2010-04-08 Historic Preservation Commission Retreat MinutesEdmonds Historic Preservation Commission Retreat
April 8' 2010
Summary of events
Following on from the regularly scheduled monthly meeting the commission held a
retreat to focus on some specific issues.
Due to the personal circumstances of several commissioners there has been a lack of time
and energy to invest in some of the projects that the commission has taken on. It was
therefore decided that the commission should re -focus its energy and priorities to some of
its core objectives.
As a result, it was decided that the 4th Avenue overlay project should be shelved until a
later date when human and monetary recourses are more available.
The commission agreed that immediate focus going forward should be education of the
public, outreach, increasing the presence of the commission in the public and the city and
further development of the register.
Several ideas were put forth with regard to increasing public awareness. These included a
commission presence at various city events such as the Arts Festival, the Summer Market
and the Waterfront Festival. Also it was recommended that the Preservationist be
thoroughly distributed internally within the city departments and that the commission
should have a presence at other commission and board meetings.
Other ideas included commission display boards at potential sites such as the Museum,
vacant store fronts and in locations during the third Thursday art walk. Guided historic
tours were also suggested.
The development of the calendar was seen as an important way forward in meeting many
of these priorities and discussion on how to proceed with this project will continue. It was
suggested that the calendar should be distributed free and not sold. This would help to
focus the purpose of the calendar on education about the city's history, the register and
the work of the commission. It was suggested that once the missing funds are located,
publication of the calendar would be more easily realized. Sponsorship by local
businesses could be a way of generating more revenue for this and other projects in the
future.