Great American Architecture Vol. 7

I had intended to profile what is today the Monroe County Clerk's Office building. This was once the 3rd Monroe County Courthouse. A typical roundabout internet journey, the original impetus of which I've already forgotten, led me to an architecture example, Chicago's Grand Ballroom, and the reason for its continued existence, the heroic ShoreBank community development bank. The stories of both are noteworthy and give hope and inspiration to the ardent urbanist.

Erected in 1923 at the corner of South Cottage Grove and East 64th Street, the originally named Frank Loeffler Building is a fine 13,000 square foot example of Renaissance Revival architecture. Modest in height at only two stories, the edifice features 2nd floor tri-fenestrated bays, decorative brick and stone spandrels between arches, an attractive stone-carved cornice, and plated iron balcony gates with flagholders.

Relatively modest by the standards of its day, the Lowenberg Associates designed structure and its eleven street level storefronts have endured where the previously adjacent Tivoli Theater has succumbed to urban decay. But the story of the Grand Ballroom's perserverance cannot be told without a detour into the world of a quartet of 60's era idealists who attacked redlining head on...by opening their own bank.

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Redlining can be defined as, 'denial of credit and services to customers in poorer areas,' but the American version of mid 20th century vintage was far more insidious due to overt racism. ShoreBank is an institution directly descendent from the bold action of Ron Grzywinski, Milton Davis, Mary Houghton, and James Fletcher in 1973. These four social crusaders became practicing bankers overnight via their purchase of the South Shore Bank on 71st street, a tactic designed to prevent capital flight following white flight.

Today Shorebank boasts branches in many Chicago neighborhoods as well as locations in Cleveland and Detroit. They have become a pioneer in environmentally responsible lending. A banking corporation with the motto, 'Let's Change the World,' still managed to report a $5.3 million net income in 2006 while not losing sight of its mission. 'Investing in people and their communities to create economic equity' has proven to be a trailblazing success despite the widespread skepticism of the time.

It is with this in mind that we return to the story of the Grand Ballroom. Argentinian immigrant Andy Schcolnik has been rehabilitating dilapidated Chicago properties since 1991. After establishing a strong track record, Andy began to do business with ShoreBank in 2000. A $3 million renovation embarked on in 2003 and financed by ShoreBank has become a showpiece for the bank's work, a rare architectural gem in a still struggling district.

The end result:

The architecture continues to exhibit the glass slipper motif throughout the interior and exterior details. The stage, originally designed as the inside of Cinderella‘s carriage, retains the fine points of the original plaster ornamentation. Wood framed windows and prominent features of the 60-foot art deco bar made entirely of oak have also been brought back to life through the restoration. Through the preservation of the building the developers were given the opportunity to conserve and incorporate beautiful architectural treasures from other significant buildings in Chicago. Among these gems are: antique fixtures from Camile, an opera performed at the Lyric in 1930; crystal chandeliers and room dividers from the Drury Lane Theater.

The Ballroom has been a part of the city and neighborhood history for many years. It carries with it several decades of stories and events that tell of the dynamic development and importance of the south side and its residents. The restoration of the ballroom establishes it as a neighborhood landmark. It brings renewed character, interest and vitality to Woodlawn and the magical promise of good fortune to come.

-Beth A. Johnson

Great American Architecture Vol. 6

I've got an architecture post today derived from some news that was passed along to me earlier in the week. The subject is the Mizpah Building on Columbus Circle in downtown Syracuse. After reading the following news excerpt detailing the lack of progress in restoring the historic structure, I decided to do a little homework and decided it was worthy of the spotlight on its own merits, not contingent on developmental and political drama.

Despite Promise, No Work on Syracuse's Mizpah in '08

by Greg Munno, Syracuse Post-Standard

Terracotta skinned from from the basement level to the sky, the Mizpah Hotel combined religious and commercial functions under one roof as the First Baptist Church of Syracuse occupied the semi-circular auditorium from 1914 to 1988. Designed by architect Gordon A. Wright, once head of the Syracuse University Architectural Department, and built in 1914, this Gothic Revival was one of Syracuse's first instances of reinforced concrete construction.

from SyracuseThenAndNow.org:

"The building's upper three stories were originally connected with the YMCA building next door on Montgomery street and housed the Y's overflow. The rooms were once furnished with Stickley furniture. In the 1940's the connection to the YMCA was closed and the upper floors became an independent hotel. At one time the church's minister enjoyed a five-room penthouse surrounded by roof gardens."

Hotel management was assumed by the church in the 1960's to provide rooms for single women. It was at this time that the Mizpah moniker was bestowed. While the 1980's weren't kind to anything (least of all hairstyles!), they were especially cruel to the Mizpah. If you notice in the picture from the 1930's, all towers are crested in finials. A lightning storm is the official explanation of the loss of two-thirds of this unique ornamentation. In addition 43 of the church's stained glass windows were lifted after the assumption of the property by the City of Syracuse.

Things were looking up for the magnificent Mizpah in December 2005 upon sale to Syracuse Bangkok, LLC, a partnership formed of mixed-use developers and historic structure restorers. Despite the apparent delay in tangible restoration, a positive is that work designed to winterize the structure and prevent further damage occurred in early 2006 and was paid for in full. The following from the Downtown Syracuse Development Showcase outlines the plans for the property:

"The project team proposes to turn this former Baptist Church into a Ramada Hotel that includes 101 hotel rooms, a full service restaurant, day spa, and auditorium...The hotel is intended to serve business and university travelers with rooms equipped with high-speed Internet access, writing desks and a business center."

I'd like to end today by linking you to something giving me more concern for the attitude of leadership in Syracuse going forward. While I'd go as far to say that Steve Kearney, Syracuse's Senior City Planner understands the importance of density and the value of infrastructure projects vs. luxuries (-cough, canal, cough-), Mayor Matt Driscoll seems to actually favor the pockmarked arrangement of gaps in the urban fabric to make sure people have the ultimate in convenience in terms of accessing their precious motors.

A New Place to "Park It" on Warren Street

Posted to CNY Speaks (Post-Standard Blog) by Greg Munno

My take is eloquently tabulated by the first commenter, Joe Lorenz of joseflorenz.com. Be sure to read joebass123's discourse immediately below the article (blog entry?). Well done, Joe. I especially appreciated your use of the 'missing teeth' terminology, the footprint issues, and the one-way vs. two-way debate regarding city vitality and pedestrian safety. These concepts are not well understood by a public who have accepted the suburban paradigm, never pausing to quanitfy exactly what makes their preferred city districts (like Armory Square) vibrant and exciting places to be compared to their sterile motoring 'paradise.'

Great American Architecture Vol. 5

What seems like years ago I stated that my next post would be getting back to one of the fundamentals of traditional neighborhood design, that of quality architecture. The stretch of time between Halloween and Christmas was an all-out sprint to declutter, customize, and finish my new city townhouse for the holiday season as I hosted my family. In the new year you can expect me to get back to the frequency of posts of of the previous winter/spring, especially once the RRCDC lecture series cranks up again in earnest.

The subject of my architecture post is the West Virginia capitol building on the banks of the Kanawha River in Charleston. Designed by Beaux Arts pioneer Cass Gilbert (Woolworth Building, New York Life Tower, United States Supreme Court Building), the capital is largely constructed of Indiana Limestone, Vermont Marble, and Tennessee Marble.

The impetus for the construction of what would become one of few state capitols to have a gold leaf dome (which was painstakingly restored over the last two years, including an enclosed temperature controlled scaffolding system) were fires that destroyed the original Charleston installation in 1921 and its replacement in 1927. Built for just under $9.5 million, the building provides 535,000 square feet of floorspace on a footprint covering 16 acres.

Some notes about the interior of the dome from WVTourism.com:

• Chandelier is Czechoslovakian-imported crystal weighing two tons
• 15,000 candle power
• 179 feet, 9 inches from the floor
• 54 foot-long gold chain lowered by hand winch at a set speed, requiring 3 1/2 hours to lower and 4 1/2 hours to return to stationary position. The chandelier is lowered for cleaning every four years upon the inauguration of a new governor or re-election of an incumbent.

What really drew me to this work, in addition to its fine craftsmanship, is the orientation of the larger capitol plaza and its relationship to the rest of the city. Rule #6 of traditional neighborhood design is that special sites be reserved for special buildings in order to achieve a physical structure that supports social structure. In addition to the functional aspects, the plaza contains several fountains, statues, and the Governor's Mansion. It is largely closed to vehicular traffic.

For more looks at architecural detail and material quality from the ceilings to the light fixtures, visit the photo gallery at the West Virginia Legislature's official site.

The plan for the rest of the holiday break is to scan the news for all things urbanism. Either later today or tomorrow I'll be back with news of the newest light rail system to open in the United States in PHOENIX of all places.

Great American Architecture Vol. 4

I'm back today with a report on the oldest building still standing in the city of Rochester. Can this be considered 'Great American Architecture?' The author of the news story says no, while the commenters and I say that simply what it represents and its rarity makes it great.

Old Stone Warehouse has Changed with the Times

by Larry Seil, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Article Key Points:

• Completed in 1823, the Old Stone Warehouse at 1 Mt. Hope Avenue predates the opening of the Erie Canal and was built in its anticipation
• Originally Gilbert's Warehouse, building has also housed a foundry, malt storage, Rochester Carting Company, and its current resident ABVI-Goodwill Industries Inc.
• Bought by developer Ben Kendig in 1986 for historic preservation

While I'd agree that there is little architecturally of note, I disagree wholeheartedly with Mr. Seil's assertion that the building possesses a "supreme air of ugly, old decrepitude." I find it hard to understand how someone writing a mostly thoughtful article on preservation can be so smug. Mr. Seil also takes potshots at the Rochester Subway, "if at all [remembered]," and closes with the familiar, but impertinent whine of the old Rochester guard about the downsizing of Kodak and Xerox.

This building deserves the utmost respect as the last remaining evidence of pre-canal Rochester. It's ability to last is a nod to the style of the time, solid construction with only available materials. In a historic context, it does not deserve to be docked for what it lacks.

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Violating the architecture tag today are a short news blurb and a personal anecdote.

The Rochester-Toronto Ferry operations, both private and public, that existed in 2004 and 2005 were and still are one of the most polarizing issues amongst the greater Rochester community of haters and activists. Word out of city hall is that the most recent request for proposal for possible utilization of the excellent terminal facilities was answered by Hover Transit Services of Canada. I took 3 round trips on the old ferry and loved every minute of it. Count me among this venture's supporters.

Finally, I'd like to sing the praises of the RGRTA system once again. My wife and I took the bus to work yesterday and left work a little earlier than normal to catch our return home trip. It turns out the bus system works much better when you get on the correct bus...

Seeing a bus pull into our stop at University and Blossom, we ran the rest of the way to it, not bothering to check on the number on it. The bus we got on was definitely a University Ave. bus, but it was an 18, not a 19. We first realized our mistake when it turned north onto Culver Rd and briefly considering getting off immediately, but we aborted that plan when the 19 we were supposed to be on passed us in the other direction. Realizing that the 18/19 route was a continuous loop, and noting the fact that we had a sizable layover at Midtown anyway, I decided we'd just take the long scenic route.

While idling at a layover point at Strong Hospital, I decided to get a feel for our time crunch by talking to the bus driver. Our #30 to Webster would leave the Hall of Justice at 6:09, but what I didn't realize what that we'd cover much of the U of R campus and not be scheduled to make it to Midtown until 6:12. Our next option would be the #45 to Webster leaving at 10:31PM or a cab. The bus driver came up with the great idea of radioing ahead to the dispatch and asking if the #30 driver could wait a couple minutes before departing. As a result of this and her other idea to get off at Plymouth and Broad, we made it to our stop with a couple minutes to spare. I didn't catch her name, but I'd like to salute the driver of the #18 Plymouth that left Strong at 5:44 on Monday and plan on doing so again with a letter to the RGRTA. That's the kind of customer service that will keep me coming back.

Great American Architecture Vol. 3

I suppose this was bound to happen at some point. Planning to dig up a resoration article or two this week, I set out in search of a proper topic before realizing that googling 'building restoration' only leads you to the websites of contractors who restore buildings. Even if there was restoration credit to their name, I was unlikely to be able to dig up structure history easily.

From there I turned inward. In April of 2006, I had produced a 10 minute film in documentary-style on the architecture of my hometown, the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania (no, I don't watch The Office). For imagery I used the high-res still photography of my friend Justin Jackson (I can't show it here or on YouTube due to background music copyrights, though I may work on something without sound for the Scranton case study) and worked in various pans and transitions to tell a story of its building rebirth.

So here I am blogging about 'home' a bit prematurely in the process of creating a non-news driven restoration story. The building I'd like to focus on today is the Oppenheim Building at the corner of Lackawanna and Wyoming Avenues. While I am somewhat short on historic details at the moment (my Scranton history book is likely in a bin in my friend Joe's attic), I do know that this magnificent structure actually houses eight floors of rentable office space and was originally known as Jonas Long's department store before it was purchased by the Oppenheims to house their growing Scranton Dry Goods business. (Photo Copyright 2006 - Justin Jackson)

I am far from an architecture connoisseur, but I can say with confidence that this building, contructed in 1898, is an example of the Neoclassical Period (1890-1929) based on Greek architecture featuring symmetrically balanced windows and doors. In its day, it was the first store in Pennsylvania to have escalators. The company's 50th anniversary was celebrated in 1962 when it employed an incredible 500 full-time workers.

As was seen in all former coal mining locales, the 1970's weren't so kind to downtown business. The 80's culture of having no culture (read: greed and neglect) went to work on the structure. From the time I was aware that I was living and breathing until April 5, 1992 (four days after my 11th birthday), all I ever saw of the Oppenheim Building was broken windows and deteriorating facade. Not only unable, but also unaware of architectural virtue, I adopted the Williams company policy of my mother, characterizing the state of downtown as 'a shame.'

Thankfully the proverbial white knight for not only this building, but also the adjacent Lewis & Reilly Building (pictured - Copyright 2006 - Justin Jackson) as well as the Samter's Building at Penn and Lackawanna, rode into town in the form of a federal Urban Development Action Grant and state financial assistance (and tenant commitment in the case of Samter's) on the part of then-Governor Robert P. Casey, a Scranton native. All of this was part of a larger project to create the Mall at Steamtown and link downtown with the Steamtown National Historic Site.

By October of 1993, the exterior restoration and conversion of a department store of yesteryear into an office building was complete. Today this gem on the National Historic Register is occupied by offices of the IRS, Social Security Administration, Pennstar Bank, Dial America, WSWB Paxson Communications, The Department of Agriculture, The Office of Community and Economic Development, The Criminal Investigation Division, Cipriani & Werner, and Margolis & Edelstien, providing a strong daily workforce that exceeds 1,000 jobs.

Great American Architecture Vol. 2

As I read more of Kunstler and think about his concept of the building on a street conferring dignity on the pedestrian at large, I am taking a more active interest in the architecture and the aesthetic of city living. I suppose my piece on Weider's Hall in Rochester could have been considered a subconscious Volume 1 of this series of posts. What I hope to do in this space is report on a form of humanist interest, especially on days like today where the Urban News is lacking.

Today's subject is a very special case. Due to some serious foresight by Westmoreland County commissioners in the mid 70's, this gem, the Westmoreland County Courthouse in tiny Greensburg, Pennsylvania (pop. 15,889) was spared from the ignominious fate of much of the rest of our national landscape and preserved for the purpose of which it was constructed.
(Photo by Tom Harpel: CCA 2.0 License)

Courthouse Centennial
Westmoreland County Courthouse escaped wrecking ball; stands tribute to esteem for law
Thursday, January 31, 2008
By Rick Shrum, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Article Key Points:

• William Kauffman design built in 1908
• Four story central rotunda rising to dome ceiling
• 15 wall and ceiling murals painted in the early 1900s by Frenchman Maurice Ingres
• Italian Renaissance style cupola measuring 85 feet across
• Judges like it due to the appearance of importance projected

I think one of the most interesting things talked about in the article is the assertion by John Blahovec, president judge of Westmoreland County, that "If it looks like a courthouse, people are more likely to act the way they should in a courthouse." This reminds me of my trip to Waterloo town court in 2001 to fight a bogus seatbelt violation fabricated by the now exposed Seneca County Sheriff's department. That "courthouse" could have been a post office, hell it could have been a laundromat. To top it off, I was the only one in the place wearing a suit. The way I understood it previously, everyone wore suits at court. Apparently not. The charges were dismissed when the incompetent kangaroo court failed to notify all defendents that court was cancelled the day we were scheduled to appear due to a surgical procedure for the judge. F***ing clown shoes.

As to the architectural merit of the building in question, spend some time studying the picture on the right. Note its orientation to the main street and proximity to the sidewalk. While many counties and states across America revel in their courthouse squares, this works too. Why? Because integrating the sidewalk as quasi-public meeting space is like providing gills to fish. A city with active sidewalks is largely considered lively as opposed to those characterized as "dead after 5PM." The city, and in this case Westmoreland County, literally breathe through this arrangement (See: Jacobs, Kunstler).

Hope to have some more material later this week. A case study is marginally overdue. Still trying to decide on the city. I meet to write my first home offer of this purchase cycle on Thursday afternoon, needless to say I'm anxious.

Great American Architecture Vol. 1

Apologies for slacking off over the course of the weekend, I was beginning to clean out closets to recycle old papers/boxes/electronics.

Tia and I also saw two more condo units since my last entry, one a more traditional townhouse layout on University Ave. (on the 18/19 Route) and the other part of a converted school between Gregory and Hickory Streets. After viewing the Gregory Park Condos, we took a walk through the heart of the South Wedge Neighborhood and ate at the Tap and Mallet, a neighborhood pub with solid food (recommend Pork with Goat's Cheese, Garlic, and Thyme and an extensive beer list.

Across Cayuga Street from the pub is Weider's Hall, an incredible urban restoration project and appropriately the subject of today's newslink. Built in 1885, Weider's Hall is...

South Wedge Building Still Center of Activity
by Larry Seil, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Article Key Points:

• Originally housed a grocery store on the first floor
• 2nd floor contained meeting room and apartments
• 3rd floor contained a popular early 20th century dance hall
• Developer J.T. Trickey purchased in 1996. Resisted conversion to non-original uses
• Over $100,000 invested so far with more to come

As an added bonus, the article includes a multimedia tour of Weider's Hall. I feel like this is an excellent spotlight on the slow reversion to city living that for the last ten years has attempted to combat over 50 years of counter-intuitive human behavior. Reading more of Kunstler's Home from Nowhere, I firmly believe that redensification, to coin a term first heard from The Third Coast, is inevitable when the suburban equation becomes too costly.

I think the telling line and also the most optimistic line in the article is Trickey's "I have a vision for the neighborhood, I'd like to make it a fun place for families to come to." What I will say from my urban waltz down Gregory, Hickory, and South Ave and our subsequent drive down Clinton, Goodman, and assorted side streets is that the Wedge is already becoming just that. Take for instance, our realtor, who was leaving us to go to Beale Street Cafe (excellent ribs at their Empire location!) on South at Gregory and then on later in the evening to the Historic German House for a Todd Rundgren concert. All of this on a Monday night in January!

As we walked, we noticed a new market getting ready to open across the street from Beale in the building which used to house the South Wedge Green Grocer (an organic food outlet). Another thing we noticed is that the mini marts on South don't have any retractable steel cages or iron work on windows. What this tells me is that the Wedge is already well on its way back.