Michele Webre, Volunteer Coordinator for the Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District Project sends this update:
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to update you on our historic district efforts. You may have heard that this year marks the 100th anniversary of Travis Heights, platted in 1913, and that we are celebrating it with “Centennial Chicken†yard signs. The original artwork, created by Shoehorn Design and Will Hornaday for the Fairview Park Heritage Homes Tour in 2001, was updated for our Centennial by Josh Conrad. We’re asking for a $20 donation per sign to go towards our historic district project. You can get a sign by contacting me at this address or going to Prima Dora on S. Congress (next to Magnolia Café). We’ll also have them this Saturday, April 6th, from 10-4 during Preservation Austin’s Historic Homes and Gardens Tour at one of the stops on the tour, The Academy, 400 Academy Drive. We’re looking for volunteers to help at our table, so please let me know if you can donate an hour or two of your time Saturday. The tour also includes another gem in our neighborhood, The Brunson House, 200 The Circle: http://www.preservationaustin.org/programs/heritage-homes-to
This year we are focusing our efforts on becoming a City of Austin Local Historic District. Only a LHD designation will provide protections for the majority of our historic houses. We need volunteers to help write design standards for our neighborhood that will allow for innovative and sustainable designs in additions and new construction that will also be compatible with our historic streetscapes, based on the City of Austin’s design standards template. It’s is a unique opportunity to be involved in a crucial part of our Local Historic District efforts. Volunteers Julia Morgan and Shakti Khalsa are heading up this committee, so please contact Julia atjuliarrtx@gmail.com or Shakti at shakti4@earthlink.net if you can help. We alsoneed volunteers to serve as block captains, fundraising committee members, and as research assistants for our consultants. Please email me if you’re interested.
In 2012 we had two open house fundraisers and received donations that enabled us to re-energize our LHD efforts. We hired Josh Conrad as an additional consultant to assist preservation experts Casey Gallagher and Emily Reed. Josh has helped revamp our website and Facebook pages and he’s added some cool new links such as Sanborn Maps and histories of the area: www.historictravisheights.org. Josh also helped create the Austin Historical Survey Wiki, a joint effort between the City of Austin and the UT Historic Preservation Program. The Austin Wiki allows people to research and post information about historic buildings and landscapes in Austin. It’s a great resource for documenting and sharing our history: beta.austinhistoricalsurvey.org.
A recent study showed that Austin is the fifth youngest major metropolitan area in the country, with only 2.5% of its housing predating WWII, so it’s even more important that we try to preserve our remaining historic structures. Please help preserve Travis Heights-Fairview Park by volunteering your time and by making a tax-deductible donation on our website. Checks can be written to: Austin Community Foundation, 4315 Guadalupe St., Suite 300, Austin, TX 78751, with “Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District†in the memo line.
Thank you for your continued support!
Michele Webre, Volunteer Coordinator
Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District Project
www.HistoricTravisHeights.org
https://www.facebook.com/HistoricTravisHeights
