Facts

Location  |  San Antonio TX

Year Completed  |  2017

Type of Project  |  Historic Rehabilitation; Interior Renovation

Services Performed  |  Full Architectural Services

Contractor  |  JC Stoddard Construction

Photos  |  Dror Baldinger

Thoughts

Hemisfair Park is in the middle of transforming into a world class urban park in the heart of downtown San Antonio. The Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation (HPARC) was created to oversee and manage the redevelopment process. One of the first phases of the project included the stabilization and rehabilitation of ten historic residential structures within the park so that they could be re-activated as small local businesses. The ten homes vary in size and include load bearing masonry walls, metal roofs and deep front porches.  The homes were part of an existing neighborhood called Germantown, that was established by a melting pot of immigrants – German, Polish, Alsatian, Mexican, African-American – since Texas was a republic.  The original neighborhood had elements of King William, La Vaca and La Villita with over 200 homes at it’s peak.  Today, only a fraction of the homes exists, but thankfully are being protected and restored within Hemisfair’s redevelopment.

The ten homes included in this project are the following: Sweeney House, Schultze House, Mayer Halff House, Acosta House, Smith House, Kampmann House, Pereida House, Koehler House, Espinoza House and Amaya House.

The scope on all the homes were very similar, with a focus on preparing the them for commercial tenants to move into.  This meant improving the accessibility into the buildings, enlarging and/or creating new ADA compliant restrooms and improving the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems infrastructure at each building. On the exterior, many of homes received new in-kind standing seam metal roofs, gutters and downspouts to make the structures water-tight.  Many of the front porches of the homes had to be re-engineered and re-built using in-kind materials and joinery.  Non-historic window and door openings were removed and filled, matching the adjacent wall’s construction method. All existing salvageable wood trim on the homes were stripped, sanded and repainted to match historic colors found in previously documented paint analysis. Some homes had to have walls repointed due to foundation issues in the past. Some wall sections were so bad that large sections of stone in the walls had to be replaced in-kind.

Most of the windows across all ten structures were salvageable, and were able to be carefully sanded down, cleaned and re-painted with only a few exceptions where sashes or sills had to replaced due to rot.  The same went for interior and exterior doors. Most had to be stripped and refinished, including the hardware, which was carefully cleaned using a non-abrasive cleaning detergent that removed all the paint and revealed the original natural metal finish.

The design team also worked with the landscape Master Planners to design areas around the homes that would offer opportunities for exterior seating or gathering spaces for future tenants. For example, between the Koehler and Espinoza Houses, an expansive wood deck was designed to be shared between the two buildings, allowing for a coffee shop or small café tenant to have an expanded seating area, while sounds of children playing in the adjacent playground fill the air.

Awards

Power of Preservation  |  2018 Project of the Year Award

Preservation Texas  |  2018 Honor Award

American Public Works Association, Texas Chapter  |  2017 Project of the Year