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Good evening Mayor and City Council <br />This is the historic 1931 Orange County Title Company building. The Orange <br />County Title Company became what is today the iconic Santa Ana based First <br />American Company. <br />It is understood by most that the beautiful and artful "Zigzag Moderne Art <br />Deco" style of the facade remains behind the metal cladding which was applied <br />sometime around the 1960's. <br />The Art Deco face, or fayade, was not removed as it is incorporated into the <br />structure — the beauty is one with the structure. <br />It will be said that (3) historic groups have agreed to a plan which "might" <br />preserve a portion of the facades. I say "might" because the agreement includes <br />the term "if feasible." And it is left largely up to the developer's discretion to <br />determine feasibility. This developer, in the reports before you, has disparaged <br />both this fine historic structure AND Santa Ana's First American Company as <br />NOT historically significant. I don't think that Mr. Parker Kennedy of First <br />American would agree to that insulting description of his company — which <br />featured prominently in our City's recent 15Wh Anniversary Celebration. <br />The developer does not have a good reputation for historic preservation. There <br />are several articles online which describe the terrible shape they have left <br />historic properties. Here is one excerpt: In Philadelphia, obliterating a beloved old building <br />isn't necessarily a barrier to celebrating it. The expensive new townhouses that replaced the original Please <br />Touch Museum, which occupied a handsome, early 20th-century carpet factory, can't boast much in the <br />way of design, but they do have a shiny nameplate that declares, "Museum Estates at the former Please <br />Touch Museum." <br />Please delay the implementation of the approvals for this development. I <br />believe the entire historic and beautiful 1930's Art Deco Orange County Title <br />Company building can be made a shining jewel of this development and Historic <br />Downtown Santa Ana. <br />Thank you, <br />Mike Tardif <br />Santa Ana <br />