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CERTIFICATE. OF APPROPRIATENESS STAFF REPORT is APPLICATION -- 1997-0902 PROPERTY -- 1314 East Wavne Street South Bend, IN OWNER -- Jeff Bernard DESIGNATION -- EW-LHD RATING -- Contributing C/10 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT Whitcomb and Keller built this H.R. Stapp designed Colonial Revival house in 1926. William B. and Madge T. Schaefer bought the house in 1926. Mr. Schaefer owned a wholesale lumber business which he operated out of downtown South Bend. Mr. Shaefer resided in the house until his death on September 23, 1960. The current owner, Jeff Bernard, purchased the property on January 26, 1994. PROPOSED CHANGE Applicant proposes to replace three deteriorating basement windows with block glass windows, for energy efficiency and security. STANDARDS The Preservation Guidelines for East Wayne Street state: b) .... The Guidelines for the East Wayne Street District follow the • Rehabilitation Model.... II.C.1 Required Original windows and doors, including sash, lintels, sills, shutters ..... shall be retained -or when deteriorated beyond repair, replaced with units and trim resembling the original. II.C.3 Prohibited Original windows, doors and hardware shall not be discarded when they can be restored and reused in place. Inappropriate new window or door features such as aluminum insulating glass combinations that require removal of original windows and doors may not be installed. RECOMMENDATION The Owners propose to replace existing deteriorated basement windows with glass block. The subject windows are somewhat unusual in that they are located in the joist space of the house rather than below the joist plane as is more typical. Because of the unusually high location of these windows in the foundation wall. they have no window wells as are common for typical basement windows. The resultant at -grade location of the window sills here have been built-up with landscaping material, most notably gravel and the resulting accumulation of surface water in contact with the steel window frames has no -doubt contributed to deterioration of the metal. The guidelines for the East Wayne Street Historic District indicate that windows should be replaced with similar materials when their replacement is required by deterioration. Therefore the proposed glass block is not appropriate and Staff recommends denial of the application. The permanent • sealing of basement windows is probably not desirable for the loss of natural lighting and ventilation possibilities, however if the openings were to be permanently closed, infill of brick at the front facade would cause a less obtrusive visual impact on the character of the building and site. DBD 9/9/97