Cheryl Chow

Cheryl Chow

Seattle School Board Director District 7

RESPONSE RECEIVED: September 1

• Why is historic preservation important?

Historic preservation is an important legacy to pass on to future generations so that they can know firsthand what Seattle looked like and as a tangible record or past art and architectural practices.

• What should government’s role be in local, state, and national preservation issues, concerns, and opportunities?

Government should gather input from and work with neighborhoods and communities on local, state and national preservation issues, concerns, and opportunities. Once neighborhoods and communities decide on criteria, they should decide what buildings and areas should receive historic preservation status. Then government can work with them to follow through on plans for preservation.

• What is your track record of supporting local historic preservation programs?

In the mid 1980s, I advised and worked with a group to garner community support for an historic landmark district designation for Seattle’s traditional Chinatown area. In 1987 the National Register of Historic Places, responding to many community meetings and a public hearing, officially delineated the boundaries of and granted recognition of the “Seattle Chinatown Historic District.”

• Local government entities own many historic properties, both designated as well as eligible for designation as landmarks. What is your position on the stewardship of these properties? What amount of funding for maintenance and rehabilitation would you support for these properties?

Government stewardship must include maintenance at the very least, and rehabilitation if financially feasible. Perhaps a portion of the 1% for Arts fund could be used for these purposes, in combination with private partnerships or corporate sponsorships.

• What policy changes would you support to strengthen protections for designated landmarks?

I favor changes that would strengthen protections while keeping rehabilitation and restoration costs as low as possible for building owners. Enhance low cost loans that specifically deal with designated landmarks.

6. What policy changes would you support to strengthen protections for buildings which have previously been surveyed and were determined to be eligible for a landmark designation?

I would support a policy that would give incentives to owners for preservation, especially if done in conjunction with community groups or private partnerships.

7. What policy changes would you support to strengthen protections for older buildings which have not yet been surveyed and have not been evaluated for eligibility for a land mark designation?

I would support policies which provided tax cuts or other incentives to groups which would do surveys and make recommendations.

8. In communities across the nation, public funds have been used to survey the historic integrity of neighborhoods. In what ways would you support a comprehensive survey to identify, evaluate, and potentially designate properties as historic landmarks?

I would recommend input form neighborhoods and communities as well as property owners to develop such surveys.

• Some community plans call for protection of architectural character and historic buildings with the establishment of conservation districts and design controls. What actions would you support to sustain community character?

The community needs to be involved in developing the definition of historic character, conservation districts and design controls. Government and or local urban design landscape architects could assist them. To keep costs down, planning could be done in conjunction with a local university, as was recently done by the University of Washington urban design professors and their students for the Chinatown-Japan town-Little Saigon-International District.