Historic Preservation – Page 11 – Garavaglia Architecture, Inc.

Save California State Parks

The state budget cuts will close state parks.

From the California State Parks Foundation:

The Governor signed a revised Fiscal Year 2009-2010 state budget, based on the package of bills sent to him by the Legislature on July 24. In using his blue-pencil veto authority, the Governor exacted an additional $6.2 million cut to the state park system, bringing the total General Fund cut to $14.2 million. It is expected that this will result in the closure of more than 100 of California’s 279 state parks, more than 1/3 of the state park system!

Take action now to help stop these closures!

The Department of Parks and Recreation has not yet released a list of which parks will be included on this closure list or when exactly park closures will start taking place. We will provide you with updates as details are released.

The news of park closures is not only devastating to park users, but also to local economies. Please take a moment to send a message to your legislators urging them to take action to stop these closures. Our state parks need your support now more than ever before!

Ukiah Railroad Station: City gets a 50-year lease

The Ukiah Daily Journal last week reported that the Ukiah City Council approved a lease contract with the North Coast Railroad Authority. This allows the project to move forward to restore the depot to its 1929 condition.

Garavaglia Architecture, Inc. is currently underway designing the upgrades recommended in our original Resource Rehabilitation Report. The depot retains a high level of integrity and strongly conveys the association of railroad development in northern California and the economic growth of the City of Ukiah. The railroad development made Ukiah important for shipping of agricultural products. The depot also serviced excursion day-trips from San Francisco for tourists escaping the city life. It is significant for the Southern Pacific passenger operations from 1929 to 1942 and is the only intact building in the Ukiah railroad yard of this area. For more information on the project click on the year 1929 on the timeline.

Click here to read the full article.

Fiddletown Project Wins CPF Preservation Design Award

The historic Chinese structures in Fiddletown has just been selected as a winning project for the Preservation Design Awards.

The General Store (left) and Gambling Hall (right) of Fiddletown. Photo by Kelly Thomas

The California Preservation Foundation just selected the Fiddletown Project Team with a 2009 Preservation Design Award in the preservation category this week. The c. 1850 Chinese Gambling Hall and General Store are part of a grouping of four buildings specifically associated with Chinese miners from the Gold Rush. Along with the Chew Kee Herb Shop and a rammed earth residential structure nearby, these structures constitute a significant sub-district that reflects Chinese gold-era history. Both structures are National Register listed for their contributions to the assemblage of Gold Rush-era structures in Fiddletown, California.

Both the Gambling Hall and General Store are unreinforced masonry and stone buildings. While they have survived nearly 150-years, their overall condition was quite poor, requiring significant structural stabilization and seismic upgrading. Large cracks from seismic movement and settling were evident and visible in pictures dating back to the 1930s. Continue reading “Fiddletown Project Wins CPF Preservation Design Award”