Big glass cube. One issue for Winona Historic Preservation Commission purists is the 46-foot glass corner that almost abuts 1898 public library.
How more flexible will $35 million donors be?
WINONA, Minn. – The design criteria for the 700-seat concert hall proposed on Fifth Street follow criteria laid out by Bob Kierlin and Mary Burrichter, the benefactors behind the $35 million project. Kierlin and Burrichter had no intention of creating the brouhaha that’s erupted over the design, said construction contractor Peter Schwab, who has been intimate on the project since its inception. Architect Jason Woodhouse noted that the design already has been modified once – after the State Historic Preservation Office called the structure too large. The state agency found that the design would detracting from the historic junior high school it replaces. The agency also said the exterior materials weren’t compatible with neighboring historic structures. Although adjustments were made in response, Woodhouse said that reducing the size of the building wasn’t feasible: A 700-seat concert hall is large by its nature. Schwab noted that Kierlin and Burrichter have been willing to go over budget to do the building Their goal, he said, is to create a new catalyst for the city’s economic development.
Verbatim
Jason Woodhouse, architect: “The design was not to compete with what’s around it but complement it — not try to match it but be in harmony with it.”
“Art galleries and performance spaces can’t have many windows, as sunlight could degrade historic paintings or interfere with the concert hall’s lighting.”
Architectural hangups
The Winona Historic Preservation Commission has delayed a certificate of appropriateness for the propose Masterpiece Hall. The Commission’s concerns include:
> Inconsistence with the city’s downtown zoning code the requires window and facades that comport aesthetically with historic structures.
> A wholly glass box at the corner adjacent to the classical revivalist Winona library built in 1898.
> None of the brick of the next-door historic Laird-Norton building built in 1918 now a Winna State art and design center.
> Solid walls that are windowless backdrops for the junior high school behind the concert hall on Sixth Street. The school has bene remodeled into a historically faithful apartment building.
> Stark limestone slabs and street-to-roof windowing in a minimalist modern spirit.
> Too much street-view limestone and granite and too little brick to fit with other recent downtown renovations.
City staff has endorsed the design. The final decison rests with the City Council. Meanwhile, the Historic Preservation Commission has asked architects to come up with drawings from more angles and perhaps revisions.