Posts tagged historic preservation
Art Deco Architecture
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Hotel Settles, Big Spring, Texas
Photo via Texas Society of Architects
And one MORE renovation success story today!
Hotel Settles: A Bell Cow Rings Again
For more than 30 years, Hotel Settles was a Big Spring eyesore. In its abandoned and deteriorating condition, it was also an embarrassing reality check of the city’s decline. Despite several attempts to revive it, the building was headed for demolition. Mercifully — and cognizant of the arduous task at hand — Big Spring-native son and visionary G. Brint Ryan, now of Dallas, purchased the landmark in 2007 and re-opened its doors this February after a $30M six-year historical rehabilitation. The 15-story Classical Revival/Art Deco hotel is now an appealing destination in West Texas that is breathing new life into the surrounding community.
Read more and check out the photo gallery.
And Another Theater Saved
Wow, news of another old theater in the process of being successfully renovated. The 1938 Art Deco State Theatre in Culpeper, Va., came perilously close to demolition while it sat empty for almost a decade..
From the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Culpeper State Theatre: The Curtain Rises Again
After sitting vacant for almost a decade, the 1938 Art Deco State Theatre in Culpeper, Virginia, a 2012 Great American Main Street Award winner, is back in business. For years, the theatre sat abandoned, coming perilously close to demolition before being purchased by Culpeper natives Greg and Liz Yates. At the time, there was a hole in the ceiling near the stage and the building was seriously dilapidated. But thanks to a committed group of community members, led by the State Theatre Foundation, a $9.3 million historic rehabilitation has raised the curtain on the former vaudeville and movie house, revealing a gorgeous 560-seat live theatre.
The rehabilitation has restored key historic elements, including the beloved neon marquee, while also installing a $1 million state-of-the-art sound system, expanding the stage, and creating a 50-seat black box theater for smaller shows. The project also retained a segregated staircase that was once for black patrons.
The State Theatre is listed in the National and State Registers of Historic Places. “Some of the theatre’s most stunning features are the reproduction of the original carpeting and the beautifully reproduced wall sconces that grace the auditorium walls,” said Ed Bednarczyk, executive director of The State Theatre Foundation, the theatre’s nonprofit developer. “The original proscenium arch embraces the stage as it did 75 years ago,” he added.…
To finance the project, the State Theatre Foundation used approximately $1.6 million in federal historic tax credits, a program that since its inception has contributed more than $106 billion to rehabilitate 38,700 vacant and underutilized historic spaces and create 2.3 million jobs. The foundation also used $1.6 million in Virginia state historic tax credits.
Greenbelt Theatre, Greenbelt, Maryland
Photo by Matthew Johnson
Speaking of old Deco theaters, I’ve seen the lobby renovation for this theater in the news, and shared it over on this blog’s Facebook account. Today Google News brought me this update:
Greenbelt Theatre to Receive $75,000 to Repair Art Deco Lobby
From the article:
Earlier today, American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced 24 grants to landmarks around the D.C. area that competed in a social media contest earlier this month. Many of the locations receiving money are old houses of worship, National Park Service locations in need of private funding, and monuments to fallen members of the U.S. armed forces.
One recipient location’s grant, however, was cause for great enthusiasm among the area’s movie lovers. The Greenbelt Theatre, in Prince George’s County, will get $75,000 to fix up its once-ornate art deco lobby, which has been in scrappy condition for some time now. And while the $75,000 won’t pay for the entire renovation, it will account for a significant chunk of the necessary repairs.
I haven’t been able to find any pictures of the lobby, either as it is now or as it was originally. Links or phot submissions welcome.
D… Derby
Bus Station (Demolished), Derby, England
Photo by Mike Smith
Wonderful tilt-shift shot of Derby’s bus station, which was demolished several years back.
From Flickr:
Derbys original bus station was the first purpose-built bus station in the United Kingdom. Designed by Charles Herbert Aslin, the Borough Architect, it opened in 1933. It was the first of its kind in the world, with railway-style platforms. It had an art deco cafe and diner, in which The Beatles once dined. The station closed in October 2005 and was demolished in July 2006.
Shot of the station as it was being demolished, by Dan Foy:
![From Curbed Philadelphia:“Two Historic Art Deco Schools to Close on Same Block”
“In North Central Philly, two public schools within a block of one another, both on the National Register of Historic Places, are set to close at the end of the school year: General John F. Reynolds Elementary school and Roberts Vaux High School [pictured above]. Much has been said about the negative impact of vacant schools upon the surrounding area, and the impact of two vacant schools in such a small area has the potential to be catastrophic.”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/e06fd4dc4804aac84b44c9ef21101d13/tumblr_mmg2dj8BaF1qe7vo3o1_500.jpg)
From Curbed Philadelphia:
“Two Historic Art Deco Schools to Close on Same Block”
“In North Central Philly, two public schools within a block of one another, both on the National Register of Historic Places, are set to close at the end of the school year: General John F. Reynolds Elementary school and Roberts Vaux High School [pictured above]. Much has been said about the negative impact of vacant schools upon the surrounding area, and the impact of two vacant schools in such a small area has the potential to be catastrophic.”
B… Boulder
Glen Huntington Bandshell, Boulder, Colorado
by Wally Gobetz
I love Deco bandshells. Many have been lost or are in a very bad state. This one’s been fixed up!
From Flickr:
Colorado - Boulder: Central Park - Glen Huntington Bandshell
The Glen Huntington Bandshell, located along Canyon Boulevard between 13th and 14th Street, was designed by architect Glen Huntington, with site planning by landscape architect Saco De. Boer, in 1938. The structure is significant for its role in the social and cultural life of the city and for its importance in the history of park development. Erected by the Boulder Lions Club and donated to the city of Boulder, it is a rare representative of the art deco style as reflected in its streamlined composition, compound arch, and simplified design. The Parks and Recreation Department completed rehabilitation of the structure in 1997.
Art Deco, Architecture & Historic Preservation on Facebook
Lately I’ve been growing the Art Deco Architecture Facebook page by sharing out lots of great stuff from other FB pages. Lots of fantastic pictures, action items, opportunities for lectures, internships, etc.
Based on that, here’s a list of some FB pages I’d recommend you follow for some doses of great images and info related to Deco, architecture, historic preservation and related fields:
- 1939 New York World’s Fair
- Art Nouveau & Art Deco
- Empire State Building
- Historic Houses of Romania
- Library of Congress
- National Park Service
Heritage & Historic Preservation
Heritage Documentation Programs
National Register of Historic Places - National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Pure Detroit
- San Francisco Architectural Heritage
- U.S. National Archives
- Vintage Roadside
These are all sites that are active and seem to regularly share cool stuff.
Wendy
"Dreams of Saving Art Deco Havana"
Deco in Havana. Photo by Michael Greenwood, Flickr.
From today’s NY Times:
Kathleen Murphy Skolnik gasped one recent morning as she gazed up into the stairwell of a 1939 downtown apartment building here and pointed at the chevron pattern in the ironwork, at the unpolished rust-pink marble and a simple alcove on the stairway crowned by a stepped arch.
“It’s so beautiful,” said Ms. Skolnik, an architectural historian who lives in Chicago. “And it’s so run-down.”
Ms. Skolnik’s words serve as an unofficial motto for the rich, wide-ranging and often neglected buildings that, experts say, make Cuba one of the world’s most significant but overlooked troves of Art Deco architecture. As some 250 Cuban and foreign connoisseurs gathered last week in Havana for the World Congress on Art Deco, there was hope the event would foster wider recognition of the island’s Art Deco heritage and the urgent need to preserve it. (The gathering, of the World Congress of the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies, ends on Thursday.)
Read more — and see a slide show.
Fisher Building, Detroit, Michigan
from Historic Detroit
The Fisher receives the accolades it deserves.
From Historic Detroit:
A ceremony caps the Fisher Building becoming a National Historic Landmark in October 1990.
Tour the Fisher Building - March 16th
I was just about to post photos of the Fisher Building when I happened to notice, through Facebook, that Pure Detroit is offering free tour tomorrow (Sat.).
Info from the FB event listing:
Tour Detroit’s 1928 Albert Kahn-designed architectural masterpiece this Satuday, March 16.
One tour is being offered at the Fisher building beginning at 11am at our Pure Detroit shop (located at the north entrance of the Fisher Building.
A second tour of the Guardian Building begins at 2pm at our Pure Detroit Downtown shop (located on the promenade level of the Guardian Building (500 Griswold at W. Congress St.).
The tours are free & open to the public of all ages.
The tour will be conducted by Fisher building expert George Malloy.
