ATTACHMENT 4 NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH

Transcription

1 ATTACHMENT 4 NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32 ATTACHMENT 9 Historic Resource Evaluation Richard Brandi October 2016

33 Historic Resource Evaluation Ralston Hall Renovation Belmont, CA Conducted for: City of Belmont Prepared by: Richard Brandi Architectural Historian 125 Dorchester Way San Francisco, CA October 28, 2016

34 Introduction This report on the proposed Ralston Hall Renovation Project at Notre Dame De Namur University (NDNU) at 1500 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, California, consists of a Phase I and Phase II historic resource evaluation of the renovation project. Phase I is a concise building history to determine the period of significance and the building s character-defining features. Phase II is a review of the plans and elevations of the project dated July 6, 2016, an assessment of the proposed project with the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for Rehabilitation, and recommended changes to the plan, if necessary, to make it conform to the Secretary s Standards. This report s review is limited to the main building. Projects that meet the Secretary of the Interior s Standards are generally considered to except from CEQA: A project that has been determined to conform with the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties can generally be considered to be a project that will not cause a significant impact (14 CCR (b)(1)). In fact, in most cases if a project meets the Secretary of Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties it can be considered categorically exempt from CEQA (14 CCR 15331). 1 This report concludes that the Ralston Hall Renovation Project conforms to the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and no changes are recommended to the project plans. Although the project does not require any mitigation, it is suggested that the surviving Sisters of Notre Dame De Namur, who once lived on the fourth floor, be interviewed and the spaces be photographed to document the dormitory use that took place from 1922 to Qualifications This review was conducted by Richard Brandi, Historic Preservation Consultant, who holds an M.A. in Historic Preservation from Goucher College, Maryland and a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. He is listed as a qualified historian by the San Francisco Planning Department and the California Historical Resources Information System. With more than 10 years of professional experience in 2

35 architectural history and historic preservation, Mr. Brandi meets the requirements of a Qualified Professional as set forth by the Secretary of the Interior. He has extensive experience throughout California and has also worked in Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, and New Mexico. He conducts historic resource evaluations; historic context statements; architectural surveys; CEQA, NEPA and Section 106 reviews; HABS/HAER documentation; National Register nominations; and design reviews using the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Mr. Brandi has evaluated railroad roundhouses, train stations, airports, golf course clubhouses, log cabins, theaters, courthouses, warehouses, farmsteads, public housing complexes, hospitals, stores, churches, and schools, as well as many types of houses. He previously worked at Atkins/PBS&J, PMC, Page & Turnbull Architecture, and Carey & Co. Architecture. His evaluations have been accepted by the Library of Congress, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Housing and Urban Development, California State Office of Historic Preservation, Mississippi SHPO, San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission, and many cities and counties. He is president and board member of the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, and board member of the Western Neighborhoods Project, which received the State of California Governor s Award for Historic Preservation. Methods A site visit was made of the exterior and interior spaces on September 29, The primary sources of documentation are the National Register Nomination form and the Historic Structure Report by Carey & Co. Inc., dated September 7,

36 Phase I History Ralston Hall is a historic landmark located on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus in Belmont, California. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is California Historical Landmark #856. Ralston Hall was built by William Chapman Ralston ( ), a prominent San Francisco businessman and founder of the Bank of California. In 1864, Ralston bought an existing, twostory villa called Cañada del Diablo about 25 miles south of San Francisco as his country estate. In 1868, he expanded the property into a 55,000-square-foot mansion with extensive outbuildings. Called Belmont, the estate was used to entertain business and civic leaders of the day. After Ralston s death in 1875, the estate passed to U.S. Senator William Sharon. After Sharon's death in 1885, the mansion served as a girls school and later became the Gardner Sanitarium. In 1922, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur purchased Ralston Hall; it has remained in their possession as part of their campus. Ralston Hall housed classrooms and administrative offices for the university and was open to the public for tours, community meetings, educational forums, concerts, weddings, and other events. It was closed in 2012 due to seismic concerns. The university now plans to make repairs and renovations to make the building safe for occupancy. The proposed plans include a full building seismic upgrade, accessibility improvements including changes to the main entry, replacement of most of the building systems, programmatic changes, a new bridge to the main campus building, changes to the third and fourth floors, demolition of an addition on the northwest side, removal of a free-standing boiler room, some reconfiguring of windows, landscaping changes, and other changes as contained in plans dated July 7, 2016 by Ratcliff. 4

37 History of the Main Building Ralston Hall history is composed of discrete periods corresponding to the building s ownership and use. Cipriani Period, The original house was built in about 1853 for Count Leonetto Cipriani. A Corsican native, he was active in Italy s struggle for unification. He spent much of his life traveling. The two-story Italian Villa-style house featured asymmetrical massing, Italianate cave brackets, lacy bargeboards, and a tower. Portions of the early villa remain in the present building s east wing. In 1864, Cipriani sold his villa to Ralston and eventually returned to Corsica. William Chapman Ralston Period, On March 2, 1864, William Chapman Ralston, a noted San Francisco businessman purchased the Cipriani estate. Born on January 12, 1826 in Ohio, Ralston learned shipbuilding from his father and worked on Mississippi and Ohio river boats. Ralston arrived in San Francisco in 1854 and two years later formed the banking firm Garrison, Morgan, Fretz, and Ralston, which shipped bullion from the mines of California and Nevada. Ten years later, Ralston organized the Bank of California, which became a leader in the West s financial world. Ralston had control of the Comstock Lode and held interests in furniture, carriage and watch factories, woolen mills, sugar refineries, a theater, and real estate. The same year he founded the Bank of California (1864), Ralston purchased the Cipriani property in Belmont. He spent the remaining 10 years of his life adding to the building and expanding the grounds, creating one of the first palatial homes on the Peninsula. He entertained local and national figures with formal occasions and elegant menus. Guests included Admiral David Farragut, Vice President Schuyler Colfax, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Anson Burlingame, James Flood, and Mark Twain. It is believed that Ralston hired John Painter Gaynor, later the architect for the Palace Hotel, to design accommodations for up to 120 guests. As a result, the mansion resembled a hotel with extensive High Victorian architectural interiors; grand entertainment spaces on the main floor; European Renaissance designed pilasters, moldings, columns, interior arches, staircases, and furnishings; a remodeled ballroom, reception hall, and dining room; state-of-the-art ventilation 5

38 system; imported embossed glass in skylights, doors, and windows; and decoratively painted rooms. The mansion s interior steamboat Gothic construction and design may have been chosen to reflect Ralston s early days on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. There were doors that swung both in and out, glazed glass door panels handsomely etched with flower designs, and intricately carved ventilator covers all features found on Mississippi river boats. Ralston called his estate Belmont. Besides the mansion, the estate included a stone carriage house, barns, a bowling alley, greenhouses, servants quarters, and a gymnasium with Turkish baths. Built to be self sufficient, the estate would eventually include its own gas plant to supply lighting to its 27 chandeliers and to the neighboring small town. The property also had its own reservoir, constructed in Instead of the wide expanses of lawn seen today, the property had ascending terraces planted with heliotrope, oleander, crape-myrtle, camellias, laurel, and lilac. None of these accessory buildings, structures, features, or landscapes are subjects of this report. The grand life at Belmont ended with Ralston s death in The crash in mining stocks that year had caused the Bank of California to collapse and Ralston, who was overextended, faced financial ruin. The cause of his death is unknown (he died during a swim in the San Francisco Bay), but before he died he had signed over his estate to his partner Senator William Sharon. Senator William Sharon Period, William Sharon, Ralston business partner and former senator from Nevada, inherited the estate after Ralston s death in Sharon and his family did not live in the mansion but maintained it for entertaining. Sharon died in 1885, and the family owned it until Institutional Period After the Sharon family ownership, the estate was used for institutional use. It became a girls finishing school, called Radcliffe Hall from 1895 to Then it was used as a sanitarium called Gardner Sanitarium from 1900 to Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur 1922 Present When the sanitarium closed after World War I, the estate lay vacant until it was purchased by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1922 as a site for their college. The building is owned by the College of Notre Dame de Namur. Alterations and changes made by Notre Dame de Namur are outlined below. 6

39 Ralston Hall Construction History 1853 Original two-story house, designed with the asymmetric massing, is built for Count Leonetto Cipriani. The building includes lacy barge boards in the end gables, eave brackets, high chimneys, jigsaw-cut roof, porch ornamentation, and a tower. Portions of the original Cipriani villa survive in the present building s east wing William Chapman Ralston buys the Cipriani Estate, with plans to build a lavish mansion for entertaining The estate is transformed into a grand mansion with more than 80 rooms with accommodations for 120 guests, bars, greenhouses, servants quarters, Turkish baths, water tower, and gas works. There is also to be a bowling alley and a Little Belmont for the Chinese servants. The mansion features: Extensive new High Victorian architectural interiors Grand entertainment spaces at the main floor European Renaissance-designed pilasters, moldings, columns, interior arches, staircases, and furnishings A ballroom, reception hall, and dining room State-of-the-art ventilation system Expensive imported etched-glass skylight panels, doors, and windows between rooms Sterling-silver-plated light fixtures and door hardware Decorative painting Imported chandeliers lit by gas from the on-premises gas works Elaborate ornamental plaster ceilings 1875 Financial troubles prompt Ralston to resign his position as president of the Bank of California. He signs over Belmont and other properties to his partner, Senator William Sharon. Ralston is later found dead in San Francisco Bay from an apparent heart attack. Thus begins the Sharon Period, which continues to An addition constructed at the mansion s northeast corner, which connects by dual staircases to the ballroom, includes Victorian woodwork and detailing. While commonly attributed to Sharon, the quality of the woodwork and detailing may show that the addition was actually begun in 1874 or 1875, just before Ralston s death Property is sold to Dr. Alden M. Gardner for a private sanitarium. Estate furnishings such as chine, sculptures, rugs, and lamps are auctioned off to raise money for the sanitarium s upkeep and operations. 7

40 Dr. Gardner extends Cipriani s wing and tops it with a third story The structure s fireplaces and chimneys are damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and are closed off. They remain so to the present In February 1922, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur purchase the mansion and its grounds as a site for their college. The mansion is converted into a day and board school for 500 girls. The Sisters cover the original exterior redwood siding with stucco and remove much of the wooden trim. Roof elements may also been altered at this time. Possible alterations include the roofing materials on the ballroom wing s mansard roof, the lowering of the chimneys, removal of the belvedere finials and decorative sheet metal attic ventilators, and removal of the rooftop wooden balustrades encircling a widow s walk. The Sisters restore portions of the mansion s interior, while living on the upper floors The ballroom is converted into a chapel. Gas chandeliers are converted to electricity. Many original furnishings and artwork are returned to Ralston Hall The ballroom is restored to its original appearance and is rented out for weddings and parties Ralston Hall s exterior is painted and reroofed, and several skylights are replaced. Roll roofing or built-up asphaltic roofing is used in the original flat areas. Original roof material may have been flat-seamed metal. c. 1980s Electrical service is upgraded, with new panels and wiring. Some areas of the building not actively used still retain knob-and-tube wiring The Sisters vacate the mansion Upper floors are converted to college administrative and faculty offices. Alterations include moving walls and replacing bathrooms with offices. Original ceiling decorations and windows remain. Fire/life safety upgrades are completed. An exterior fire escape is added on the east wing upper floors. Electro-magnetically held-back fire doors are added to the second floor hallways. 8

41 1987 A faulty sprinkler head causes damage to the ceiling in the Cipriani Room. The full ceiling is replaced with plaster, and a local muralist replicates the original ceiling decoration. Plumbing leaks also ruin the sun porch s plaster ceiling. It is replaced with gypsum board An overflowing toilet on the second floor causes new damage to the replicated ceiling in the Cipriani Room The structure s exterior is painted. c Brick piers and perimeter foundation walls are repaired and repointed, and basement ventilation vents are installed. Butler s pantries adjacent to the formal dining room are adapted to create separate men s and women s restrooms Water leaks from a second floor restroom ruin the sun porch s plaster ceiling. The ceiling is replaced with gypsum board The ballroom undergoes repair and painting A new concrete landing is added at the east entrance. The new concrete landing is raised approximately three to four inches above the previous grade to align with the interior floor level. New wrought-iron railings are installed, and octagonal basement ventilation louvers are added at the exterior The ballroom floor is repaired. Limited seismic upgrade work is performed to the foundations below the floor. 9

42 Historic Significance Ralston Hall is a historic landmark located on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus in Belmont, California. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is California Historical Landmark #856. According to the nomination form to the National Register of Historic Places written in 1977, Ralston Hall is significant for its association with William Chapman Ralston and the period of significance is , the timeframe when Ralston owned the building. 2 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the official federal list of historic resources that have architectural, historic, or cultural significance at the national, state, or local level. To be eligible for listing on the NRHP a property must be historically significant under at least one of the four Criteria for Evaluation: Criterion A (Event): Properties that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. Criterion B (Person): Properties that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. Criterion C (Design/Construction): Properties that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. Criterion D (Information Potential): Properties that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. To be potentially eligible for individual listing on the NRHP, a structure must usually be more than 50 years old, must have historic significance, and must retain its physical integrity. 3 If a building has historic significance according to the criteria, then an evaluation is made to determine its physical integrity, that is, the ability to convey its historic significance. Integrity consists of seven aspects: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. 10

43 For a property to be significant under historic events (Criterion A), the physical structure must have been there to witness the event or series of events; they must have actually occurred on the nominated property. For a property to be significant for an association with an individual (Criterion B), the individual should have lived, worked, or been on the premises during the period in which the person accomplished the activities for which the individual is considered significant. Period of significance refers to the span of time during which significant events and activities occurred. Events and associations with historic properties are finite; most properties have a clearly definable period of significance. 4 This report finds that Ralston Hall is significant under Criterion A (Events) for its association as one of the first palatial homes on the Peninsula, under Criterion B (Persons) for its association with William Chapman Ralston, and under Criterion C (Design/Construction) for its architecture. As the earlier Cipriani villa ( ) is embedded in the Ralston building, it too is historically significant. The building is also significant for its association with William Sharon ( ) due to his close connection with Ralston and because the building was used for similar purposes. These uses and ownership periods are consistent with the original National Register nomination. The building s institutional uses, however, are of a different kind of association than that contemplated in the original National Register nomination, i.e. as a palatial home. While such institutional uses are more than 50 years old and therefore are potentially significant, the building is not historically significant for its association with the girls finishing school, called Radcliffe Hall (1895 to 1898), Gardner Sanitarium (1900 to 1918), or Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur/University of Notre Dame de Namur (1922 present). The period of significance for Ralston Hall for the purposes of the rehabilitation is the time period when it was a palatial home ( ). Ralston Hall retains its historic integrity location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. 11

44 Character-defining features and Historic Fabric The character-defining features and historic fabric of Ralston Hall include its original construction and the various additions and alterations made until The most prominent features are the building s overall form, fenestration, and roof shapes. Ralston Hall has significant interior spaces dating from the Cipriani, Ralston, and Sharon periods. These spaces are the first floor rooms that were open to guests, the grand staircase, and the second floor foyer/lobby. This excludes the first-floor kitchen, which does not date from the historic periods. The second and third floors that once held guest rooms are not historically significant interior spaces because they were not publicly accessible and because they have been greatly altered over the years for institutional uses. Many changes were made to the building when it passed to institutional uses, and any character-defining features were lost as was some historic fabric. The fourth floor is not historically significant and dates from use by the Sisters as a dormitory. Interior historic fabric consists of nearly all of the first floor, except the kitchen spaces and the surviving historic windows, miscellaneous trim, and ceiling medallions on the second and third floors. 12

45 PHASE 2 EVALUATION FOR CONSISTENCY WITH THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR S STANDARDS When a proposed project has the potential to affect a historic resource, The Secretary of the Interior s Standards for Rehabilitation & Illustrated Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings (hereinafter Standards ) are used to provide guidance to review the potential impacts to the historic structure. There are four standards for the treatment of historic properties: Preserving, Rehabilitation, Restoring, and Reconstructing. The current project is not attempting to preserve or restore the building, but to reorganize and reprogram the interior spaces while preserving the exterior of the building. Therefore, the Rehabilitation Standard is appropriate for this project. The proposed project was evaluated in this report through the application of the Rehabilitation standard from the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, Rehabilitation is defined as the act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural or architectural heritage. Secretary of the Interior s Standards for Rehabilitation The proposed project should adhere to the following standards. 1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships. 2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided. 3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, will not be undertaken. 4. Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and preserved. 5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved. 6. Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence. 13

46 7. Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials will not be used. 8. Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken. 9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment. 10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction will be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired. Project Description The proposed project will provide a full building seismic upgrade; accessibility improvements; replacement of most of the existing building systems, including fire sprinklers and new connections to site utilities; minor wall and room changes on the second floor; and major reconfiguration of the third and fourth stories to accommodate the university s program and space needs. There will be limited exterior alterations, most of them on the north side (rear) of the building. Changes include the demolition of the non-original one-story wing on the northwest elevation and replacement of the non-original site bridge to the third story on the north elevation. The Music Annex will not be touched. 14

47 Exterior The proposed project will rehabilitate the exterior of Ralston Hall. The roofing, siding, and windows will be repaired or replaced. Minor changes are proposed for the exteriors of three of the four façades. Main (south) façade: Two blocked-off windows on the second and third floors of the main façade will be restored. These new windows will match the size and type of existing windows and the fenestration pattern will be maintained. At the porte cochere, the existing stairs that provide access to the original main entry will be reconfigured because of structural defects and because the existing exterior doors at the vestibule swing over stair risers in one case and need to be reversed in the other case. The new stairs and landing will fit within the overall footprint of the existing stairs. The stairs, handrails, and a new glass guard will be simply detailed without making them appear original. A new accessible, sloped walkway running along the front façade of the building will replace the existing stairs leading to the main entry. The sloped walkway will include a guardrail that is in keeping with the existing rails at the front entry. South façade 15

48 South façade close-up showing location of new accessible ramp and reconfigured stairs. 16

49 East façade. A new window will replace the egress door on the second floor. The non-historic fire escape will be removed. A new entrance door will replace the current door, and a new railing will be installed. These new windows will match the size and type of existing windows and the fenestration pattern will be maintained. East façade. 17

50 North facade The existing third floor of the north (rear) elevation, including the porch that connects to the third floor bridge leading to the main campus areas northeast of the building, will be rebuilt. Other exterior changes include the addition of skylights at the east wing, construction of a kitchen exhaust shaft on the east side of the existing tower, and reconfiguration of the one-story first floor wing on the northwest corner of the building. These changes will be difficult or impossible to see from the south side (main façade) of the building. North façade. 18

51 West Façade Other than reconfigured stairs and a landing, there are no changes to the west façade. The nonoriginal, free-standing boiler building and exposed steam piping on this side of the building will be removed. West façade. Interior The first floor, featuring the ballroom, the Ralston parlor and the dining room, will be rehabilitated with almost no visible changes. The second floor, previously used for the university s administrative office and conference space, will retain most of the partitions. The third floor will be significantly reconfigured, and the fourth floor (existing attic spaces and simply-detailed rooms) will be demolished entirely (except for the two stairway landings, which will continue to extend to the fourth floor level) to create ceilings for the third floor spaces. 19

52 THE RENOVATION PLANS AND CONSISTENCY WITH THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR S STANDARDS 1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships. The project s uses of the first floor are consistent with its historical uses as a public space for meetings, receptions, and other assemblies. The second, third, and fourth floors will be used for new uses, but the distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships of the grand staircase case and foyer will be retained. The other spaces are not historically significant. The project therefore is consistent with Standard #1. 2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided. The proposed project does not envision the removal of distinctive materials or the alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The spaces and spatial relationship on the second, third and fourth floors are not character-defining features of Ralston Hall. Therefore, the project is consistent with Standard #2. 3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, will not be undertaken. The proposed project does not propose to add conjectural features and is therefore consistent with Standard #3. 4. Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and preserved. The spaces and spatial relationships on the second, third and fourth floors date from the building s institutional uses and are not historically significant. No documented changes to the property have achieved historic significance; therefore, the proposed project is consistent with Standard #4. 5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved. The proposed project does not propose to include the removal of distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship and is therefore consistent with Standard #5. 20

53 6. Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence. The proposed project will repair deteriorated features when feasible or replace them in a way that matches the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials in order to be consistent with Standard #6. 7. Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic materials will not be used. The proposed project should follow guidelines for the cleaning of the exterior of the building and use the gentlest means possible in order to be consistent with Standard #7. 8. Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken. This report does not evaluate potential archeological resources. 9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment. The proposed project does not make any additions to the building. The non-historic pedestrian bridge and the associated non-historic elements at the rear of the building will be replaced in a manner similar to the scale of the extant features. Therefore, the project is consistent with Standard # New additions and adjacent or related new construction will be undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired. The new accessible entrances and minor adjustments to the front door could be removed without impairing the essential form and integrity of the historic property. Therefore, the project is consistent with Standard #10. The project is consistent with the Secretary of the Interior s Standards. 21

54 Conclusion This report concludes that the Ralston Hall Renovation Project conforms to the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and no changes are recommended to the project plans. Although the project does not require any mitigation, it is suggested that the surviving Sisters of Notre Dame De Namur, who once lived on the fourth floor, be interviewed and the spaces be photographed to document the dormitory use that took place from 1922 to California Office of Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Series #1, Office of Historic Preservation, Department of Parks and Recreation. 2 National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Cecil N. Mckithan, National Park Service, September 8, Researching a Historic Property, 22