chapter 8 historical/cultural resources 8.pdf · st. croix river crossing project - visual quality...

St. Croix River Crossing Project - Visual Quality Manual

Minnesota Department of TransportationWisconsin Department of Transportation

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chapter 8

Historical/Cultural Resources8.1 Introduction

Mitigation measures for adverse effects to cultural resources as a result of the St. Croix River Crossing Project were established by the Amended Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which was based on an MOA signed in 1994. Signatories are the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA—the lead federal agency), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Advi-sory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Minne-sota and Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Officers (MnSHPO and WisSHPO), with the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation (Mn/DOT and WisDOT) as invited signatories, along with nu-merous concurring parties. The Amended MOA, dated March 16, 2006, is used as the basis for this chapter.

In development of the Amended MOA, it was deter-mined that the project may have an adverse effect on the following properties that are listed, or eligible for listing, in the National Register of Historic Places:

• Stillwater Lift Bridge

• Log Cabin / Club Tara

• Moritz Bergstein Shoddy Mill and Warehouse

• St. Croix Overlook South (south of Stillwater’s downtown)

• Stillwater Commercial Historic District

• Stillwater Cultural Landscape District (SCLD)

• South Main Archaeological District (Hersey and Bean Archaeological Site, and Slab Alley)

• Thelen Farmstead

• Kriesel Farmstead

The locations of these properties are shown in Figure 8.1, Location of National Register Listed or Eligible Properties in the Project Area.

The following discussion identifies mitigation mea-sures established for each property in the Amended MOA and makes recommendations to protect, main-tain, or enhance the visual quality or setting of each property. The recommendations provide an approach that integrates the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties into the VQM guidance. The Preferred Alternative Historic Resource Mitigation Items are shown in Figure 8.2.

8.2 Stillwater Lift Bridge

Opened in 1931, the Stillwater Lift Bridge is on the Na-tional Register based on Criterion C as a rare surviv-ing example of a Waddell and Harrington vertical-lift bridge. Chapter 7, Loop Trail and Other Trails, provides additional details regarding preferred visual treat-ments.

• AmendedMOAmitigationrelatedtovisualquality:

• A Stillwater Lift Bridge Advisory Committee will be created to oversee development of a long-term bridge management plan. Mn/DOT will make any maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation plans in conformance to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties.



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St. Croix River Crossing Project 2005 Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement

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HilltopDrive-inTheatre

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Figure 11-4

Location of National Register Listed orEligible Properties in Project Area

Note: District boundaries are approximate

figure 8.1 LocationofNationalRegisterListedorEligiblePropertiesinProjectArea



chapter 8Historical/Cultural Resources

St. Croix River Crossing Project 2005 Supplemental Final Environmental Impact StatementFigure 15-7Preferred Alternative Historic Resources Mitigation Items

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Future Use of the Lift Bridge:• Prohibit vehicular traffic upon completion of new river

crossing• Use Lift Bridge as a pedestrian/bicycle facility; part of

loop trail system• Establish Lift Bridge Advisory Committee• Establish endowment for operation and maintenance• Develop a management plan providing strategies for

the short term needs and long-term preservation

Stillwater Commercial Historic District• Enhanced signage from new river crossing and

roadways to downtown Stillwater• Construction communication plan• Optimize parking• Parking lot at Old STH 35/64

Stillwater Cultural Landscape District• Identify and document key districts in

Stillwater• Mn/DOT development of graphic documen-

tation of cultural landscape district• Lift Bridge publication

St. Croix Overlook• Restoration of the overlook• Develop management plan for maintenance and

rehabilitation• Mn/DOT retains ownership• Completion of National Register registration form

Kriesel Farmstead• Completion of National Register

Registration form• Construct berm on highway side

Thelen Farmstead• Completion of National Register

Registration form

Log Cabin Restaurant• Parking lot design and reconstruction• Completion of National Register nomination form

NOTE:Not all Mitigation Items areVisual Quality actions, but areincluded here for information.

Hersey and Bean Site• Protection during project construction• Avoid adverse effect with loop trail design• Completion of National Register

nomination form

Bergstein Shoddy Mill• Documentation of Shoddy Mill and

Warehouse• Relocation and stabilization of Shoddy

Mill and Warehouse if cost-effective

figure 8.2 Preferred Alternative Historic Resource Mitigation Items

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figure 8.2 Preferred Alternative Historic Resource Mitigation Items

VQM

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• The bridge will be operated as a vehicular bridge until the new crossing is constructed; then, the historic bridge will be dedicated to pedestrian and bicycle use only.

• 4(f)mitigationmeasuresrelatedtoVQM:

• A Section 4(f) letter of agreement between the City of Stillwater and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, signed June 2005, requires that the design of the barriers at the ends of the bridge “be determined as part of the VQPP and VQM.” These barriers must be removable to allow city emergency and maintenance vehicles to pass.

VQM Recommendations

• The introduction of new elements on the bridge should be done judiciously to avoid diminishing the bridge’s legacy. The design of new elements should reinforce the sense of passage and the structure’s historic role in the transportation system.

• The circular concourse at the bridge’s west end is a point of arrival and transition, contributing to the experience of crossing the bridge. The concourse’s essential form should be retained and remain uncluttered. The VQRC recommends keeping the transportation corridor intact by not obstructing the concourse. The concourse should also remain visually distinguished from Lowell Park. The concourse will contain primarily hardscape. Rais-ing the roadway to the elevation of the sidewalks is acceptable if the original location of the sidewalks is visually distinguished from the roadway. The strong geometric patterns of the original concrete joints (now obscured by a bituminous overlay) should influence the new design. See Chapter 7, Loop Trail and Other Trails, Section 7.4.1, Chestnut Street, for a detailed discussion of the preferred visual treat-ments.

• All new elements added to the Lift Bridge to accom-modate the new bicycle/pedestrian use should be clearly differentiated from old elements and should be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale, proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the bridge. They should present a unified new “layer” of elements with a strong visual pres-ence, yet be subservient to the historic character of the structure. A modern industrial design motif may best accomplish this objective. The new Lift Bridge elements include the following:

– Barriers on Chestnut Street in Stillwater and at the top of the Houlton Hill to prevent vehicles from crossing. The barrier system will include movable or lockable bollards, to allow official vehicle access in case of emergencies, maintenance, or other special public purposes.

– Additional material to be added to the existing railing on the north side, to provide pedestrian safety.

– Railings and ramps to permit passage of pedestri-ans from the higher existing south walkway on the bridge, through the truss at selected points, and down to the lower original roadway deck.

– Benches, furniture, and other new structures or objects that need to be added.

8.3 Stillwater Commercial Historic District

Comprising eleven blocks of downtown Stillwater, this district contains fifty-seven contributing buildings, mostly two or three stories in height and built of brick. The district’s primary period of significance is 1860 to 1911, although the ending date for significance extends

chapter 8 Historical/Cultural Resources



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to 1940. The district is eligible for the National Regis-ter under Criterion A for its role in the region’s early development and growth and under Criterion C for its well-preserved late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture.


• “A guide sign for ‘Downtown Stillwater’ will be installed on both eastbound and westbound ap-proaches to the TH 36/TH 95 interchange.”

• “Provided that adequate space is available, the City may install a municipal identification en-trance sign for the City of Stillwater on north-bound TH 95 at the Stillwater city limit. The mu-nicipal identification entrance sign may include reference to the Stillwater Commercial Historic District. Because municipal entrance signs typi-cally include landscaping and non-breakaway support structures and therefore pose a hazard to motorists if located too near the highway, the sign must be located outside of the designated clear zone.”

• “Mn/DOT will work with the City of Stillwater to give full consideration to maximizing parking on Chestnut Street from Main Street to the Lift Bridge during the design phase.”

• “WisDOT will provide parking in the immedi-ate vicinity of the Loop Trail in Wisconsin at the connection of the Loop Trail and existing STH 64 (Houlton Hill) with a direct pedestrian access to the Lift Bridge and the Commercial Historic District.”

VQM Recommendations

• Recommendations for signing are covered in detail in Chapter 9, Design Elements.

• Recommendations for community gateways is cov-ered in detail in Chapter 9, Design Elements.

• The VQRC directed that the Lift Bridge circle should be kept free of vehicles. However, approxi-mately 15 to 20 additional parking spaces on both sides of Chestnut Street between Main Street and the circle will be integrated into the overall design approach for Chestnut Street.

See also Chapter 7, Loop Trail and Other Trails, for ad-ditional information.

8.4 Stillwater Cultural Landscape District

As defined by the State SHPOs and the Department of Interior, a cultural landscape district is “a geographic area, including both cultural and natural resources and the wildlife or domestic animals therein, associated with a historic event, activity, or person or exhibiting other cultural or aesthetic values.” The major compo-nents of cultural landscapes are land uses and activi-ties, patterns of spatial organization, responses to the natural environment, cultural tradition, circulation networks, boundary demarcation, vegetation related to land use, property types, and small-scale elements. Stillwater’s landscape district is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A within the contexts of the lumbering industry (1860s-1914) and social history (1839-1940) and under Criterion C for architecture. The district includes 250 contributing properties on both the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides of the St. Croix River, including the Lift Bridge and archaeological sites (Figure 8.3). Lowell Park, one of the contributing prop-erties, is shown in Figure 8.4.




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Stillwater Cultural Landscape District Boundary

St. Croix River Crossing Project

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Figure 11-6

2005 Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement

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figure 8.4LowellPark


• “In consultation with the MnSHPO, Mn/DOT shall design the Project elements within the viewshed of the SCLD, including the new extra-dosed bridge, the Loop Trail, Chestnut St. from Main St. to the Lift Bridge, landscaping, and other improvements, in accordance with [the design principles for development of the VQM] and the VQM, taking into account the historic property’s qualifying characteristics, setting and feeling.”

• Blufflandprotectionmitigation:

• As mitigation for bluff disturbance caused by the new bridge, $4.5 million will be set aside as part of the project’s funding to purchase or protect lands in the Riverway Basin. Protecting bluff land from development would be beneficial to the cultural landscape district.

VQM Recommendations

• There will be a good vista of the cultural landscape district from the new river crossing bridge. A loca-tion along the walkway on the eastern half of the bridge would be a logical point for interpretation of the district.

• To help preserve the character of the views from the Cultural Landscape District, which includes views of the Wisconsin Bluffs, give consideration to including blufflands within the viewshed of the Cul-tural Landscape District to be part of the bluffland protection required by the Amended MOA.

The Loop Trail is located in part within the boundar-ies of the Cultural Landscape District and the trail and its associated elements could affect important com-ponents, such as the Lift Bridge, Lowell Park, and the South Main Street Archaeological District. See Chapter 7, Loop Trail and Other Trails, for discussion of the Loop Trail, as well as the previous discussion of the Lift Bridge, above in this chapter.

8.5 St. Croix Overlook South

Built in 1938 as a federal relief project, this property is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A for its association with the New Deal and under Criterion C for the quality of its design (Figure 8.5).


• “Mn/DOT shall design the Project within the viewshed of the St. Croix Overlook South, in-cluding the new river crossing bridge and other improvements, in accordance with the design principles [for development of the VQM] and the




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VQM. The Project design shall take into account the setting and feeling of the Overlook.”

• “Mn/DOT shall restore the St. Croix Overlook South in accordance with the Mn/DOT Historic Roadside Development Structures Preservation and Restoration Plan during construction of the proposed Project.”

• Plansinplace:

• Mn/DOT has previously prepared plans for the overlook. Those plans will require more detailing to reflect the restoration work. The plans include site improvements and removing some of the vegetation that currently limits the view to the new river crossing bridge. Viewing the new bridge during construction and after completion will cre-ate new and interesting views from the overlook that may increase its use.

VQM Recommendations

• The goal of the VQM process is to minimize the visual effect of the new river crossing bridge and highway construction. Although the new bridge will alter the view downstream from the overlook, the extradosed design is less visually intrusive than other alternatives considered and would be con-sidered a landmark structure. Landscaping for the TH 95 interchange at the west end of the bridge will partially screen the view of the roads, ramps, and overpass structure from the overlook. The river ter-race forest treatment proposed for the interchange area is consistent with the goal of screening the highway, interchange, approach spans to the new river crossing bridge, and new Beach Road Bridge. In addition to the mixed forest and understory planting, the stormwater ponds in the interchange are proposed as naturalized ponds to blend with a natural environment. The above points highlight that the St. Croix Overlook South also exhibits the visual management goal of striking a balance between providing a river view while also reducing views of the highway.

• The visual quality of a bridge structure is often bet-ter appreciated from a point somewhat distant from the structure, rather than from the viewpoint of a motorist on the bridge itself. The St. Croix Overlook South presents a key opportunity to view the new bridge and the interplay between the natural and built environments.


figure 8.5 St.CroixOverlookSouth



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8.6 Log Cabin Restaurant / Club Tara

This property is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A as an example of early twentieth-century roadside architecture. It is presently a restaurant (Fig-ure 8.6).


• “Mn/DOT shall design Project elements, includ-ing the frontage road, access, landscaping, and other site improvements in the vicinity of this historic property, to be compatible with the quali-fying characteristics and setting of the Log Cabin Restaurant.”

• “Mn/DOT shall develop a design plan to ensure adequate parking for the Log Cabin Restaurant. . . . The design plan . . . shall not diminish the quali-fying characteristics of the historic property.”

• Plansinplace:

• Highway 36 will be lowered to a grade approxi-mately equal to the elevation of the restaurant and parking lot by removing the embankment that TH 36 is currently on.

• A new parking lot will be developed east of the restaurant on a capped landfill.

• The TH 36 trail, connecting to the Loop Trail, will be provided in front of the Log Cabin Restaurant.

VQM Recommendations

• The restaurant’s setting is informal, which helps maintain its rustic roadhouse ambiance from the early twentieth century. In general, materials should be understated, and the use of natural materials with historical precedents should be considered when appropriate. The existing parking lot adjacent to the restaurant has a gravel surface and will remain gravel. The proposed new parking lot will be paved with bituminous to control and contain drainage over the capped landfill. New lighting should be of compatible modern design.

• Any landscaping adjacent to either parking lot should be informal in keeping with the ambiance of the existing parking lot located west of the restau-rant. Alternatives to hard curb edging, formal is-lands, and extensive striping should be investigated.

figure 8.6 LogCabinRestaurant



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• Since the restaurant has traditionally attracted passing motorists, it is important to maintain the restaurant’s visibility from Highway 36.

• Because Highway 36 will be lowered from its current configuration in front of the restaurant, and a trail will be added, the landscape north of the restaurant will be an important part of the site’s viewshed and take into account the setting around the restaurant. Also, because the visibility of the restaurant from the highway is important to its historical context, it is important to limit planting along the south side of the highway and along the frontage road near the restaurant.

• The trail adjacent to the Log Cabin Restaurant should be less meandering to avoid additional im-pacts to this historic property.

8.7 Moritz Bergstein Shoddy Mill and Warehouse

A site that reflects the historic commercial pursuits of Jewish immigrants, the property is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A. It once included a house, barn, two outbuildings, mill/warehouse, and fieldstone storage building. Only the mill/warehouse and stone storage building remain.


• If a feasible new owner, site, and use for the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse are identified, “the new site for the building must maintain, and not detract from, the association between the historic property and its community.”

VQM Recommendations

• The visual qualities of a new location for the two buildings must represent an orientation, setting, and general environment that are comparable with the historic location, and be compatible with the property’s significance. A location north of the South Main Archaeological District is the likely new location for the buildings.

8.8 South Main Archaeological District (Hersey and Bean, and Slab Alley Sites)

The Hersey and Bean Archaeological Site together with the Slab Alley Archaeological Site on the opposite (west) side of TH 95 is named the South Main Ar-chaeological District. A sawmill was developed on this site 1854; it acquired the first circular saw in Stillwater. A second mill was developed in 1873 and operated until 1906. The site was one of Stillwater’s major nineteenth-century lumber milling complexes. Slab Alley was a commercial and residential working class neighbor-hood dating from the height of the lumber boom prior to 1870; the dwellings were removed when TH 95 was constructed in 1934. The South Main Archaeologi-cal District is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A. See Figure 7.29 for a visualization which shows a portion of the ruins in the Hersey and Bean Site.


• “Mn/DOT shall identify appropriate protective measures to stabilize and protect the Hersey and Bean Archaeological Site.”



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• “Mn/DOT shall design the Loop Trail through the South Main Archeological District in such a way as to avoid adversely affecting the historic property’s above and below-ground qualifying characteristics.”

VQM Recommendations

• Stabilization methods for the mill ruins should be invisible when feasible. Any visible stabilization structures or materials should be visually distinct from the historic materials.

• Protective measures should incorporate unobtru-sive landscape features (e.g., berms, ditches, thorny bushes) when desirable, without substantially changing the character of the setting.

• The design of loop trail elements, including path surfaces, railings, and lighting, should take its cue from the industrial activities (namely, lumber mill-ing) that gave significance to this location in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The most appropriate design forms will be simple to avoid competing with the visual quality of the ruins. A railing will be installed to protect users of the bi-cycle trail from the height above the ruins and also to discourage access from above.

8.9 Thelen and Kriesel Farmsteads (Wisconsin)

The Thelen farm was established in 1873. It includes an Italianate house built in 1887 (Criterion C). The Kriesel Farmstead is an early twentieth-century farm with intact farmstead (Criterion C).


• Thelen Farmstead: Because of the distance to the new roadway and the topography, no Visual Quality treatments are proposed in addition to the hedgerow treatment along STH 64.

• Kriesel Farmstead: To screen the buildings of this Farmstead from the new facility it is proposed to construct a berm on the property adjacent to the new facility.

VQM Recommendations

• The expanded highway through this rural area will be more visible than the existing highway. The visual impact can be reduced by depressing the grade of the highway and by planting hedgerows along the highway. Installing berms along the highway would also be effective; but berms should be natural in appearance, not exaggerated or inconsistent with natural contours. The designer should review snow drifting implications of placing berms and hedge-rows near roadways which may be subject to blow-ing snow.

8.10 Interpretation

A number of mitigation measures involve interpreta-tion of historic properties and the natural environment. In some places, this will build on existing interpreta-tion; in other locations, interpretation will be intro-duced for the first time. An overall interpretive plan could be developed with the input and cooperation of the National Park Service, the Wisconsin and Minne-sota Departments of Natural Resources, the Minnesota and Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Offices, the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission, the St.



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Croix County (WI) Historical Society, the Washington County (MN) Historical Society, and other interested parties. Such an interpretive plan is beyond the scope of this VQM.

VQM Recommendations

• For the purposes of the VQM, interpretation is of interest at several locations:

– Some locations within the project area, such as the Hersey and Bean site and the St. Croix Scenic Overlook, are candidates for interpretation be-cause of specific, tangible historical associations.

– Some locations within the project area, such as the agricultural fields in Wisconsin, are opportune for interpretation because of their visual quality and their association with patterns of local history.

– Construction of the new river crossing bridge will create exceptional vistas, offering the opportunity for new perspectives on the area’s resources. Loca-tions near the Loop Trail on the new river bridge should be considered candidates for interpretive sites.

• Signboards and other interpretive installations will introduce new visual elements into the project area, and these new elements could have a positive or a negative impact on the area’s visual quality:

– Design should be related to setting, for example, the use of industrial materials at the Hersey and Bean site, and references to agricultural building/machinery/crop forms in rural Wisconsin.

– Signboards and interpretive installations should not visually dominate or detract from the resourc-es they are interpreting.

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