| City of Larkspur, California |
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CENTENNIAL INFORMATION |
How Citizen Volunteers Helped Save Larkspur's Past
"The City of Larkspur is committed to providing the best possible service to the community, preserving the City's unique historic character, and maintaining its total environmental balance." -- Larkspur mission statement.
As Larkspur celebrates its Centennial year and its rich historic character, it's natural to ask: How did it happen? How did this small city save its unique past and in the process maintain its small-town character, a viable historic downtown, and distinct neighborhoods with houses from different eras? The answer is volunteers. Just as volunteers were deeply involved in the city's big birthday celebration on March 1, energetic citizens have played a key role in recording, honoring, and preserving Larkspur's colorful past.
It all began at the end of 1971, when 250 citizens attended the first Larkspur Town Meeting and made several recommendations, including the creation of an "aesthetic" volunteer committee to deal with the renovation and beautification of what was called "the shabby downtown with empty storefronts." Larkspur residents Nancy Curley and Helen Heitkamp volunteered.
"All we were going to do was take the poorly framed old photos in City Hall down from the walls, write captions, reframe them, and find more photos in the library," said Curley. "But we couldn't find more photos." Larkspur fireman Doug Archer came to the rescue with negatives from the Fire Department's collection and the city's photo archives began.
When Heitkamp tried to write the captions, she could find little documentation of Larkspur's history. So she went to the person in town who knew more about Larkspur than anyone - Helen C. Wilson, longtime librarian and city clerk-and began recording the city's history.
Curley and Heitkamp were joined by a group of volunteers, and the Larkspur Heritage Committee, an ad hoc committee that met with the city's blessing, was formed. "We made a conscious decision not to be an 'historical society' which often has a very social aspect to it. We chose to become pro-active preservation advocates," explained Curley.
The committee took on many tasks:
the city council
Larkspur's official historic resources inventory
downtown
(first edition 1979 and second edition 1991)
To fund its work, the committee sold photos and books, created a membership and asked for donations. No city money was invested, although the committee did get help from the Planning Department in drafting the preservation ordinance.
While Larkspur citizens were exploring their community's past, historic preservation was becoming a priority around the nation. Partly as a result of the national Bicentennial in 1976, popular media featured preservation and restoration projects, and communities became aware of cultural and economic opportunities presented by such approaches. Larkspur Heritage Committee members attended workshops on historic preservation and learned about the tools available to communities that wanted to preserve and restore their histories. Larkspur's business community picked up on the trend when a group of developers headed by Ralph "Skip" Sommers bought the property at the south end of Larkspur's downtown with plans to convert the dilapidated 1888 house and other old buildings into the Lark Creek Inn restaurant and shops.
In 1978 the City Council adopted the Heritage Preservation Ordinance that was initially prepared by the committee and Planning Director Dwight Winther. "We felt it was important to preserve the look and feel of downtown at a time when merchants were threatened by new and upgraded malls," recalls H. William (Bill) Howard, Larkspur's mayor at the time. "We believed that retaining our historic character would help Larkspur become a premier city."
At the same time, the Council created the Larkspur Heritage Preservation Board, an official arm of the city, to oversee the elements of the new ordinance. The old heritage committee was disbanded, but citizens continued to work on, and with, the new board. The board succeeded in 1982 in having "Old Downtown" Larkspur recognized as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Placement on the register provides incentives and benefits to property owners of historic buildings and enhances a community's ability to preserve them. Historic plaques can be seen on buildings in the district, listing characteristics that give them special status.
"We treasure our downtown," said Larkspur city councilmember Joan Lundstrom, who initiated and chaired the Larkspur Town Meetings in the 1970s and helped spark Larkspur's interest in its history. In recognition of the downtown's historic importance, its zoning emphasizes historic preservation. When plans were being considered for rebuilding the upper portion of the historic Blue Rock Inn following a fire in 2002, the city had planning tools needed to ensure that the "new" building would reflect the area's historic character. And when the Lark Theater went dark, its historic status enabled the building's exterior to be preserved until a nonprofit was able to step in and restore it as a vibrant center for film, music, and community events.
Other historic Larkspur structures on the National Register of Historic Places include the 1888 Dolliver House on Madrone Avenue, the 1927 Alexander Avenue Bridge, and the 1891 Remillard Brick Kiln on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, which was also declared a State Historical Landmark.
Old homes in Larkspur with special qualities that have contributed to Larkspur's essential character are recognized on the city's Historic Resources Inventory, which is being updated by the board. Such recognition provides benefits to homeowners and preserves the exterior of homes that the public views. The city has also made limited use of the tax advantages provided by Mills Act contracts to preserve historic residential properties.
The board and a team of volunteers are at work on a new edition of Larkspur Past & Present that will be introduced at a special Centennial event in the fall. Volunteers will also energize other Centennial functions, from the March 1 birthday party to the September 13 re-creation of the Rose Bowl dance. So the tradition of preserving Larkspur's past through the efforts of committed citizens seems likely to continue.
Click here for a complete Centennial Year Calendar.
