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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: 10-08-03 Application Number: 2003-0918 Property Location: 106 N Main Street, South Bend, IN (108 N Main Street) Property Owner: John Friedline Landmark or District Designation: John Mohler Studebaker Building, Local Landmark & National Register Multi -Resource Area Rating: 0/13 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT In 1910, the J M Studebaker building opened its doors as.South Bend's largest and its most modern office building. John Mohler Studebaker, Vice President and Chairman of the Board, had hired a noted Chicago architect, Solon Spencer Beman, to design the building with the best in fireproof construction —reinforced concrete, granite, terra cotta, marble, and fireproof tile. Beman also designed Pullman, Illinois, a planned industrial city with neighborhoods for workers and management just outside of Chicago, Sunnyside, the home of J M Studebaker, which once stood on the corner of Eddy and Jefferson, the Studebaker Administration building, the South Bend YMCA, and a host of other buildings and residences located in the Midwest. JMS building is an example of the commercial vitality of downtown South Bend during its boom in the early decades of the twentieth century as well as an architectural gem from an era that valued an urban core, visual splendor and'ornate details. This Classical Revival building still stands as a reminder of the civic ideals and interests of one of the city's most powerful and wealthiest families — the Studebakers. It is also an example of the 1960s aesthetic viewpoint in favor of modernizing urban buildings and fagades with simplified lines and cheaper, modern materials. As a victim of South Bend's urban renewal projects, much of the first -story terra cotta stonework and the portico entryway facing Main Street were stripped from the JMS building when the renovations occurred. Aluminum siding, reflective granite, a pebbly composite material, new fixed windows and new storefront entrances now scare the first floor of this building. The original terra cotta header/sills, terra cotta window surrounds and the three plate glass windows that were once visible in the same bay as the Christian Science Reading Room as shown in a drawing of the building may still exist beneath the visible aluminum siding. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The applicant John Friedline, owner, and Skip McCray, the representative of City Awning, propose to install a 14' long, 4' tall, and 5' deep awning above the main entrance to the Christian Science Reading Room at 106 N Main Street, the J. M. Studebaker building. The bottom of the awning will rise 8' 6" above the sidewalk. The awning material will consist of a fabric covering, aluminum frame, and Z brackets. The Z brackets would be attached to the masonry wall of the building with 3/8" by 4" Lag bolts. The bolts would pierce the non-contributing aluminum siding covering the fagade as well as what is underneath this siding, possibly the terra cotta header and window surrounds and the plate glass windows. RECOMMENDATION The applicant does not know whether or not original terra cotta masonry work or another portion of the original fagade remain beneath the aluminum siding. Studying historic photographs and drawings of the building as well as the building itself, there is a possibility that the aluminum siding covers three plate glass windows set above a terra cotta or stone header and in between terra cotta or stone surrounds. The fastenings of the awning may pierce original parts of the fagade if not the plate glass windows. As the bolted Z brackets could possibly damage hidden portions of the original fagade, staff cannot recommend approval of this application until assurance can be given that the bolts will not penetrate terra cotta or the plate glass windows. If the material behind the aluminum siding is not original, staff then recommends approval of the awning once this is determined.