A back-and-forth debate unfolded at Tuesday night’s Guthrie City Council meeting, lasting 51 minutes of the 69-minute session, centered around an appeal by Blake Wimsey of Foundation Insurance. Wimsey sought to overturn the Historic Preservation Commission’s (HPC) decision denying a Certificate of Appropriateness for the reconstruction of the storefront at 124 W. Oklahoma Ave.
Wimsey, who owns the building and plans to relocate his office there, argued that many other Guthrie storefronts have metal features. “We are appealing this decision on the basis that many other storefronts in Guthrie also have metal, including very recent ones approved by the council. The storefront at 124 W Oklahoma is not original and is currently in very bad condition,” Wimsey stated in a letter to the council.
The proposal aims to redesign the existing storefront by incorporating a larger glass area, a commercial metal door, and metal window frames. Additionally, a flat metal awning, supported by cable ties and extending 30 inches from the building. The awning, window frames, and door will all feature a black finish. The design was to improve the deteriorating condition of the current storefront, which already featured a metal wrap around rotting wood. Wimsey highlighted the presence of metal in other buildings in the area, such as BancFirst’s storefront, as justification for his proposed design.
The HPC had previously denied Wimsey’s application in a 3-2 vote on June 3, 2024. The council was presented with multiple options: postponing the agenda item to the next month, upholding the HPC’s decision, overturning it, or sending the application back to the HPC for reconsideration.
Vice Mayor Grant Aguirre expressed strong objections to delaying the decision, emphasizing the presence of individuals who had invested time to attend the meeting. “I have strong objections to tabling this item. Because we have people here who have invested time to be here,” Aguirre said.
Councilman Brian Bothroyd attempted multiple times to have the hearing moved to next month to allow Wimsey, who was at a family event, to speak on the matter. Councilman Jim Case shared his desire to hear directly from the applicant. “I agree with Brian that I would like to hear from the applicant. I hate making a call without him here,” Case commented.
Bothroyd asked Aguirre, “Why don’t we want to hear from the applicant?” Aguirre responded, “Because he had a very flippant attitude. He said that he did not care about the historic preservation one bit. He just wanted what was energy efficient.” Bothroyd asked, “That’s the conversation you had with him?” In his follow up Aguirre said, “Yep.”
Valerie Duncan, Vice Chairman of the HPC, opposed the design, stating, “It was my heartfelt opinion that this particular design would be wonderful in downtown Oklahoma City or Edmond or even a strip mall someplace. It’s not appropriate for the historic Guthrie townsite. If we continue to chip away what makes downtown Guthrie unique?”
Aguirre added, “He (Wimsey) knew what he was buying when he bought into a historic district. His attitude has been nothing but flippant about Historic Preservation, and I think we should sustain the commission.”
Councilman Tracy Williams initially sided with the HPC after viewing photos of the building, further inspection led Williams to support Wimsey’s proposal. “I think that will be an addition to the block. I think it might even inspire others to do some work on their buildings,” Williams noted.
Councilman Adam Ropp, who also serves as an ex officio member of the HPC, remained staunchly against the proposal, warning, “If we allow this, you may as well get rid of HP. Other than a wrecking ball coming in and just tearing down the building, this is the last level below that.”
In the end, Aguirre moved to uphold the HPC’s decision, with Councilman Jeff Taylor seconding. The motion passed to uphold HPC with Aguirre, Ropp, Case, and Taylor voting yes, while Williams, Bothroyd, and Mayor Steve Gentling voted to overturn.
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