Images of Pomona

  PRESERVATION UPDATE 

Dear Members & Friends of Claremont Heritage,

I am happy to announce that as a response to your input we will begin sending monthly updates about the preservation work that Claremont Heritage is engaged in.  Our mission is to advance, preserve and celebrate the historic architectural, natural and cultural resources of our community through collaboration, education and advocacy.  This means that our preservation concerns go beyond just the architectural and also extend to both the cultural and natural elements of our community.


David Shearer, Executive Director

ARCHITECTURAL

POMONA COLLEGE DRAFT EIR AND MASTER PLAN REVIEW - Time Sensitive

In 2013, Pomona College presented its Draft Master Plan at a special Claremont Heritage Board Member meeting.  The Master Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) are now under City review and the public is invited to give comments on elements of the plan.

Claremont Heritage continues to focus on concerns voiced at the members' meeting-especially changes to the east and west sides of College Avenue between Second and Bonita avenues.

The changes include the demolition of Thatcher Music Building, Montgomery Art Center, and the bungalows on the southwest corner of College and Bonita avenues where the Master Plan calls for a new art museum and offices-bounded by Bonita Avenue, the alley, and Renwick house.

Another issue mentioned in the Draft EIR is the possibility of traffic impacts at the corners of Indian Hill Blvd. and Foothill Blvd. and College Avenue and Foothill Blvd.

Claremont Heritage encourages members and other citizens to comment on the Draft EIR as it relates to these and other areas of the Pomona Master Plan.

The full Master Plan and Draft EIR are available HERE  

 

Public comments on the EIR are due by 5 PM, Tuesday, February 3, 2015.

To: Belle Newman, Contract Planner

P.O. Box 880

Claremont, CA 91711

bnewmanplanning@gmail.com

PLEASE CONTACT CLAREMONT HERITAGE Executive Director, David Shearer, if you have any questions about historic preservation or need additional information on how you can be involved: 

 

(909) 621.0848 or director@claremontheritage.org 

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

URBAN LANDSCAPES + NATIONAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Early plan for Foothill Blvd originally published in the Los Angeles Times

Claremont Heritage has recently formed a new committee to collaborate with the City Staff and other groups such as Sustainable Claremont and TAG (Tree Action Group).  The new committee, Urban Landscapes and Natural Resources, will help to encourage and facilitate  the documentation and surveying of historical natural resources to create educational programming, publications and help guide policy changes that will preserve our urban forest and landscapes for future generations.

Areas of focus will include: Foothill Master Plan, Wilderness Park, Tree Ordinance, and creation of an Urban Forest Master Plan.  Members of the committee will participate in the activities of various City Councils and other like-minded organizations and report on issues and initiatives that are taking place in this realm. 

 

The City of Claremont has a lot of good information on it's website about our Urban Forest including the current tree policies and guidelines manual HERE

CULTURAL HERITAGE

NEW NOMINATIONS TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES


Our Historic Resources include not just the physical elements of architecture or landscape, but also include the cultural aspects as well, such as the people or events connected to a physical site.  This also applies to elements of preservation, such as honoring a site or building that has contributed to our Cultural Heritage by including it in a local, State or National Register of Historic Places.  Currently, Claremont has five sites on the National Register of Historic Places: Russian Village, Santa Fe Train Depot, original Scripps College campus, Padua Hills Theatre and the Pitzer House. 

Claremont Heritage recently submitted a nomination to the National Register to recognize the Intercultural Council (ICC) Housing cooperative located in Arbol Verde as a historic district.   Developed in the mid-1940's to facilitate the building of new housing in a culturally integrated neighborhood and to upgrade existing sub-standard housing, the ICC was was started by a committee of the Congregational Church (UCC).  The social experiment that the housing project represented brought together Anglo university graduate students and Mexican-American laborers in an attempt to build bridges of friendship and neighborliness between the two communities.  Millard Sheets had one of his students in architecture draw plans for the houses and lot owners either built the houses themselves or hired the work out.  The development was as innovative architecturally as it was socially and contained elements of later condominium or Home Owners Associations.

Claremont Heritage was recently notified that the ICC Housing nomination has been approved by the California State Office of Historic Preservation to be recommended to the National Register for approval.  We will keep you updated on this exciting initiative, as well as other nominations that are in progress.  Claremont has many significant historic resources that should be recognized as such, and given the protection that they deserve, so that their legacy will endure for future generations to experience and learn from.

PLEASE CONTACT CLAREMONT HERITAGE Executive Director, David Shearer, if you have any questions on historic preservation or need additional information on how you can be involved: 

 

(909) 621.0848 or director@claremontheritage.org