July 2009 – Page 2 – Garavaglia Architecture, Inc.

Ukiah Railroad Station: City gets a 50-year lease

The Ukiah Daily Journal last week reported that the Ukiah City Council approved a lease contract with the North Coast Railroad Authority. This allows the project to move forward to restore the depot to its 1929 condition.

Garavaglia Architecture, Inc. is currently underway designing the upgrades recommended in our original Resource Rehabilitation Report. The depot retains a high level of integrity and strongly conveys the association of railroad development in northern California and the economic growth of the City of Ukiah. The railroad development made Ukiah important for shipping of agricultural products. The depot also serviced excursion day-trips from San Francisco for tourists escaping the city life. It is significant for the Southern Pacific passenger operations from 1929 to 1942 and is the only intact building in the Ukiah railroad yard of this area. For more information on the project click on the year 1929 on the timeline.

Click here to read the full article.

Fiddletown Project Wins CPF Preservation Design Award

The historic Chinese structures in Fiddletown has just been selected as a winning project for the Preservation Design Awards.

The General Store (left) and Gambling Hall (right) of Fiddletown. Photo by Kelly Thomas

The California Preservation Foundation just selected the Fiddletown Project Team with a 2009 Preservation Design Award in the preservation category this week. The c. 1850 Chinese Gambling Hall and General Store are part of a grouping of four buildings specifically associated with Chinese miners from the Gold Rush. Along with the Chew Kee Herb Shop and a rammed earth residential structure nearby, these structures constitute a significant sub-district that reflects Chinese gold-era history. Both structures are National Register listed for their contributions to the assemblage of Gold Rush-era structures in Fiddletown, California.

Both the Gambling Hall and General Store are unreinforced masonry and stone buildings. While they have survived nearly 150-years, their overall condition was quite poor, requiring significant structural stabilization and seismic upgrading. Large cracks from seismic movement and settling were evident and visible in pictures dating back to the 1930s. Continue reading “Fiddletown Project Wins CPF Preservation Design Award”

Touring the Old Mint

Chris Lutjen takes a tour of the San Francisco Old Mint. Building opened for tours certain dates and times until the end of this month.

Recently, Garavaglia Architecture’s Chris Lutjen participated in a tour of the Old Mint. Organized by the Heritage Young Preservationists, the Associate Curator led a tour of the building on 5th and Mission a couple of days ago.

Built in 1868, and left almost completely intact after the earthquake in 1906,it benefited from an experimental practice of the time a floating foundation, all metal trim and heat absorbing masonry walls. The building became not only one of the few institutions with money (because it was in coins) but was an outpost for refugees in the aftermath of the disaster to apply for funds and receive fresh water from the cisterns in the courtyard. The office renovation from the 1970’s has recently been completely torn out. The main hall and rooms were renovated at that time and are apparent in the current state. It is intended to completely renovate the building and open as a history museum.

Interior Details in the Old Mint. Photo by Chris Lutjen

The building will be open for the event Backstage Pass: A Sweeping History of Rock ’n Roll on these days in July. There is a $10 admission fee.

The hours are:

Thursday 7/16: 5p.m. to 9p.m.
Friday 7/17-Sunday 7/19: Noon to 5p.m.