TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Keith Stahley, City Manager
FROM: Kristin Retherford, Community Planning and Development Department Director
SUBJECT:
title
Designation of the Criterion Schoolhouse as a Salem Local Historic Resource.
Ward(s): 5
Councilor(s): Brown
Neighborhood(s): None (State Fairgrounds)
Result Area(s): Welcoming and Livable Community.
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SUMMARY:
summary
The Criterion Schoolhouse is eligible for listing as a local historic resource due to its significance as an excellent local example of the one-room schoolhouse building type. The Criterion Schoolhouse meets the applicable criteria in SRC 230.010 for age, integrity and significance, especially for its cultural significance as an embodiment of the early history of education in Oregon, as part of the educational section of the Oregon State Fair, and a symbol of the enormous effort that went into planning and celebrating America’s bicentennial.
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ISSUE:
Shall City Council advance Ordinance Bill No. 2-25, designating the Criterion Schoolhouse as a local historic resource, to second reading for enactment?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Advance Ordinance Bill No. 2-25 to second reading for enactment, designating the Criterion Schoolhouse as a local historic resource.
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FACTS AND FINDINGS:
1. The Country School Association of American (CSAA) placed the Criterion Schoolhouse (c.1912) on the National Schoolhouse Historic Register on December 2, 2022, as an important Oregon example of a one-room schoolhouse from the early twentieth century. Representatives from the Criterion Schoolhouse Committee, the Oregon Retired Educators Association (OREA) and the Oregon State Fair subsequently submitted a Local Historic Resource designation application to the City of Salem on July 27, 2023 along with a request for assistance to draft the local nomination.
2. Local Designation is a Type IV procedure under SRC 300. The HLC may initiate a designation, hold a public hearing on the nomination and make a recommendation to City Council regarding the proposed designation.
3. Notice was provided to DLCD on October 8, 2024. Notice of public hearing was sent on October 8, 2024. Public hearing notice was also posted on the property pursuant to SRC 300.620.
4. The Salem HLC held a public hearing on November 21, 2024 where they found that the Criterion Schoolhouse met the applicable criterion for designation as a local historic resource, and retains sufficient original integrity to convey its historical and cultural significance to the Salem community. Per Salem Revised Code (SRC) 230.010 (c), the Historic Landmarks Commission is forwarding to Council its recommendation pursuant to their decision on November 21, 2024 (Attachment 2).
BACKGROUND:
1. The Country School Association of American (CSAA) placed the Criterion Schoolhouse (c.1912) on the National Schoolhouse Historic Register on December 2, 2022, as an important Oregon example of a one-room schoolhouse from the early twentieth century. Representatives from the Criterion Schoolhouse Committee, the Oregon Retired Educators Association (OREA) and the Oregon State Fair subsequently submitted a Local Historic Resource designation application to the City of Salem on July 27, 2023 along with a request for assistance to draft the local nomination.
Jake Morris
Historic Preservation Planner
Attachments:
1. Ordinance Bill No. 2-25
2. HLC Recommendation HIS24-2
3. Vicinity Map