add benches. Signage The signage is broken into Monument signs, Macarthur Park identification signs, Arrival signs, Wayfinding Signs, Banners, and Incidental Signs. Per zoning code, all signs must be at least five feet behind the property line. Drawing submitted reference street instead of property line. Actual dimensions are not known. MONUMENT SIGNS: Two monument signs are proposed for the site. One is located near the west entrance off 9th Street on the front lawn (area north of the crescent drive and south of 9th Street) and one in the south parking lot near the southernmost vehicular entry. The monument signs have a cast in place concrete base and a double-sided fabricated metal sign cabinet with a powder coat finish. Letters will be pin mounted. On both signs, the base will be in concrete, Warm Concrete color, the metal cabinet will be painted in Chantilly Lace color with the lettering in Graynola, shown below. Linear lighting of the sign will be in-ground. Sign 100, the Primary Monument sign, located off 9th Street is 40’ long by 5’ tall for a total of 200sf of sign face. It is location 54 shown on page 12 of this report. Sign 101, the Secondary Monument sign, located off Commerce Street, is 28’ x 5’ tall for a total of 140 sf. It is location 74 shown on page 13 of this report. Contributing and Non-contributing map Page 3 of 19 Primary Monument sign #100 proposed at west entrance at 9th Street. Secondary Monument sign #101 proposed at southernmost entry on Commerce Street. Sign colors for all signs from left to right top row: Warm Concrete and Stainless Steel. Bottom Row, Diffuser film white, PMS 7579C, Graynola, Neutro Gray and Chantilly Lace. MACARTHUR PARK IDENTIFICATION SIGNS: This proposal includes the removal of two signs and the addition of one sign. They are located along 9th street. The proposed sign is a double-sided fabricated metal sign cabinet with a painted finish. Letters will be pin mounted. No lighting is specified. Sign 53, the identification for MacArthur Park Monument sign, is 7’-8” tall x 3’-0” wide’ tall for a total of 23 sf. It will be painted Iron Ore SW7069 with a UV resistant clear coat. The signs to be removed are numbered 1 and 2 and the new sign is numbered 53 and the locations are shown on page 16 of this report. A second option for the new sign with the text horizontal is shown on page 16. Page 4 of 19 Sign #1 to be removed. Sign #2 to be removed. One option of Proposed Sign #53. ARRIVAL SIGNS: Two arrival signs are proposed. They are located on the wall of the courtyard at the north entrance and the south facing wall at the south entrance. These will have donor names in 4 ½” tall letters of ¾” thick water-cut stainless steel letters with a non-directional brushed face and sandblasted returns. They will be unpainted. They will be pin mounted to the building. No lighting is specified. Sign 102, the Courtyard arrival sign is at location 60 shown on page 14 of this report. The text will be “Placeholder Name 1937 Courtyard Entrance”. Sign 103, the Terrace arrival sign (sometimes called Park arrival sign) is at location 66 shown on page 13 of this report. The text of will be “Placeholder Name Park Entrance”. WAYFINDING SIGNS: Eight wayfinding signs are proposed for the site. Wayfinding signs discussed in this paragraph include directional signage to entrances, gift shop, parking, city streets, etc. They are located on the north, west, and south sides of the building. They are a double-sided fabricated metal sign cabinet with a powder coat finish with screen printed letters. Linear lighting of the sign will be in-ground. Signs will be Chantilly lace color background with Graynola color lettering and graphics. The signs are 1’9” wide and 7’-6” tall for a total of 13.125 sf of sign face. They are at location 56, 58, 62, 64, 68, 70, 72, and 76 shown on page 12 of this report. BANNERS: Three banner signs are proposed for the site. These banners will change over time to promote different exhibits or events. They are located along 9th Street to the east of the A/MFA. The signs are constructed of a six inch metal pole with fabricated banner. The pole will be painted Neutro Gray color. Lighting will be from Wayfinding sign. Page 5 of 19 an attached fixture from above the banner. Sign 125, the Freestanding Banner sign is 5’ wide by 15’ tall for a total of 65sf of sign face. The bottom of the sign face is 10’ above ground level. It is location at 48, 50, and 52 shown on page 12 of this report. Banner sign Illumination of banner signs INCIDENTAL SIGNS: Twenty-three incidental signs are proposed for the site. Incidental signs discussed in this paragraph include street numbers; hours of operation; no smoking; no firearms; parking signs for reserved, loading dock, pickup, and drop-off; etc. They are located on the north, west, and south sides of the building and in the park at intersections of walkways. Lighting is not specified on any of these signs. Their locations are shown on page 14 and 15 of this report. The street number sign, number 130, is 12’ tall, fabricated metal letters pin mounted to the wall in Graynola color and is located on the north wall. Sign 131 and 132, the entry signs, are shown below are vinyl applied to the glass on the interior surface. They are a combination of Diffuser film White and PMS7579C in color. Signage on Entries Parking signs Page 6 of 19 Signs 140, 150, and 151 are vehicular parking and regulatory signs. They are made of 1/8” aluminum plate with silkscreened graphics mounted to a 2” diameter painted pole with cap. Pole color will be Neutro Gray and sign plate will be in Chantilly Lace color. Graphics and messaging will be in Graynola color. Additional signs for traffic direction will be removed and reinstalled to account for traffic flow changes. Lighting This proposal is to remove 14 of the existing lights along the crescent drive and replace with a total of 21 lights to match those already approved with the approval of the building expansion. All removed lighting will be surrendered to the Parks and Recreation Department. Two Existing light standards with floodlights are proposed to be removed that currently used to illuminate the front of the Military Museum and its front yard. Two existing lights with globe style fixtures will be relocated to the front yard of the Military Museum for illumination. They will be located to the north of the east west sidewalk at the base of the front steps of the building. Existing light standards with floodlights to be removed. Existing light standards with globe style fixtures to be removed. Proposed light standard with fixtures to match previously approved lights. Hardscape This proposal is to remove the plaza area in front of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History along with the associated pool, benches, and lighting; switching the one way traffic flow on the crescent drive; removing yellow bollards in front of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Page 7 of 19 Military History; and removing the brick sidewalk along the crescent drive and replacing with concrete. On November 9, 2009, a COA was approved for the installation of the plaza area with benches and lighting. Later an application was approved for renovation of the historic fountain and pool. All those improvements are scheduled to be removed as shown on page 17 and 18 of this report. At that time, the traffic flow was changed the flow east to west. The yellow bollards were installed for the safety of school children getting off buses to walk around the bus to get to the front door of the Military Museum. The traffic flow has been proposed to be switched back to a west to east flow which will render the bollard useless. The western part of the drive will be one way east while a portion of the easternmost section will be two way. Parking will be on both sides of the drive in some areas. It is undetermined when the existing brick sidewalk laid in a herringbone pattern was installed. Historic postcards from c1905 show a sidewalk in that location. Staff has been informed that the sidewalk may date to the creation of the park in 1893 or thereafter. Bricks from the sidewalk will be salvaged for use if the Parks Department desires. New landscape will be installed to the north of the crescent drive, The Historic district Commission does not review the softscape - the plants - that will be installed. The HDC does review hardscape: the pattern of sidewalks, lights, benches, materials for such, etc. Currently, there is one sidewalk from 9th Street proceeding south through the plaza to the entrance of the Military Museum. In the proposal, there will be a sidewalk from 9th to the courtyard entry of the A/MFA on the western end. A central sidewalk will lead from 9th Street to the front door of the Military Museum with a branch that that will also lead to the courtyard entry of the A/MFA. A third sidewalk will leave 9th on the eastern end and roughly parallel the crescent drive westerly intersecting the previous mentioned sidewalks and end across from the courtyard entry. There is one additional sidewalk that will serve as a connector from the sidewalk that parallels the drive and the crescent drive on the eastern portion of the front lawn. These sidewalks will typically be 6’ wide and exposed small aggregate concrete. Proposed plan for north lawn Page 8 of 19 SUMMARY OF PRE-APPLICATION HEARING The applicant attended the March 12, 2021 pre application hearing. The comments from the commissioners are summarized as follows: It was discussed and agreed upon by the commissioners present that the application was not the typical pre-application meeting topic and that some or most of the design factors were not applicable. Comments were:  I remember a general consensus that the signage and lighting throughout the design was appropriate commercial signage and lighting and enhanced the new building design of the new Arts Center, which was previously approved.  I was encouraged that their lighting is focused downward so as not to disrupt the neighbors and the feel of the neighborhood.  Application is for signage and modifications to landscape design. No exceptions taken. Location , size, material , and lighting generally conform to the guidelines as described.  I really have no comments. I agree with Jeremiah Russell that what the A/MFA had to present was not what the DRC was envisioned to apply to. OR, if it needs to adapt to such things, I did not understand what guidelines applied. Overall, I see no guideline that would be affected. Staff believes that the application as submitted is appropriate for the district. This building, the A/MFA, has the largest footprint of any building in the district and is in the top four, if not the largest, in overall square footage. It sits on the largest parcel in the district and has some of the largest setbacks in the district. When evaluating this application, aspects of the signage is in scale with the building. The sidewalks have a meandering pattern as the other walks in the park. The Lighting matches the previously approved lighting. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS AND REACTION: At the time of distribution, there were no comments regarding this application. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval with the following conditions: 1. Obtaining a building permit or modification of existing building permit to cover additional costs. 2. Per zoning code, all signs must be at least five feet behind the property line. 3. Obtain sign permits for two monument signs and three banner signs. Page 9 of 19 Application Page 10 of 19 AHPP letter on conservation easement page 1 of 76 Page 11 of 19 AHPP letter on conservation easement page 2 of 76 (the remainder of the letter was an attachment of the application submittals.) Page 12 of 19 Sign location plan north monumental, wayfinding, and donor.(rotated) Page 13 of 19 Sign location plan south monumental wayfinding, and donor.(rotated) Page 14 of 19 Sign location plan north incidental Page 15 of 19 Sign location plan south incidental Page 16 of 19 Sign location plan MacArthur Park identification Second option of Proposed Sign #53. Page 17 of 19 Hardscape Demolition plan west.(rotated) Page 18 of 19 Hardscape Demolition plan east.(rotated) Page 19 of 19 Front Lawn perspective.