LAKEPORT – The Lakeport City Council put off a decision Tuesday night on whether or not to pursue a national historic designation for Lakeport’s Carnegie Library.
At the Dec. 3 meeting the council found out that the Carnegie Library had been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, as Lake County News has reported.
Lakeport Community Development Director Richard Knoll presented a report to the council at Tuesday's meeting that explained the nomination and what it might mean to the city.
The Friends of the Lake County Museum and the Lakeport Women’s Civic Club submitted an application in October to State Historic Preservation Officer Milford Donaldson to have the library included on the National Register of Historic Places, Knoll explained.
Documents accompanying Knoll’s report showed that Donaldson sent Lakeport City Manager Jerry Gillham a letter dated Nov. 5 notifying him of the nomination.
Responding to a request from the council, Knoll explained what the designation might mean and the implication for the city.
The nomination, he said, “is actually an appropriate action,” as it doesn’t require the property owner’s consent.
“Any group or individual can act nominate or submit a request to nominate a building or a site for national recognition,” said Knoll.
After the nomination goes to the state historical preservation officer, it is then referred back to the owner for review and consent, said Knoll. At the same time, the historic preservation officer also must go through a process to determine a site’s eligibility.
At some point, said Knoll, the City Council will need to decide whether or not to consent to the historic designation, although they were not required to make a decision Tuesday.
The documentation he provided to the council said a property owner’s consent is required for a designation to move forward, and owners can fight and prevent the historic status.
Knoll’s report explained that the designation on the National Register would recognize the library as being a site “of local, state and national significance and would only be approved if the building is determined to have retained enough physical integrity to accurately convey its appearance during the period of historical significance.”
The designation has a number of effects, among them tax incentives which, because the library is owned by a city government, may not apply, said Knoll. It also would mean the library would automatically be listed with the California Register of Historic resources.
Knoll said that property owners don’t have an obligation to maintain, restore or open to the public buildings included on the register.
He said it wasn’t clear to him how that would apply to the Carnegie Library, which is publicly owned.
City Councilman Bob Rumfelt questioned how that might affect what the city could do with the building.
“There has been some conversation in the past about moving the library for whatever reason we may decide to do that,” he said.
“It’s been talked about enough that it’s out there in somebody’s scheme of things,” Rumfelt added.
He asked if the historic listing would prevent the city from moving the library from its present site.
Gillham said it would not.
Rumfelt suggested the building “might be even more historical” if the city moved it.
He added that it’s a beautiful building, but “there were thousands of them” at one time, although he added that not a lot of them are left.
The council decided against action, with memberse saying they wanted more information.
However, the application can’t go forward until the City Council approves it, according to information contained in Knoll’s report packet.
Asked after the meeting about who was talking about moving the library, Gillham told Lake County News that those were past discussions from long ago, and he didn’t know who was involved.
He added that he didn’t think the building could be moved.
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