HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES
Date:
Time:
Location:
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
9:00 AM
City Council Chambers - 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., 3rd Floor
Call to Order
Chairman Owen LaFave called meeting to order at 9:10 a.m.
Silent Roll Call
Commissioners Present: Owen LaFave, Kevin Mineer, Vivian Salaga, and Stephen Sutton
Commissioners Arriving After Roll Call: None
Commissioners Absent: None
Staff Present: Elaine Lund and Beverly Jewesak
Legal Staff: Rebecca Kert
Commissioners introduced themselves and their position on the Board.
Announcements –Elaine Lund, Historic Preservation Specialist
 Save the date, April 24-25, 2017, the City of Tampa as a Certified Local Government will be holding a
state wide Certified Local Government workshop. We will have representatives from the State to
present at the workshop on the advantages of being a part of the Certified Local Government program.
Reading of the December 6, 2016 Minutes – Commissioner LaFave stated that the minutes stand as read.
Elaine Lund, Historic Preservation Specialist, presented a PowerPoint presentation of the Frederick P. Fariss
Company Building at 1701 N. Franklin Street. The Frederick P. Fariss Company Building was first listed in R.L.
Polk’s Tampa City Directory in 1920. The masonry vernacular commercial building was designed and constructed
similar to several other buildings along this commercial corridor, with yellow brick being the primary exterior
material. Mediterranean Revival style elements, including decorative tile work and a balconette, enhance its
appearance. It is significant for its role in Tampa’s early commercial growth and for being an automobile
dealership from the time it was built until approximately 1939. The Fariss Building’s association with the North
Franklin Street commercial corridor and its distinctive architectural elements qualify the building under Criterion
A: Commerce and Criterion C: Architecture as a City of Tampa Local Landmark. The addition of this property to
the North Franklin Street/Downtown Local Landmark Multiple Properties Designation strengthens the collection
by adding another one of the remaining elements of the northern section of the historic Franklin Street business
district, which began development as a commercial area in the 1880s and peaked in the 1950s. The Fariss
Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing structure to the Upper North
Franklin Commercial District in 2010.
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Public Comment:
Maureen Ayral
Mr. Garcia
Motion: Stephen Sutton
Second: Vivian Salaga
Motion to recommend to City Council the Frederick P. Fariss Company Building located at 1701 N. Franklin
Street, as a Local Landmark in the North Franklin Street/Downtown Multiple Properties Listing under Criterion A:
Commerce and Criterion C: Architecture.
The motion was granted with a vote of 4-0-0.
Rebecca Kert – Mr. Chairman, before you begin, I believe that Commissioner Salaga’s firm has some dealings
with the property owner.
Commissioner Salaga – We have a joint venture with another firm on the building adjacent to the south of the
subject building. We are not doing any work on the subject building.
Rebecca Kert- Are you getting any pecuniary benefit from the outcome of this preceding?
Commissioner Salaga – None.
Rebecca Kert- And you believe you can be fair and impartial?
Commissioner Salaga – Absolutely.
Rebecca Kert- Based on the information given, I do not see any conflict and believe that you can participate in
the preceding.
Elaine Lund – Before I present the next case, I previously neglected to note that both of the local landmark
designations before you today are the result of a mailing done last year, and we are very pleased that we
received these applications and are in communication with a few others that may come before the Commission.
Commissioner LaFave – I remember you letting us know that you were going to reach out to this area and am
very pleased that the property owners have come forward.
Elaine Lund – Presented a PowerPoint presentation of the Tom Henderson Memorial Chapel, 410 E. Tyler Street.
Although this particular building faces Florida Avenue, it has an address on Tyler Street. Tampa’s early religious
history is based around Fort Brooke. There was no formal church building at this time; however, a small
structure known as the “Church-by-the-Sea” was washed away in the great gale of 1848. The 1853 map of
Tampa shows where the Methodist Church established a structure known as the “Little White Church”, where
several religions met for worship. Tampa grew fast in the 1880s due to the coming of the railroad and cigar
industry. The church membership also grew rapidly, and in 1891 a new church building was established. The
1948 Tom Henderson Memorial Chapel was dedicated in 1952 and named in honor of Tom Henderson because
the family donated property to the church which was sold and the proceeds went to help build the sanctuary.
The old sanctuary was found structurally deficient and was replaced with a new sanctuary in the 1960s. The
Tom Henderson Memorial Chapel is significant under Criterion A in the area of Religion as the oldest surviving
structure associated with First Methodist Church, est. 1846, the oldest church in Tampa. It was designed by
Tampa architect Leslie N. Iredell, and the Chapel remains true to its original exterior and interior design. It is a
rare example of a Late Gothic Revival style structure in downtown Tampa. Therefore, it is significant under
Criterion C in the area of Architecture.
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Commissioner LaFave – I feel like it is a little unusual for us to have a request for an individual religious structure
to be deemed a local landmark. Isn’t it typically part of a multiple properties listing?
Elaine Lund – There is one designated as part of the North Franklin Downtown Multiple Properties Listing.
However, we felt that this property had significance in the area of Religion, which merited an individual local
landmark consideration.
Public Comment:
Justin LaRosa – Hyde Park United Methodist Church
Commissioner Mineer – I loved the report you gave and I enjoyed learning of the history behind this structure.
Motion: Kevin Mineer
Second: Stephen Sutton
Move that the board recommend to City Council a Local Landmark Designation for the property located at 410 E.
Tyler Street for the Tom Henderson Memorial Chapel because under Section 27-257, Criterion A (A2i) the Chapel
has a high quality of significance in the broad patterns of our history and Criterion C (A2iii) for its distinctive
characteristics in the area of Architecture.
The motion was granted with a vote of 4-0-0.
Elaine Lund – May I make a comment before we continue. When writing an individual local landmark
designation report this requires a lot of research uncovering the history of the building. In this particular case, a
member of the church, Mr. Adkins provided us with a detailed history of the church and its structures, and I
would like to thank Mr. Adkins for providing this information.
Elaine Lund – As a Certified Local Government one of our roles is to review and make recommendations to the
Florida National Register Review Board on applications for the National Register of Historic Places. With that I
will present a PowerPoint presentation on the Oaklawn and St. Louis Cemeteries. Established in 1850, the
Tampa burial ground was allocated to a parcel of land that was considered far enough away from the small
village of Tampa for health and safety reasons. The adjacent land known as the St. Louis Cemetery was donated
in 1874 by the Leonardi family to serve as the Catholic cemetery. Then, in 1880, the land for the remaining
eastern portion of the Oaklawn Cemetery was donated by James Magbee. Many of Tampa’s founding fathers as
well as subsequent political figures and veterans of seven wars are buried here. Therefore, the Oaklawn and St.
Louis Cemeteries are considered significant under National Register Criterion A, in the areas of Early Settlement
and Community Planning. Additionally, the cemeteries are considered significant under this criterion, in the area
of Ethnic Heritage, as it was established as a burial ground for all persons and includes the graves of slaves and
members of Tampa and Ybor City’s immigrant communities. The cemeteries exhibit a wide variety of grave
markers that exhibit Victorian-era symbols and monuments associated with social and fraternal organizations.
The cemeteries retain a high degree of their historic integrity, seen in the brick streets, rusticated block wall, two
vernacular buildings, and the majority of the grave markers, monuments, and fencing.
Therefore, the Oaklawn and St. Louis Cemeteries are considered significant under National Register Criterion C
in the areas of Art and Architecture. Ordinarily cemeteries and properties owned by religious institutions are
not considered eligible for the National Register. However, such properties can qualify if they fall within the
following categories:
A. A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical
importance;
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D. A cemetery that derives its primary importance from graves of persons of transcendent importance,
from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events
Both Oaklawn Cemetery and St. Louis Cemetery (owned by the Diocese of St. Petersburg) are considered
significant primarily for their role in Tampa’s early settlement and community planning, as well as for their art
and architecture. Therefore, they meet National Register Criteria Considerations A and D.
Commissioner Sutton – mentioned that there were two mass graves within the confines of the Oaklawn
Cemetery. One being the persons originally interred at Fort Brooke prior to its abandonment as a military post in
1832, by which time the settlement of Tampa had taken root. The other contains an undetermined number of
yellow fever victims from the period 1850 to 1905.
Motion: Stephen Sutton
Second: Vivian Salaga
Move that the board recommend to the Florida National Register Review Board that the Oaklawn and St. Louis
Cemeteries be added to the National Register of Historic Places, with the provisions: 1) the application name be
corrected to include both the Oaklawn and St. Louis Cemeteries, 2) the mass graves be recognized in the
reports, and 3) provide updated information and photographs.
The motion was granted with a vote of 4-0-0.
Date and Time of Next HPC Meeting
Next Public Hearing Meeting will be Tuesday, March 14, 2017.
New Business
None submitted.
Adjournment
Approved: __________________________________________ Date: __________________
Owen LaFave – Chair
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