City of Lincoln  
City of Lincoln
Planning

West Haymarket Future Design Framework Historic Preservation Commission Comments

 
Essential Elements -
  1. The pedestrian connections between the new West Haymarket (West) and the historic Haymarket District (Hist) should be easily located from the Hist but should not become an extremely dominant visual element to the Hist district.
  2. Although it is not appropriate to design new buildings within the West area which match or pretend to look like historic structures from the Hist area, the restrained, contemporary use of some Hist materials (ie. paving, wall surfaces, perhaps site furniture etc.) may be appropriate as a subtle reference to the overall historic context of the site on which the West structures are being located.
  3. *In the Hist district, to meet the stated intent (promise) of 'temporary parking' when the grassy median (on-axis south of the Post Office) was nearly eliminated to accommodate the existing additional on-street parking ... this central grass median should have the parking removed and the median restored to turf or approved alternate landscape material(s).
  4. *In the Hist district, the brick-surfaced diagonal parking located in-front/east of the Train Station, (south of the median in item c, above) should be redesigned and rebuilt to eliminate the very awkward elevated curbed 'meter islands' in deference to an entirely 'street level' brick paving at the parking meter locations. This would allow for improved use of this brick 'mall' as an exterior event location.
Prohibitions
  1. Because of their scale and mass, the new West buildings must not loom visually over the Hist district like a large thunderhead about to burst, especially as the public enters the Hist district looking west from the higher elevation of 9th Street. This probably implies the greater building mass of the new structures be located at the western edge of the new West site versus a location near the existing train station et. al. along the east edge of the new West site.
  2. As referenced in Essential Elements item b. the new West buildings may draw reference materially, texturally and in scale from the Hist district to the east, but the new sturctures must not attempt to replicate the historic architecture and details of the Hist area.
  3. Confirming earlier commitments, no vehicular traffic associated with events or activities in the new West buildings may pass thru the Hist district for access.
  4. All lighting in the West area, from street, parking lot and pedestrian lighting to potential outdoor video screens should not allow spill-over light to spill into the sky (ie. Respect for DarkSkys). In general the lighting in the new West area should not create a halo of light above the Hist area.
Key Steps
  1. The example used in the initial March 7 e-mail was good: "...at the conceptual and scematic design stages of this project, review/comment must be conducted with both the Urban Design Committee and the Historic Preservation Commission.
Bob Ripley
Posted: 4/18/08

West Haymarket Future Design Framework