Berkeley Landmarks Preserve History, Stir Controversy

To pedestrians strolling by the Wallace W. Clark building on Shattuck Avenue, the sound of clinking silverware from the building's restaurant drowns out its most distinctive sound: the echoes of history.

The building, now downtown Berkeley's only remaining commerical building with a Victorian facade, is just one example of the city's long and colorful legacy of landmarks and protected locations.

Known as structures of merit, these buildings are deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant to their surrounding neighborhoods.

However, due to complaints that Berkeley landmarks and structures of merit are approved too often and too liberally, the Berkeley City Council may revise the city's landmark laws to eliminate the structure of merit designation and complicate future landmark petitions.

Under the current law, structures can be designated as landmarks following a public hearing and approval from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. Citizens may collect signatures and submit petitions to designate sites. The commission must also approve any alteration of landmarked buildings.

The controversy over the city's propensity for creating new landmarks is nothing new, said longtime preservationist Lesley Emmington. The clash between preservationists and developers dates back to the early 1970s, when a building designed by renowned local architect Julia Morgan was at risk of demolition.

Alarmed by the possible threat to other historic buildings, Emmington helped spark the passage of the 1974 Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, which created a nine-member commission dedicated to maintaining historic sites.

Emmington, now a member of the commission, said Berkeley's unique personality, exhibited through its architecture, must be protected from "hasty economic opportunism."

However, some Berkeley residents and developers have argued the preservationist movement abuses the commission's authority by using it in a crusade against development. Berkeley's 284 designated landmarks outnumber San Francisco's 252, despite the city being more than twice Berkeley's size.

The Victorian-style Blood-Tompkins House on Durant Avenue, built for the wealthy Ellen Blood in 1891, is a particular point of controversy. As a structure of merit, it cannot be torn down to allow student housing to be built in its place.

However, one architectural historian, who asked to remain unnamed, said that because the structure was rendered unrecognizable after being remodeled decades ago, it no longer merits landmark status. The preservation committee turned down a demolition permit request in 2003.

During the 1990s, the McKinley School's Haste Street Annex also became a war zone between local preservationists and developers. First Presbyterian Church sued the city to demolish the empty rundown wood-shingle structure of merit after the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it a structure of merit.

Ultimately, project architect Mark Gillem negotiated a compromise: The building was rotated 180 degrees to maximize square footage available to the church while also allowing restoration of the annex.

Most Berkeley historical sites, however, are less controversial and blend seamlessly into the surrounding communities. Tellefsen Hall, now a dormitory for Cal band members, was called Weltevreden when it was constructed as a retirement home for businessman Volney Moody in 1896. After surviving a 1922 fire, the building became Berkeley's Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity's chapter house before passing on to the marching band in 1973, according to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association's web site.

While there will always be those bent on stemming development and those without regard for preservation, most desire compromise, Gillem said.

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