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Woman’s Club may seek historic status
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — Alpine’s original Town Hall is
considering the pros and cons of historic designation by the San
Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use Historic Site
Board.
The familiar white Victorian building, which many
believed to already be designated as a historical landmark, is
home to Alpine Historical Society, pot lucks, quilt shows,
garden shows, Victorian teas, craft shows, art exhibits and many
other cultural events that make it a truly valuable gem, in the
center of Alpine.
The process of official county historic land marking
has been difficult in the past, as proven by the waning, yet
persistent, attempts made by the Alpine Historical Society for
two other landmarks commonly believed to be designated: the Dr.
Sophronia Nichols House, built in 1896 and the Capt. Adam Beaty
House, built in 1899. These buildings along with the Alpine
Woman’s Club’s Town Hall, built in 1899 by Benjamin Arnold, have
important historical roots in Alpine. Currently, the only county
historical designation in Alpine is the Julian Eltinge residence
on South Grade Road.
Recently, the Alpine Women’s Club was one of the
targets in the well-known scattergun attack of American’s with
Disabilities Acts lawsuits. The ADA lawsuits demand that all
buildings put on notice, must take steps to comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act. Compliance requirements include
restriping parking lots to include handicapped parking, changing
the access to the buildings to include ramps for the
wheelchair-bound individuals, and installing handicapped
restroom access.
The current president of the Woman’s Club, Mary Chub,
said that these requirements can only help people have access to
the beautiful old building, yet there are concerns with how the
building may be brought up to code. The bathroom is one such
concern, as one must climb a flight of stairs to access it.
Also, the front of the building will have to be reconfigured to
accommodate a ramp to the entrance.
This historic designation will not exclude the Woman’s
Club from ADA compliance, but it offers alternatives in how
compliance may be achieved.
On June 29, the Woman’s Club welcomed Donna Beddow and
Gail Wright, representatives from the San Diego County Historic
Site Board.
Beddow presented to the attending Woman’s Club members,
the process for attaining a historic designation. With the help
of the advisory, Historic Site Board, Beddow said that
designation now could take as little as 6 to 8 weeks to attain.
This is good news for Alpine.
Wright said, "Once you are on the Historic Site
Register, then you are eligible for the Alternative ADA
Compliance Rules, as well as the Historic Site Building Code.
Instead of having to bring everything up to code, the Historic
Site Building Code allows some relaxation of code."
Beddow said, "The one thing nice about historic
designation is it doesn’t require you to put the ADA entrance at
the front of the building. You can put it at the back of the
building, it gives you options."
For historical designation, the HSB requires a report
to be submitted that includes, historical context of the
building that is significant to the community, biographical
information on the original owner or owners, architect,
landscape architect, builder and subsequent owners and
occupants. Also required is a detailed description of the
property including a history of changes made to the structure,
along with subsurface components, such as the hand dug basement
in the Alpine Woman’s Club.
Julian has already acquired historic district
designation but this does not relieve business owners of the
obligation to comply with ADA requirements. Beddow said only one
of the houses in Julian actually has a Historic Site Designation
and is available for the alternate ADA regulations. Many of the
buildings in Julian are in the process of applying for historic
designation so they, too, will be eligible for the alternate
compliance codes.
Woman’s Club member Carol Walker has already made a
comprehensive report to submit to the county, once the Woman’s
Club has an official vote to proceed with the process of
historic designation.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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