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The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) at its meeting Thursday will hear a presentation on landmarked UC Berkeley campus projects which are in their planning phase. 

The university’s Principal Planner of Capital Projects-Facilities Services Jennifer McDougall will brief the board on several projects, including the Bowles Hall Renovation Study, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and the Hearst Gymnasium Historic Structure Report and Pending Programming Study. 

The university invited architects to submit applications to renovate the locally and nationally landmarked eight-story, 205-bed Bowles Hall, a male residence hall, in October. 

Located between the Greek Theatre and Rimway Road, east of the central UC Berkeley campus, the reinforced concrete building was built in 1928 in the style of Norman architecture. 

Although a report prepared by the university describes the building as structurally sound, it lists numerous deficiencies which need to be addressed. 

Major renovations include upgrading student living areas, correcting code deficiencies, including accessibility and fire and life safety, increasing security, reducing operating costs, addressing deferred maintenance issues—including roofing and waterproofing—and increasing revenue.  

Architect Toyo Ito’s conceptual plans for a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the northwest corner of Center and Oxford streets include a visual arts complex to house the university’s art and film collections, and a public gathering place to replace the existing seismically unsafe museum and film archive on Bancroft Way. 

The $145 million rectangular structure, with gently sloping angular walls and small patios, has received mixed reviews from the community, with some comparing it to “Tupperware” and others raving about its unique style. 

University officials are in the early phase of fundraising for the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2013. 

Both the film archive and the art museum on Bancroft Way will stay open during construction. 

Fidelity Savings building renovation 

The LPC will vote on whether to approve a use permit for plans to rehabilitate and alter the landmarked Fidelity Savings building on 2323 Shattuck Ave. 

The board will review a design approved by the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board in September, which proposes to preserve the existing 4,000-square-foot structure and convert the two-story bank space into a restaurant and a dwelling unit.  

The development includes a new five-story building, to be built in place of the existing three-story building adjacent to the historic bank building, which would have 2,609 square feet of commercial floor area and 15 dwelling units.  

The project proposal includes sidewalk seating and would eliminate the eight existing on-site parking spots.  

The project plan submitted by Prasad and Rani Lakireddy has been changed since the last zoning meeting to replace a mansard roof with a terra-cotta-tiled shed roof. The revised plan cannot appear before ZAB until it is approved by the landmarks commission. 

Revised historic resources map and footnotes for DAPAC Plan 

The LPC will also vote on whether to endorse a revised map and footnotes documenting “historic resources and opportunity sites” for the use of the Downtown Area Planning And Advisory Committee (DAPAC). 

The city’s planning department staff revised the map and narrative to make it consistent with a map created by independent planner John English to reflect decisions of the DAPAC-LPC Subcommittee which met last fall. 

If boardmembers approve the materials, they will be included in all future distributions of the draft Downtown Area Plan with DAPAC’s endorsement. 

Complaints about inconsistencies between the map originally submitted by city staff and DAPAC’s recommendations resulting in the staff’s working with English to correct the flaws. 

A survey of downtown historical resources will be conducted in the future to help clarify errors in the map. 

To view the LPC agenda visit: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=13016 

For more information on the proposed UC Berkeley projects visit: 

www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-10-12/article/28203 

www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-03-21/article/29515 

For more information on 2323 Shattuck Ave. visit: 

www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-07-31/article/27639 

www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-08-14/article/27764