Urging Fresno City Council to designate William Saroyan's Armenian Town, a Historic District. What would Saroyan say? Will history repeat itself?
Twenty-four years later, we’re still begging to preserve Fresno’s cultures and history. Will Fresno continue to be known more for our disregard of its history, than its preservation? (11/14/16) City of Fresno Report to the Historic Preservation Commission, reads:
Designated neighborhood historic districts provide for protection of the character-defining features of the District, compatible infill
through design and building permit review, use of the more flexible California Historical Building Code as well as some perks through the City's Zoning Ordinance. Most importantly, historic districts add to a sense of place and community pride and usually lead to enhanced property values. Designated non-residential buildings may also qualify for federal tax credits. Parenthetically, a property's inclusion within a Local Register District does not require that the property owner restore the home or commercial business to an earlier "historic" period, only that the façade of the building retain its current character-defining features. Likewise interior improvements such as upgrades to a kitchen or laundry room are encouraged and not precluded. The homes are all associated with early residents of Armenian Town and were previously evaluated as eligible for a potential Armenian Town Historic District in the South Van Ness Industrial District Survey. The proposed District includes some of the best extant properties associated with Fresno's Armenian Town, including a church, a commercial bakery and numerous working class houses. The non-contiguous District appears to be significant under the following criteria (12-1607(b):
1) It exemplifies or reflects special elements of the City's cultural, social, economic,
political, aesthetic, engineering, or architectural heritage;
2) It is identified with a person or group that contributed significantly to the culture and
development of the city;
3) It embodies distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period or method of
construction, or is a valuable example of the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship. What has become of Fresno’s Armenian Town during the last several decades? A freeway was allowed to plow through the same historic neighborhood Saroyan wrote about in his books, resident’s had their homes taken by eminent domain and were forced to move, and most recently demolition by neglect for two of the five historic homes that were slated to become an Armenian Cultural Museum and visitor’s center.
