The city of Ukiah’s Demolition Review Committee recently approved an application to demolish the former home of the Perkins Street Bar & Grill after conducting a hearing during which no members of the public provided comments.
According to the staff report prepared for the March 5 meeting, the owner of the building, identified in the demolition permit application as the Pinoleville Pomo Nation, is requesting to tear down the structure located at 228 E. Perkins St. and build a medical facility in its place.
The request went before the DRC because the structure, described in the permit application as “vacant for many years and in poor condition,” is more than 50 years old, and therefore “automatically triggers a discretionary review process (in which) the city must evaluate the structure to determine if it possesses any historical, architectural, or cultural significance before a demolition permit can be issued.”
In evaluating its history, staff explain that the building was “originally constructed between 1965 to 1966, (and) throughout its history, the building has operated as a restaurant, cafe, and commercial bar, previously known as the “Perkins St. Grill” and “The Lido”.
In evaluating its historical significance, city staff explain that: “The structure is a standard 1960s commercial building that does not possess the distinctive architectural expressions required to be considered an exemplary historic resource; the structure does not exemplify or reflect special elements of the city’s cultural, social, economic, political, aesthetic, or architectural history; and there is no clear evidence that the structure is strongly associated with any historically significant person or event.”
During the committee’s review of the application, Committee member Alyssa Ballard of the Mendocino County Historical Society told city Planning Manager Katherine Schaefers that “everything I was able to find backs up your report,” which described the building as not possessing enough historical significance to warrant denying the demolition request.
However, Public Works Director Tim Eriksen joked that the building was at least personally significant to his family “because my grandparents used to love eating there for their birthdays, so I went there all the time when I was a kid (when it was The Lido).”
The DRC then approved recommending the demolition application to move forward before the Ukiah City Council. Previously, the DRC approved the demolition of the former Dragon’s Lair building at the corner of South Main and East Perkins streets.
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
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