WHEREAS, the Historic Preservation Review Board, having held a hearing on March 20, 1991, designated the entire 4.45 acre site, including the Geophysical Laboratory, power plant, and ancillary stucco-covered laboratory building, for inclusion in the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites; and

WHEREAS, the entire site subsequently was nominated by the State Historic Preservation Officer to the National Register of Historic Places and that designation was granted; and

WHEREAS, in 1993, the Selma M. Levine School of Music (the “School”) applied for and received a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the purpose of purchasing and renovating the site of the former Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory; and

WHEREAS, the “School” signed an agreement with NEA stating that “All renovation work on the existing Carnegie buildings will be executed in accordance with the approaches recommended by the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings and in conformance with the plans prepared by Florance Eschbaum Esocoff King Architects and submitted with the School’s original application”; and

WHEREAS, in 1994, the “School” received conceptual design approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board to use the Carnegie Geophysical Site for the Selma M. Levine School of Music in accordance with the plans for renovation submitted by the School’s architect, with all renovation work to the exterior of the laboratory building to be overseen by preservation architect Mary Oehrlein, and with the HPRB transcript (October 27, 1994) at page 11, stating that “the Chair” rules that whatever changes should be made subsequently will come before us again.”; and

WHEREAS, in obtaining the approval from HPRB, the School promised to be good stewards of the property and make only those changes to the site approved by the Board; and

WHEREAS, in 1995, the “School” received a special exception from the Board of Zoning Adjustment to use the site for the Selma Levine School of Music, with one operating condition stating that “construction shall be in accordance with plans marked as Exhibit No. 24A and revised by Exhibit No. 150A,” with neither plan showing the air handler units on the roof of the historic building; and

WHEREAS, by a memorandum dated January 31, 1997, Levine’s architects reported on an ex parte understanding with HPRB staff stating that HPRB staff would take it upon themselves to approve a revision to the mechanical system whereby three very large air handling units would be placed on top of the roof the landmarked laboratory building for an estimated 3-4 years, with that memorandum further stating that “the units
as portrayed affect the building’s historic appearance but will be acceptable as a temporary measure so that occupancy of the building can commence;” and

WHEREAS, having no knowledge of this ex parte communication between Levine’s architect and an HPRB staff member, and having relied on the HPRB decision that all changes would come before the HPRB, in July of 1997, the Neighbors on Upton Street, the Upton Street Preservation League, the Van Ness East Condominium Association, and the Van Ness South Tenants’ Association, wrote to the Historic Preservation Review Board the D.C. State Historic Preservation Officer, and the National Endowment for the Arts, stating that the “School” had violated Stipulation No. 2 of the agreement with the NEA which provided that “all renovation work on the existing Carnegie building would be executed in conformance with the plans prepared by Florance Eschbaum Esocoff King Architects and submitted with the School’s original application” and that “the placement of three huge mechanical air handling units on top of the roof ridge of the Carnegie laboratory building, visible from every view, violated that agreement and denigrated the historic integrity of the existing building and created a visual pollution to the historical character of the landmarked building”; and

WHEREAS, in May of 1997, the Levine School filed an application to revise its permit (#B407113) with the D. C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, to allow the placement of the three air handlers on the roof of the building; and

WHEREAS, the DCRA approval of the application states, “Restriction of the Permit: temporary AC units on roof,” and

WHEREAS, the State Historic Preservation Officer approved the Levine School’s application for a temporary revision to its permit on June 6, 1997, stating that it would be a “temporary, short-term solution,” and

WHEREAS, in July of 2002, architect Colden Florance for the Levine School of Music, is seeking conceptual review for the installation of screening around the air handling units on the roof of the landmark Carnegie Geophysical Institute building; and

WHEREAS, the HPRB staff report on this application #02-481, states that “the installation of prominently visible air handling units on the roof was an unfortunate mistake, and that Mr. Florance, who served as project architect for the rehabilitation, is proposing the screening in an effort to improve the aesthetic appearance of the building”; and

WHEREAS, the HPRB staff report also states that “the ideal solution would be removal of the air handling units for the roof, the installation of the screen would be an improvement over the existing condition;” and

WHEREAS, HPRB staff further “recommends that the Review Board reiterate their opposition to the prominently visible air handling units on the roof of this landmark, and encourage the Levine School to plan for their removal and relocation to a more appropriate location of the site”;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That ANC 3F does not support the screening of the air handlers on the roof of the landmark building as another temporary measure and ANC 3F strongly recommends that the Historic Preservation Review Board set a date firm for the removal of the three large air handlers that have been visible on the roof of the landmarked building for five years.

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Adopted September 17, 2002, by a vote of 6-0-1 at a duly noticed public meeting with a quorum present.

 /s/ Cathy Wiss                                                       /s/ David J. Bardin
Cathy Wiss, Chair                                                  David J. Bardin, Secretary