Expect more verbal stones to be thrown at a proposed glass structure that the Baker Hunt Arts & Cultural Center hopes to construct as part of a multi-million dollar campus makeover.
At issue: Baker Hunt is located in the Licking Riverside Historic District and must gain approval from the city’s urban design review board (UDRB). But how that approval is gained is also up for debate. The City of Covington’s new historic preservation officer, Emily Ahouse, recommended approval of the proposed structure, known as the Garden Pavilion. Ahouse says that the structure should be considered as an “accessory”, exempting it from the guidelines associated with infill construction. Baker Hunt officials and GBBN Architects have also argued that the glass structure be evaluated as accessory, too. Baker Hunt also wishes to remove part of a historic wall along its Greenup Street address to offer a new entrance to the campus/
In June, the Baker Hunt project was part of a 4-hour meeting of the UDRB and was mostly derided by neighbors and preservation activists like Lisa Sauer of Progress With Preservation. Sauer, a resident of Licking Riverside, argues that the structure would be infill and should be evaluated as such. The Garden Pavilion and the wall work were both tabled at the June meeting and will be considered again on Monday at 4 p.m. when the UDRB convenes at Covington City Hall.
“This is an important issue for our city because the proposed infill building placed on the street front is not compatible with the rest of the buildings on the street and does not follow the Historic Covington Design Guidelines,” Sauer wrote in a letter to other preservation activists, a letter that she shared with The River City News. “And the removal of such a significant portion of the historic wall will cause a permanent change to the historic fabric of the street.”
Ahouse will recommend that each Baker Hunt proposal be permitted. “New buildings are fine,” Sauer wrote. “They simply need to be compatible as defined by the Design Guidelines.”
Opponents of the plan have argued that the new structure would garner too much attention and take away from the historic landscape.
That’s the point, said Ray Kingsbury, executive director of Baker Hunt, at last month’s meeting.
“We need to make sure that we evolve with our clientele,” said Kingsbury, who noted that enrollment on the campus has increased 123% over the past four years with nearly 2,800 students taking at least one course there. The project, he said, increases Baker Hunt’s visibility and accessibility, while adding to the city’s walkability. “The other thing I like is, we’re having a conversation about the arts. Arts and economic development. I hope that we don’t restrict through regulations a gem in Covington that is considered one of the cornerstones of what we do. We need to loosen up and evolve into that.”
-Michael Monks, editor & publisher
