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PROPOSED NORTH ST. JOSEPH STREET LOCAL HISTORIC DISTRICT: CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION AND HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend & St. Joseph County In March of 1998 the Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc. (NNN) presented the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) with a proposal to designate a portion of their service area as a Local Histpric Preservation District. The'proposed area includes several properties along the east side and one property on the west side of St. Joseph Street along the 500 and 600 blocks (see attached map). - The area contains 11 primary structures consisting - of residential structures. , There are also numerous ancillary structures including garages, sheds and other buildings. The neighborhood association petition states that its purpose is "Promote and facilitate enhancement and revitalization of the near northwest neighborhood of South Bend through increased home ownership, economic development, and social outreach". It is understood that this application is collateral with a cooperative project of NNN and Memorial� Hospital to rehabilitate several of these properties for resale as affordable housing. Of the 13 established lots within the proposed .district, NNN has site control of 9 (approximately 70%), The neighborhood has not met to negotiate standards that would govern the District if designated. However the petitioners would like to adopt standards identical to those governing the adjacent River Bend Local Historic District. The HPC staff has been analyzing the proposal according to the 'responsibilities mandated ,by ordinance that state that the "designation of —Historic Preservation Districts" should be "on the basis of historical and cultural significance, educational value 'and —uitability for preservation. [1]In addition, HPC policy adds a fourth criteria -- -valuation with respect to an area's "portrayal of the environment of a group of people in an historical era." [2]. This analysis has also. -included, an update of the numerical count of the Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Survey I , specifically assessing the number of remaining contributing and noncontributing structures in the area. Research relevant to the historicil development of the area has also been conducted.[3] RECOMMENDATION [4] It is the HPC's opinion that this area warrants designation as a Local Historic District. The rationale for this recommendation is based on the following conclusion: 1. The proposed area fulfills the basic criteria relevant to the established of a Local Historic District as mandated by city ordinance and HPC policy; 2. The proposed area fulfills the generally accepted criteria for local historic designation used by this and other commissions, 3. The proposed area contains a manageable number of structures that could beadequatelyadministered with present staffing; 4. The owners of this neighborhood have demonstrated adequate support for the proposal. DISCUSSION Conclusion #1 The proposed area readily fulfills the criteria of historical and cultural significance. It is one of the last significant examples of middle-class, early twentieth-century, river -side neighborhoods in South Bend that has not been protected by preservation ordinance. As such, it remains as a'coherent, compact collection of buildings reflective of a specific -era in South Bend development. The majority of the structures in this neighborhood are of the same vintage built between 1903 and 1920. They remain as a cohesive neighborhood that is much the same as when the -a - rea was developed. As a group, -the structures are suitable for preservation because of their cohesiveness and similarity in age; scale, materialsandarrangement 6n____the landscape.