Letters I Support preservation of the 1937 Coral Casino designed by Gardner Dailey

__________________________________________________________________

Letters I:

^{April 7, 2003}

^{Historic Landmarks Advisory
Commission}^{County of Santa
Barbara}^{123 East Anapamu
Street}^{Santa Barbara, CA 93101}

^{RE: Proposed Alterations to the Coral Casino Beach
& Cabana Club}

^{Dear Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission
Member:}

^{It has come to our attention that the Santa Barbara
Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission will hold a hearing on
April 14th regarding a proposed major alteration to the
County-landmarked Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club. On
behalf of the National Trust, I urge you to consider
appropriate actions to assure that this rare surviving example
of International Style architecture by noted architect Gardner
Dailey is rehabilitated in a manner consistent with the
Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.}

^{The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a
private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to
protecting the irreplaceable. Recipient of the National
Humanities Medal, the Trust provides leadership, education and
advocacy to save America’s diverse historic places and
revitalize communities. Our Washington, DC headquarters
staff, six regional offices and 21 historic sites work with
the Trust’s quarter-million members and thousands of local
community groups in all fifty states.}

^{We applaud the property owner’s stated commitment to
preservation. Unfortunately, our review of the Coral Casino
plans suggests that the current proposal would not comply with
the Secretary’s Standards. We are concerned that the proposal
calls for the demolition of significant historic fabric,
including original cabanas, railings, and pavilions; and the
addition of major new construction, including a third story
and new entrance, that visually overwhelms the existing
structure.}

^{The county of Santa Barbara demonstrated great
leadership in officially recognizing the historic significance
of the Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club. We encourage you
to follow through on that leadership by working with the
property owner to develop a rehabilitation project that
preserves and protects this unique 20th Century California
icon.}

^Sincerely,

^{Anthony Veerkamp}^{Senior Program
Officer}

^{cc: Greg Rice, Keystone Advisors,
LLC}^{Jarrell C. Jackman, Santa Barbara Trust for
Historic
Preservation}

^{Protecting the
Irreplaceable}

logo two of letter 1.jpg

^{(415) 956-0610; Fax (415) 956-0837}

^{http://www.nationaltrust.org; E-mail:
wro@nthp.org}

^{8 California Street, Suite 400, San Francisco,
CA 94111-4828}

^{____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________}

April 11, 2003

California

Preservation

Foundation

1611 Telegraph Ave.

Suite 820

Oakland, CA 94612

Phone: 510-763-0972

Fax: 510-763-4724

www.californiapreservation.org

Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission

County of Santa Barbara

123 East Anapamu Street

Santa Barbara, California 93101

            Via e-mail to:

            lward@co.santa-barbara.ca.us

RE:             Proposed Alterations-

Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club

Dear Commission Members:

I am writing on behalf of the California Preservation Foundation, a statewide non-profit education, advocacy and membership organization with its mission:

…to ensure that California’s rich and diverse historic resources are identified, protected and celebrated for their history and their valuable role in California’s economy, environment and quality of life.

In reviewing the proposal in light of the potential impacts on the significant features and characteristics of the Coral Casino, I urge you to give careful consideration to ensuring that those significant features and characteristics are identified and understood. Doing this is often not an easy process and often requires trained architectural historians; doing this with what is now called Mid-Century Modern architecture is typically even harder. Harder, since the subtleties and the lightness of the design of the structure, its proportions – both overall and in detail – are often not fully appreciated or understood.   Mies Van der Rohe’s favorite quote, “God is in the details.” aptly applies to this 20^th century architecture.

I urge you to ask the proponent to consider design options that have a lighter hand on the historic structure and its significant features and characteristics; to consider options that would not remove as much of the fabric of the original design, original structure or original detail; and, to consider options that would not introduce as much new structure to the original.

Approving alterations to this structure should be very carefully considered, after its original design and characteristics are understood, after a variety of alternatives are investigated, and after each are evaluated against the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

The Coral Casino is a remarkable place. The features and characteristics that make it remarkable need to be preserved.

Sincerely,

Roberta Deering

Executive Director