By Mike Rutledge
NKyTribune contributor
Some Covington city commissioners were fond of a design for a proposed new classroom building on the Baker Hunt Art & Cultural Center campus.
Nonetheless, they voted 4-1 to uphold a city panel’s decision that rejected the modernistic glass-and-metal building.
Lawyers told commissioners before the vote they had to uphold the July decision by the Urban Design Review Board against the building unless they found the UDRB had acted arbitrarily or failed to give Baker Hunt its legal due process.
The eye-catching new structure would point at an angle toward Greenup Street between staid 1880s and 1840s buildings on the arts campus.
“I think the design is brilliant,” said Commissioner Steve Frank, who nonetheless cast one of the four votes upholding rejection of the classroom building. “But then, I live in the George Jetson Ascent. I’d like to approve it (because) I think it’d be a great addition to the neighborhood.”
But Frank, Mayor Sherry Carran and Commissioners Chuck Eilerman and Bill Wells decided the UDRB had not been arbitrary in applying city guidelines to the proposed classroom. Baker Hunt calls it a “Garden Pavilion” because the largely glass building would allow people to see through it to the landscaped grounds behind it.
Commissioner Jordan Huizenga cast the lone vote in support of the building because he believes the UDRB “stepped outside of their powers.”
“I see this as progress,” said “I see this as a great project.”
In an unusual situation, city officials have determined that city codes required the new building to be considered not as a typical infill structure between existing buildings. Instead – because it is on the same property as several other Baker Hunt structures – the UDRB had to judge it using the same standards as it would a home’s deck, a shed or a house’s garage.
Debate over the project has roiled feelings in the Licking-Riverside neighborhood, which is considered one of the region’s great historic places to live.
On one side are proponents of Baker Hunt’s proposed structure, who say the signature building would create the visual splash along Greenup Street. They contend it would create a needed lure to the esteemed 93-year-old institution that has taught art to generations across the region.
About every 40-50 years, Baker Hunt representatives noted, the campus has added a new building that is of the time period. This building would both be of today and also look toward the future, they argued.
In that way, they say, the modern building is in step with longstanding Baker Hunt traditions.
Proponent Jeanne Schroer called the Baker Hunt vision “a bold, well-designed architectural statement.”
Baker Hunt’s supporters told commissioners as it now stands, the campus blends in too much with the surrounding historical structures, and doesn’t grab the attention it deserves.
Advocates of the building include former Mayor Chuck Scheper, who wrote a letter on its behalf, and compared the building to I.M. Pei’s acclaimed modern entrance to the Louvre museum in Paris.
Baker Hunt representatives left shortly before the meeting ended and were unavailable for comment. It’s unclear whether they will appeal in court or return to the drawing table to try to craft a building that may be contemporary, yet still fits into the guidelines for the historic district.
Lisa Sauer, a Licking-Riverside leader who argued against the building, said to overturn the UDRB’s ruling would allow “a permanent change to the historic fabric of the street.”
“Doing your job tonight means saying ‘no’ to the new building,” she said.
Others weren’t as diplomatic in their characterizations of the building’s siting.
Planner Tim Mara, representing a neighbor of the project, compared building the angular structure between two 1800s buildings to a guest at a fancy wedding showing up in a T-shirt and jeans.
Resident Sue Helbling said “You would not paint lipstick on the Statue of Liberty to attract attention.” Allowing the building would “destroy the historic ambiance of the Licking-Riverside neighborhood,” she said.
Carran said she hoped Baker Hunt would return to the drawing table and create a new design that is contemporary and meets the city’s design guidelines. Sauer said she believed hundreds of techniques could be employed to make that happen.
In a related matter, the commission voted 4-1 to uphold a UDRB restriction that would require Baker Hunt to cut out only five feet of an historic stone wall along Greenup for pedestrian access. Baker Hunt had sought a gap of about 18 feet.
In the stone-wall vote, it was Steve Frank who voted to overturn the UDRB’s decision, saying, the five-foot requirement was arbitrary.