Architecture of my youth . .

Before we moved to Kansas City when I was 10 years old, I attended a brand new grammar school in the suburbs of Huntsville, Alabama. It was a sleek, modern, almost space-age looking building with dirt where grass should be and 5-gallon trees all over. I liked it.

A few weeks ago I went out of town to photograph a very similar school for a National Register of Historic Places nomination. I remember ten years ago people were grousing about 1950's houses now being considered "historic." Well folks, we're into the 60's now and I couldn't be happier about it!

In the 50's and 60's the approach was that new building materials and construction methods should lead to new architectural ideas and designs, (unlike today's "new = cheaper and faster" mantra). Schools were/are a source of civic pride, so it follows that form should meet function along an esthetically pleasing plane.

Yeah, I still like this style of architecture. I'll complain when 70's and 80's buildings becomes "historic!"

So what's in Little Rock?

I told people I was going to Little Rock, Arkansas, for a job and the question I always got was, "So, what's in Little Rock?" Fair enough, I suppose.

Well last week, I found out for myself.

I took a trip with Rosin Preservation out to Little Rock to document the Albert Pike Hotel for a historic tax credit application. Pretty routine, except for one thing . . The hotel was spectacular!

Simple enough looking exterior, not unlike those found near the Plaza in KC.


Oh, but inside . .








There was also, well . . weirdness. But maybe I'll get into that another time. Let's just say that some people have different ideas about what constitutes house pets.

So what else is there in Little Rock?

The Clinton Library . .



. . and this nice old railroad bridge converted to a pedestrian walkway across the river to the Clinton Library.


Really nice old homes throughout the city . .




We had dinner and drinks at the Capitol Hotel Bar . .


All this within the constructs of a 1.5-day stay.

There's more, there always is. But hopefully we'll be going back in a few months to see what they've done with the hotel, and I'll post more then.

They don't make 'em like that anymore . .

I'm not telling you anything you don't know here; big, old, beautiful churches all around downtown are sitting vacant. You have your favorites too, no doubt. "If only somebody would do something," you mumble as you drive by.

Well, last week I photographed just such a church for a pending National Register of Historic Places nomination. Now putting it on the NR won't prevent it from being demolished, but through Missouri's Historic Tax Credit program it becomes more feasible to restore it. And it seriously needs restoration!

Is it worth it? What do you think?

KCMOSD Part One

For the last month and a half or so I've been out photographing Kansas City MO School District schools with Rosin Preservation for an adaptive reuse study.

Everybody knows the schools in their neighborhood, but when you set out to see them all it can be very enlightening, and surprising. First of all, there are a LOT of schools! We're focusing on only about 75. Secondly, the diversity of architecture is impressive. Some are beautiful, and some are purely utilitarian. Some are huge and some are tiny. Some are occupied, others have been vacant for a long time. They're all interesting, though.

Here are some examples from the first couple of days out. More to come . .











(The odds are really good that I can't remember where or what some of these schools are, so my apologies in advance if you're curious.)

More "Art of Decay"

I was out of town this week doing pre-restoration photos for a client. The building in question had been vacant and boarded up since the 80's. 250 boards covering all windows and doors had just been removed on the day we arrived, and all were being put back the next day when we left. It was like opening a time capsule for for a quick look, and then burying it again.

Every time I get to do a project like this I'm awed by the patience and persistence of nature and the elements. Years of hot then cold, wet then dry, animals and insects coming and going, all wear on a building. In time, anything built by man will be reclaimed by nature, and sometimes the process is stunningly beautiful. And I get to photograph it!

I'll be back again to photograph it when everything is repaired and restored, and few will believe that it could have ever looked like this.

I LOVE my job!

How to re-use an old school . . (IMHO)

I went out of town this week to photograph an old high school building that had been "re-purposed" into apartments. This kind of project is a LOT of work and can easily be done badly. Historic Tax Credits keep these projects going AND help to insure good results.

This one came out really nice! So here, in my humble opinion, is WHY this was done right.

From the outside, it still looks like a great old school building.


Inside, you'll find the original hallways and stairways. Why change them?



If existing doors were no longer needed, they were left in place and made inoperable. Where new doors were needed, they were made to match the existing ones. Which doors are new and which are original?


There isn't much use for a school auditorium in an apartment building, but it's such an important part of the building that the stage and some representation of the seating was saved. Image a neighborhood association meeting here!



In the apartment units, care was taken to step the walls and dropped ceilings back away from the windows (where necessary) so they wouldn't be seen from outside.



And what about the units themselves? After all, what good is all this if, in the end, nobody wants to live there?



The units are spacious and bright with lots of windows. Yeah, I'd live there.