MONDAY, JULY 31, 2023
Some residents in San Luis Obispo, California have reportedly expressed concern after a new coat of white paint was applied to a nearly 120-year-old historic building earlier this month.
According to a report from The San Luis Obispo Tribune, a bright white coat of primer had been painted along the first floor of the structure of the H.M. Warden Jr. Building—also known as the Tower Building. The city’s senior planner, Brian Leveille, reportedly told The Tribune that seeing the paint job was a bit of a surprise, since the owner had not notified the city of the intention to paint the outside of the building.
“It was noticed by staff just walking around town,” Leveille said. “It was like, ‘Hey, there’s some painting going on this building—a historic building.’”
About the Building
The building was originally constructed in 1904 by then-prominent businessman Horatio M. Warden, and the building has reportedly undergone numerous transformations over its almost 120-year history. In 1955, the building’s clock tower reportedly began leaning and was removed, according to Thomas Kessler, executive director of the History Center of San Luis Obispo County.
For everyone wondering what’s going on with that paint job downtown https://t.co/AJqh1li3nE
— Kaytlyn Leslie (@kaytyleslie) July 10, 2023
Kessler also said that the has been painted and renovated a number of times throughout its history, including being “done over with billboards, stucco and bright red paint” at one point.
According to the report, major changes made to historic resources are typically subject to review by the city and its Cultural Heritage Commission. However, Leveille said the current situation was “a little complicated, because it’s not clear in our ordinance or in our current requirements that you have to get a permit necessarily for painting a building.”
Leveille reportedly said there is some vagueness in the ordinance that allows property owners to make minor cosmetic changes as long as they don’t conflict with the historic nature of the building. In this case, the building owner had reportedly applied for approval to change the awnings along the structure’s first floor but had not specifically sought approval for new paint, he said.
Leveille added that once the work was brought to his attention, he ordered workers to pause while his department looked over the planned changes to ensure they didn’t conflict with the city or state’s historic preservation regulations. After speaking with the building owner and the architect in charge of the project, and looking over historic photos of the property, Leveille reportedly determined the work was consistent with the city and state’s standards and could continue.
Community Response
According to The Tribune, other local residents were also struck by the abrupt change to a prominent downtown structure.
“Big fat bummer for the old bricks,” one poster wrote in a NextDoor post under a photo showing the partially painted building.
“It is defacing those historic buildings,” another wrote. “No respect.”
In response, Leveille noted that the white coat of paint is just a primer, and that the final color is expected to be a more subtle off-white color that is already seen on some downtown buildings.
“At the end of the day, I think it looks a lot more jarring now than it will be at the end,” he said. “Once they conclude, hopefully, it should fit in a lot better with downtown. And I think it won’t be attracting quite so much attention.”
Kessler reportedly echoed that sentiment, reminding residents that the building has undergone through several changes over its history.
“Preserving history does not mean freezing anything in amber,” he said. “It’s very much acknowledging that things come and go. It’s been sort of sandy brown for a long time, and now it’s apparently white. So that’s just sort of the way things go.”
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