Features

UC Berkeley officials will present their rehabilitation plans for the student co-op Cloyne Court to the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission today (Thursday). 

Owned by the university, Cloyne Court is a national and local landmark designed by John Galen Howard as a residential hotel for campus visitors. 

A three-story brown shingle located in the residential neighborhood north of the UC Berkeley campus at 2600 Ridge Road, Cloyne Court was built in 1904 and its upgrade—part of a lease renewal—falls under the university’s 2020 Long Range Developmental Plan. 

The University Students’ Cooperative Association intends to stabilize the building by seismically improving it and updating access as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which university officials said would result in minimal changes to its exterior and little change to any historic fabric that remains in the building. 

Upgrades include new wood shear walls that would replace existing interior brick fire walls for seismic safety, removal of two chimneys that would be replaced by new wood flame flues, and broken windows that would be brought up to date with current building code. 

A historic rear deck, which is missing a handrail, would also be reconstructed. Project architects Siegal and Strain are working to retain certain character-defining features, such as stairwell windows that the campus fire marshal has deemed dangerous. 

1 Bolivar Drive 

The landmarks commission will also review a use permit application by the city’s Public Works Department to demolish an 11,311-square-foot two-story mid-20th-century commercial building at 1 Bolivar Drive, which was recently purchased by the City of Berkeley as a site to relocate its animal shelter. 

The city’s municipal code requires the Landmarks Commission to review any proposal to demolish a non-residential building that is more than 40 years old. 

Located at the north end of Aquatic Park at the southeast corner of University Avenue and the I-80 pedestrian bridge, the project is scheduled to appear before the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board on Sept. 11. 

Owned by Oakland-based William Petzel, it is occupied by a community mental-health center and a commercial kitchen. 

The cost for the land and a new building is estimated at $9.5 million. 

Originally built as a private club for the Berkeley Firefighter’s Association, the building is not listed as a national or local landmark. 

According to a report by the city’s Planning Department staff, an illegible signature on the building’s original permit application makes it impossible to decipher the name of its architect.