BNC selects a Berkeley cultural treasure to feature in each eNEWS issue. Since we started, BNC has expanded this section so that we now consider community organizations, businesses, activities, architecture, events, and people that make the City of Berkeley such a special place. Whatever or whoever is nominated for this section must reside in, or have a strong connection with Berkeley, and be nominated by a Berkeley resident who has no connection, other than that of an ordinary patron of, or a participant in whatever is being nominated. However, nomination does not automatically mean selection. The Newsletter Committee determines selections and in the majority of cases, the descriptions/comments about the selection will be published anonymously. Submissions may be sent to newsletter@berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com. BNC will notify the selected treasure.
Our selection for this issue is:
The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
2318 Durant Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 841-2242
The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association is affectionately and widely, well-known simply as BAHA. On November 23, 2014 BAHA celebrated the 40th anniversary of their “advocacy, education and activism” that has saved so many Berkeley architectural treasures on so many occasions.
Back in the 60’s, Rosalind Lepawsky, with the help of her husband, UC Political Science Professor Albert Lepawsky, cobbled together a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of the life throughout Berkeley. She named it Urban Care, and opened an office on what was then called Grove — now Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The office soon became a beehive of activity as they wrote reports and letters and put on programs that focused on urban life and preserving our neighborhoods. A major accomplishment was working to defeat the proposal to build a mammoth shopping center on the Berkeley Waterfront and paving the way for the spectacular McLaughlin State East Shore Park that now exists.
Besides all their work on development issues, many Urban Care volunteers wanted to find some way to preserve Berkeley’s historical buildings which were being demolished by developers seeking to build what was then termed “ticky-tacky” apartment buildings. Elinor Richey, author of The Ultimate Victorians, volunteered to lead the first Urban Care Architectural Heritage Committee in 1967. A few years later, the Committee was re-energized by another Urban Care Board Member, Fred Tamke when Leslie Emmington called attention to a threat to St. John’s Presbyterian Church on College Avenue.
Fred Tamke was in the advertising business in San Francisco and Chair of the Claremont-Elmwood Neighborhood Association (CENA). In January 1971, he pulled together what came to be called the Committee on Architectural Heritage and Urban Beautification that included JoAnn Price (active in the Junior League), Richard Ehrenberger (a Berkeley architect who along with Ms. Price saved Oakland’s Camron-Stanford House from demolition), Shirley Dean (then member of the Berkeley Planning Commission and Zoning Adjustments Board, later to become a City Council Member and Mayor), Lesley Emmington (whose name would become synonymous with architectural preservation throughout Berkeley) and Carl Bunch (a labor attorney who ended up writing the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Ordinance).
The Committee had two goals:
- Educate a broad spectrum of Berkeley citizens around the need for incorporating architectural and historical preservation into the City’s planning processes and engage them in supporting such an effort; and
- Convince the Berkeley City Council to adopt a Landmarks Preservation Ordinance which was something of a rarity back in those days.
The Committee launched a series of photos with commentaries in the Berkeley Gazette and organized open houses so that people could learn about architects like Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, and others. Mr. Tamke’s advertising skills were invaluable in the success of these efforts both financially and in the public interest they generated. Unfortunately, Mr. Tamke passed away in February 1972 before this work was complete, but the Committee voted to obtain approval of the Berkeley Architectural Preservation Ordinance in his memory.
The draft ordinance was presented to the Council on November 28, 1972 which was forwarded to the City Attorney with an expression of “support, interest and enthusiasm” for its goals and objectives expressed in a motion made by Council Member Borden Price and seconded by Vice Mayor Susan Hone.
It would take a year and three months or so of review and lobbying for the Ordinance to work its way through the process of adoption which finally occurred in the spring of 1974, with an effective date of June 6, 1974. By then, the Committee had emerged as a separate stand-alone entity — the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Committee. They continued the newspaper series, began publishing a very popular annual calendar featuring black and white photos of architecturally important Berkeley buildings, and started holding a series of forums, receptions and popular, annual neighborhood walking tours that continue to this date. On December 9, 1974, the Committee incorporated as The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association with dues-paying members, a post office box, and for twelve years existed in offices in a variety of spaces around town.
In 1986, Ruth Alice Greer, in order to ensure the preservation of her home at 2318 Durant Avenue (across the street from the Julia Morgan landmark, the Berkeley Women’s City Club), donated it to BAHA. At long last, BAHA had a permanent home from which to run their various activities provide counsel to numerous neighborhoods and individuals, meet, and store their extensive records collection, as well as lovingly care for a landmark, the McCreary-Greer House.
All of Berkeley owes BAHA a thank you for the work they have done and continue to do. BNC sends our congratulations on your 40h Anniversary and our Best Wishes for your continued efforts that are so essential for the well-being of all of Berkeley’s neighborhoods.
BAHA celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance on November 23, 2014. BNC sends them congratulations and best wishes for continued success for the next 140 years.