Title
Special Recognition - Proclamation Recognizing Olympia Heritage Month and Review of 2023 Heritage Award Nominations
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Proclaim May as Olympia Heritage Month and review the 2023 Heritage Award nominees.
City Manager Recommendation:
Proclaim May as Olympia Heritage Month and review the 2023 Heritage Award nominees.
Report
Issue:
Whether to proclaim May as Heritage Month in Olympia and review nominations for 2023 Heritage Awards.
Staff Contact:
Holly Borth, Historic Preservation Officer, Community Planning & Development, 360.688.0419
Presenter(s):
Holly Davies, Heritage Commission Chair
Background and Analysis:
In May of each year, the City of Olympia recognizes the importance of our local history and heritage by declaring May as Heritage Month and recognizes individuals and organizations who make important contributions to historic preservation in Olympia.
This year, the Commission brought forward nominations primarily honoring the Indie Music History project that began in 2022 and continues on through 2023. These nominations also recognize non-traditional ways that local heritage is meaningfully shared with the general public, such as through books, business, radio, collecting significant historical ephemera, and providing space to Olympia’s musically-inclined residents for over 50 years.
In that spirit, the nominees for 2023 include seven different nominations representing a wide variety of ways historic preservation and heritage interact with all of us directly, and indirectly, as we inhabit this great city.
The following nominations for 2023 have been selected and are recommended by the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee and the Heritage Commission for approval by City Council. The full text of the nominations, prepared by Heritage Commissioners, are included with a staff report prepared for this meeting’s consent calendar.
Klaumbush House Rehabilitation
Property owner, Hilary Haselton’s courageous undertaking to rehabilitate the historic Klaumbush House while preserving its important historic characteristics that led to its listing in the Olympia Heritage Register.
Blacks in Thurston County
The culmination of Dr. Thelma Jackson, Ed Echtle, and Jill Severn’s inspiring work to uncover and educate the public about the experience of Blacks in Thurston County during the tumultuous times from 1950 through 1975 occurring nation-wide by interviewing local residents in Thurston County and sharing their personal stories and experiences, bringing humanity and perspective to an important piece of our shared history.
KGY Radio Building
Built in 1960 by the prominent Olympia-based A.J. Phillips Construction Company and designed by Joseph Wohleb’s protégé, G. Stacey Bennett, the KGY Building is an outstanding example of mid-century architecture. KGY building owners have done an exceptional job of maintaining this important piece of architecture for 63 years while retaining and preserving its historic character and Bennett’s imprint on the built environment in Olympia.
James Maeda
A local collector of Olympia’s music history-related ephemera, James Maeda has made an incalculable contributing the City’s on-going Indie Music History project with his extensive collection of memorabilia, such as posters, records, images, and other materials unavailable anywhere else.
Rainy Day Records
In honor of its 50th year in business, Rainy Day Records has provided a gathering place for those with a shared music interest through many economic and social shifts since 1973 and has managed to remain a staple of City’s music enthusiasts throughout it all.
KAOS Radio
Also honoring its 50th year, KAOS Radio has been championing for local, independent musicians since 1973, and was integral to the punk and indie music scene of the 1980s and 90s. Local residents from that time might recall their broadcasting of newly-formed band Nirvana, and/or Kurt Cobain’s solo acoustic performance, all cast by KAOS.
Joe Baque
While not an Olympia native, Joe Baque’s arrival to Olympia from Queens, New York proved remarkable as he became a mainstay of the stage around town, showcasing his incomparable talent for piano. Joe Baque sadly passed away at the age 100, but his memory will live on through our work in historic preservation to document and promote his work and the spaces in which he played.
The approval of the Heritage 2023 Heritage Award nominations are
Climate Analysis:
Celebrating historic preservation success around the City encourages property owners to conduct improvements to a historic property in a manner that follows NPS guidelines. Following the National Preservation (NPS) guidelines encourages repair of historic material as much as possible, which reduces the introduction of more waste to landfills. If repair is not feasible, use of historic, often natural, locally sourced materials, is then encouraged, which reduces environmental impacts of the work. Honoring other historic preservation projects encourages participating in historic preservation in other ways and increases accessibility; increasing the presence of preservation in the City will only improve the City’s carbon footprint.
Equity Analysis:
Honoring other, non-rehabilitation, historic preservation projects encourages participating in historic preservation in other ways and increases accessibility. The Commission has also made a concerted effort to identify opportunities to be as inclusive as possible of non-majority populations of all kinds.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
The community has a great interest in celebrating and preserving it’s history.
Financial Impact:
There is a minimal cost to create award certificates. Awards are funded by the Community Planning and Development administrative budget.
Options:
1. Proclaim May as Heritage Month and approve the 2023 Heritage Award nominees.
2. Do not proclaim May as Heritage Month or approve the 2023 Heritage Award nominees.
3. Proclaim May as Heritage Month and modify the 2023 Heritage Award nominees.
Attachments:
Heritage Month Proclamation