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Fresno Bee, CA
May 26 2013
Ask Me: Armenian Town homes restored
Saturday, May. 25, 2013 | 10:39 PM
Question: What is the status of the old Armenian Town houses that once
sat near the Van Ness Avenue exit of Highway 41?
-- Gary Giese, Dinuba
Answer: The five single-story wood-frame houses built between roughly
1900 and 1905 in the Queen Anne and vernacular styles have been moved
and are being restored, said Karana Hattersley-Drayton, historic
preservation project manager for the city of Fresno.
Four of the houses were built on the 400 and 500 blocks of N Street,
and the fifth was originally on the 500 block of O Street. Located in
what became Armenian Town, the homes are identified according to
former owners: the Hoonanian, Schmidt/Terzian, Tollikian, Damirgian
and Karagosian families.
The homes were first moved to a vacant lot below the freeway off-ramp.
During 2011-2012, the homes were moved to their current site at Santa
Clara and M streets.
ERIC PAUL ZAMORA/THE FRESNO BEE
One of the homes in Armenian Town at M Street and Santa Clara Street
being renovated by construction crews.
MORE PHOTOS
Moving and restoring the houses is a project of the city's
Redevelopment Agency. During the project's current phase, the exterior
"character-defining features" are being restored, Hattersley-Drayton
said. Stained glass windows original to some of the homes have been
put back in place and the homes are being painted.
The houses are now owned by the city's Successor Agency, which
replaced the Redevelopment Agency. The plan is to sell them for
business use, although they also could be rezoned for
commercial/retail or residential use, she said.
Question: We moved to Madera Ranchos from the Bay Area several years
ago. What is the history of the area?
-- Tony Colorado, Madera Ranchos
Answer: The Madera Ranchos subdivision in rural Madera County was
planned in the early 1960s by actor Jack Haley -- the Tin Man in "The
Wizard of Oz" -- and a group of investors that included comedian
Jackie Gleason.
"They wined and dined the county to get what they wanted," said Ethel
Pronin, a longtime area Realtor. Haley and his group weren't required
to install roads or water and sewer systems, which caused problems for
early homeowners, she said.
The subdivision sat vacant for nearly 10 years before Haley's group
and Fresno home builder John Bonadelle Sr. began developing the area.
The first homes were built in the early 1970s near Avenue 12 and Road
37½. "There was nothing out here. No PG&E, no phones and bad roads,"
said Pronin, who built several homes and developed the area's first
shopping center.
Many of the early problems have been overcome: Roads "are better than
they used to be," Pronin said. Madera County runs a private water
system and a ponding basin has helped relieve flooding.
Today, Madera Ranchos has several churches, a senior center owned by
area residents, stores and restaurants and a branch of the Madera
County Library. Children attend Webster Elementary, Ranchos Middle and
Liberty High schools in the Golden Valley School District.
Question: What is the purpose of those bumpy yellow squares in sidewalk ramps?
-- Laurie Jones, Fresno
Answer: The bumps on those yellow squares are officially known as
"truncated domes," says Shannon M. Simonelli, Americans With
Disabilities Act coordinator for the city of Fresno.
The bumpy texture serves to notify people who are visually impaired or
blind that they are leaving the sidewalk and entering a street,
Simonelli said.
Truncated domes were added to ADA requirements in 1991 but removed
from the federal standards in 2010, she said. But the California
building code kept the requirements, so the bumpy panels continue to
be installed throughout the state.
Initially, the dot pattern on the panels was staggered, but a newer
in-line pattern can help people using a walker or wheelchair to avoid
the bumps.
Of the city's 21,556 street corners, curb ramps have been installed at
21,043 of them, Simonelli said. It costs $1,300 to $1,800 to install a
standard curb ramp, including about $155 for truncated domes. Curb
ramps are financed with gas tax and Measure C money, she said.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/05/25/3314543/ask-me-armenian-town-homes-restored.html
From: Baghdasarian
May 26 2013
Ask Me: Armenian Town homes restored
Saturday, May. 25, 2013 | 10:39 PM
Question: What is the status of the old Armenian Town houses that once
sat near the Van Ness Avenue exit of Highway 41?
-- Gary Giese, Dinuba
Answer: The five single-story wood-frame houses built between roughly
1900 and 1905 in the Queen Anne and vernacular styles have been moved
and are being restored, said Karana Hattersley-Drayton, historic
preservation project manager for the city of Fresno.
Four of the houses were built on the 400 and 500 blocks of N Street,
and the fifth was originally on the 500 block of O Street. Located in
what became Armenian Town, the homes are identified according to
former owners: the Hoonanian, Schmidt/Terzian, Tollikian, Damirgian
and Karagosian families.
The homes were first moved to a vacant lot below the freeway off-ramp.
During 2011-2012, the homes were moved to their current site at Santa
Clara and M streets.
ERIC PAUL ZAMORA/THE FRESNO BEE
One of the homes in Armenian Town at M Street and Santa Clara Street
being renovated by construction crews.
MORE PHOTOS
Moving and restoring the houses is a project of the city's
Redevelopment Agency. During the project's current phase, the exterior
"character-defining features" are being restored, Hattersley-Drayton
said. Stained glass windows original to some of the homes have been
put back in place and the homes are being painted.
The houses are now owned by the city's Successor Agency, which
replaced the Redevelopment Agency. The plan is to sell them for
business use, although they also could be rezoned for
commercial/retail or residential use, she said.
Question: We moved to Madera Ranchos from the Bay Area several years
ago. What is the history of the area?
-- Tony Colorado, Madera Ranchos
Answer: The Madera Ranchos subdivision in rural Madera County was
planned in the early 1960s by actor Jack Haley -- the Tin Man in "The
Wizard of Oz" -- and a group of investors that included comedian
Jackie Gleason.
"They wined and dined the county to get what they wanted," said Ethel
Pronin, a longtime area Realtor. Haley and his group weren't required
to install roads or water and sewer systems, which caused problems for
early homeowners, she said.
The subdivision sat vacant for nearly 10 years before Haley's group
and Fresno home builder John Bonadelle Sr. began developing the area.
The first homes were built in the early 1970s near Avenue 12 and Road
37½. "There was nothing out here. No PG&E, no phones and bad roads,"
said Pronin, who built several homes and developed the area's first
shopping center.
Many of the early problems have been overcome: Roads "are better than
they used to be," Pronin said. Madera County runs a private water
system and a ponding basin has helped relieve flooding.
Today, Madera Ranchos has several churches, a senior center owned by
area residents, stores and restaurants and a branch of the Madera
County Library. Children attend Webster Elementary, Ranchos Middle and
Liberty High schools in the Golden Valley School District.
Question: What is the purpose of those bumpy yellow squares in sidewalk ramps?
-- Laurie Jones, Fresno
Answer: The bumps on those yellow squares are officially known as
"truncated domes," says Shannon M. Simonelli, Americans With
Disabilities Act coordinator for the city of Fresno.
The bumpy texture serves to notify people who are visually impaired or
blind that they are leaving the sidewalk and entering a street,
Simonelli said.
Truncated domes were added to ADA requirements in 1991 but removed
from the federal standards in 2010, she said. But the California
building code kept the requirements, so the bumpy panels continue to
be installed throughout the state.
Initially, the dot pattern on the panels was staggered, but a newer
in-line pattern can help people using a walker or wheelchair to avoid
the bumps.
Of the city's 21,556 street corners, curb ramps have been installed at
21,043 of them, Simonelli said. It costs $1,300 to $1,800 to install a
standard curb ramp, including about $155 for truncated domes. Curb
ramps are financed with gas tax and Measure C money, she said.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/05/25/3314543/ask-me-armenian-town-homes-restored.html
From: Baghdasarian