In honor of May being National Preservation Month, the Seguin Main Street Program will feature local preservation efforts in its weekly articles. This week features Seguin’s local landmark program called Mark It Seguin.
The City of Seguin became a Certified Local Government through the Texas Historical Commission in 2010. Being a CLG community allows Seguin to designate local landmarks and districts, designate a historic preservation officer and enforce our local preservation ordinance through our Historic Design Review Committee.
“The Certified Local Government (CLG) Program is a local, state, and federal government partnership to empower local communities to better protect historic resources by identifying local priorities, meeting recognized historic preservation standards and providing access to financial and technical services to further the identification, evaluation, designation and protection of buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects,” the Texas Historical Commission’s web site reports, “Local governments that participate in the CLG Program act independently to develop and maintain a successful preservation program.”
Since 2010, the City of Seguin has designated several structures as a local landmark through our Mark It Seguin campaign. The City’s process for designating a local landmark or district begins with an application that includes a thorough report of the building’s history that includes historical documents and photos referencing the building and/or individuals associated with the landmark. Once an application is received by the Historic Preservation Officer, who is also the City of Seguin’s Main Street Director, the information is reviewed by staff to ensure it is completed correctly. The application and report are then presented to the board of the Seguin Conservation Society, the Guadalupe County Historical Commission, the Seguin Historic Design Review Committee and the Seguin City Council. Applications go through these multiple levels of review by the various organizations so that individuals with the knowledge of Seguin’s history have an opportunity to help build the complete story of the proposed landmark as often there can be a lack of information and gaps in a landmarks history.
When reviewing applications for historic markers, the review takes into account several items including is the original character and features of the building intact, has a significant event or individual to Seguin have a connection there, and/or does the property represent a unique architectural style.
“The most important factor when reviewing the applications is that enough of the original character and historic features remain,” said Kyle Kramm, Seguin Main Street & CVB Director & Historic Preservation Officer, “We like to say if a person who was alive when the building was built was brought back and saw the building today, would they be able to recognize it.”
Once a local landmark is approved, the property owner purchases the marker for their property and any future alterations to the exterior of the landmark must go before the Historic Design Review Committee for approval. The landmark designation is the most important tool Seguin has to protect its historic landmarks from demolition or severe alteration – once the historic charm is gone, it is hard to replace. The owner of the landmark receives no financial incentive with the designation and is often applied for by the property owner as a way to show community pride.
Recent local landmarks approved by the City of Seguin include 257 West Convent Street, a two story Greek-revival home that belonged to the inventor of bean dip, 113 East Live Oak, a one story bungalow that was the home of a former City treasurer, and the Max Starcke Park Golf Club House, a mid-century building designed in part by the architect of the Riverwalk, Robert Hugman, through FDR’s New Deal. These designations are preserving a variety of architectural styles, construction styles, and stories. While not all stories put our past in the best light, in the case of the club house and its segregated history, it is still important to preserve those buildings and stories as a lesson for future generations.
If you are interested in having your historic property designated as a local landmark, contact the Seguin Main Street Program at mainstreet@seguintexas.gov or visit the City of Seguin’s web site for additional information.