HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 17DRAFT History Committee Meeting Minutes
May 17, 2011
Meeting called to order in Parks and Recreation Building at 2:06 pm by Nobuko Cleary,
Chair.
Committee Members present: Nobuko Cleary, Bill Downey, Les Earnest, Barbara
Packard.
Committee Member absent: Maryann Malcolm.
Council Liaison present: Jean Mordo
Others present: Elliott Burr (Town Crier), Lisa Chang (losaltos.patch.com), Alice
Sakamoto
Minutes of the 2/15/2011 and 3/15/2011 Committee meetings
Reviewed and approved.
PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR
The prospective demolition of the former residence of author Wallace Stegner was
discussed as well as the fact that it is of substantial public interest. An attempt to preserve
it is outside the History Committee’s charter but individual members are free to do what
they wish on this matter. There was a discussion of the possibility of preserving just his
studio by moving it to another location and some committee members had looked into
that earlier in the day together with Town staff. However Alice Sakamoto informed those
present that the structure they examined, which is down slope from the home and would
be difficult to move, was actually Stegner’s early studio which was later turned into a
rental unit for Stanford students. His later studio was built behind the garage and those
interested planned to return to the site to examine it.
OLD BUSINESS
a. Street and path name history project
Downey said that there is nothing new to report.
b. Historic sites and structures
Earnest presented two resolutions, as follows, which were unanimously approved
by the Committee.
In accordance with Municipal Code 11-1.01 the History Committee recommends
that the following be added to the Town's Inventory of Historic Sites and
Structures.
Wallace Stegner Residence, 13440 South Fork Lane.
This will recognize of Stegner's substantial work on the committee that initiated
the founding of the Town and his contributions as an internationally acclaimed
author.
Packard Residence, 26580 Taaffe Road.
This will recognize David Packard's co-founding of Hewlett Packard Corporation,
currently the largest computer maker in the world, and major philanthropies by
him and his wife Lucile.
The Committee discussed the fact that designating the Stegner site as Historic at
this point will not affect the ongoing plans to demolish it.
C. History account, storage and exhibit area
Earnest offered the following two resolutions, which were approved by the
Committee.
The History Committee requests that:
(1) A Town account be set up to which the public may make charitable
contributions in support of collecting and exhibiting historical artifacts and doing
research on Town history.
(2) Permanent spaces be allocated for the secure storage of Town historical
materials and for the public exhibition of selected historical artifacts. Ideally this
would be located in the Heritage House, given that it was imported for that
purpose. We believe that the Town's need for an emergency communications
capability would be better met by putting that equipment in a semi-trailer with an
erectible antenna so that it can be repositioned as needed in an emergency.
d. Oral histories
The proposal to collect oral histories from long time Town residents was tabled
because of too many other projects that need attention.
MEETING ADJOURNED at 2:48 pm
Submitted by Les Earnest, Secretary