In the section below, you’ll find short descriptions about a few recent projects that range from National Register nominations to rehabilitation tax credits, grant writing, and more. You’ll also find PDF links to some final deliverables.
National Register Nomination: Wesley Foundation Student Center
The 1965 Wesley Foundation Student Center is a locally significant example of architecture based on the principles of the International Style and mid-twentieth century modern design. The building exhibits the influences of several contemporary movements: 1) the Modern architecture movement and its demand for simple volumes of space and clean lines, 2) the trend among ecclesiastical structures to verve from traditional forms toward a more vernacular language, and 3) the work of Mies van der Rohe, particularly his design for the Robert F. Carr Memorial Chapel of St. Savior (1952, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago). Located near the Indiana State University campus in Terre Haute, the building exhibits many hallmark elements of the period and retains a high level of character-defining features.
ROAM Consultants completed all field work, research, photography, and writing for the nomination. ROAM’s staff is currently working with the Indiana State Historic Preservation Office to finalize the nomination and list the building. In a future project, ROAM’s staff will assist the building owners with grant applications to fund a complete building restoration according to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.
National Register Nomination: Colorado Woman’s College
The Colorado Woman’s College (CWC) in Denver operated from 1890 through 1966 as one of the few private higher education institutions for women in Colorado. The institution was founded and expanded during a time in America’s history when there was great societal challenges. As a result, the CWC student population and overall direction of the campus were directly impacted by these influences and serve as an expression of them.
CWC is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A for significance in education because it was the first women’s college in Colorado. CWC is also significant in the area of social history because the campus activities reflected social and cultural movements that came before and resulted from events occurring in Denver and throughout the country during the period of significance (1889-1966). These themes and events include race relations, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and Women’s Liberation.
And finally, CWC is significant at the local level under Criterion C for its architecture and association with two master architects. Four buildings were designed in the Collegiate Gothic architectural style, a noteworthy concentration in Denver made all the rarer since they were designed by the same architect. It is significant for two buildings designed in the Modern Movement style that, notably, are nearly identical to one another. It is also significant for its association with master architects S. Arthur Axtens and Stanley Morse.
This project was completed in cooperation with the project’s lead consultant, Kristi Miniello of Miniello Consulting.
Documentation Project: Pike County Bridge 297
Pike County Bridge 297 is significant because it represents an intact example of a historic plate girder bridge in Indiana. Before the highway was re-routed, the bridge historically carried SR 56 traffic over Pride’s Creek. The presence of the walkways suggest that the bridge was designed for pedestrians, too, and was expected to carry multiple types of users to and from downtown Petersburg.
Since its construction, the bridge has become a local icon because of its visually prominent location near the intersection of SR 56 and SR 57. As such, local graffiti artists painted “P C CHARGERS” (for the Pike County High School Chargers) on the bridge sometime during the late twentieth century. Pike County Bridge 297 was closed to vehicle traffic in 2007 due to structural deficiencies; the pedestrian walkways remained open at the time, but were also closed by 2009.
This project documented the history and appearance of this bridge before it was moved.
Rehabilitation Tax Credits: H.M. Smith General Merchandise & Fonthill P.O.
Walking into the H.M. Smith General Merchandise and Fonthill Post Office is like walking back in time! This gem sits in the small unincorporated community of Fonthill, about 10 miles northeast of Jamestown, the Russell County seat, and about 5 miles northeast of Russell Springs, the county’s largest town. The two-story frame commercial building was constructed in 1914 in a section of Fonthill that formerly included several other commercial buildings. The building is a great - and highly intact - example of an early 20th-century rural country store with a post office. It retains many exterior character-defining features, including portions of the storefront and painted window signage above the main entry doors. Additionally, many historic features remain inside, such as the staircase and mezzanine, decorative pressed metal wall and ceiling panels, display shelves, storage bins, oiled floors, hanging light fixtures, and post office screen and mailboxes.
The resource meets National Register Criterion A and is significant in the area of Commerce at the local level within the historic context “Country Stores with Post Offices in Russell County, Kentucky, 1914-1973.” Most importantly, the Smith store is historically significant because it was the center of commerce, social activity, and postal operations in Fonthill and the adjacent rural farming communities. Furthermore, it is a good example of a southern country store with a post office from the early 20th century that reflects the commercial and social impacts these establishments had on rural agricultural communities.
After helping the owner place the building on the National Register of Historic Places, the project is now in the process of applying for state and federal historic preservation tax credits.
Writing Project: West Baden Springs Hotel Archipedia Entry
The West Baden Springs Hotel was a luxury resort and spa that attracted the wealthy from across the country during the early twentieth century. Often referred to as the “Carlsbad of America,” it represents an era of grand vacation resorts that saw their heyday in the United States before the Great Depression. Entrepreneurs started to build resorts in Orange County, Indiana, beginning around 1845. Not only did the rolling hills and valleys provide spectacular natural views, but the region also had a network of sulfur springs. People came to “take the waters,” which were thought to have healing powers.
The first hotel on the site of the present-day West Baden Springs Hotel was constructed in 1855. When that frame structure burned to the ground in 1901, the owner—Lee W. Sinclair, a banker from nearby Salem, Indiana—took the opportunity to reconstruct a bigger, grander resort and spa, unrivaled in the United States and resembling the best European models. Sinclair had a fear of fire and stipulated that his new resort contain as little wood as possible. He envisioned a lavish main hotel building constructed of brick and capped by a large steel and glass dome—the largest in the world. Several architects turned down the opportunity to design the resort, believing that the size of the proposed dome would make it impossible to build, but Sinclair persevered, finally hiring Harrison Albright, a young architect from Charleston, West Virginia. Bridge engineer Oliver J. Westcott of the Illinois Steel Company in Chicago was responsible for the dome.
The final design was a sixteen-sided, six-story brick hotel with 508 rooms arranged in two concentric circles with an open atrium in the center. The architecture was a fanciful combination of styles with Moorish-like towers and a scalloped edge that extended along the top of the brick walls. Wescott’s glass and steel dome, nearly 200 feet in diameter, covered the massive interior atrium supported by 16 steel ribs. The dome, the largest covered dome in the world at the time of its construction, was hailed in the popular press as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” It was, indeed, an engineering marvel that has never failed and still retains a high level of structural integrity.
Grant Writing Project: Cornerstone Center for the Arts
Cornerstone Center for the Arts is the primary provider of arts, arts education and community enrichment in East Central Indiana. Cornerstone operates from a six-story Gothic Revival building that was originally the Lodge Number 46 for the Muncie chapter of the Free and Accepted York Masons. The building’s construction began in 1920 and was completed in 1926 with a cost of approximately $1 million. At the time of its construction, it was reported by the local newspaper to be the largest Masonic Lodge in Indiana, and one of the largest in the country. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Cuno Kibele, a prominent Muncie architect, designed the structure. Gustav S. Brand, a nationally-renowned artist, painted twenty-two murals located in interior spaces. Brand was a leader in the arts field and was appointed the chairman of Chicago Arts Commission in 1934. His work is mainly found in theatres and other public buildings. The building’s six stories are divided into three levels, each a double story. The Masonic Temple is an excellent example of the Gothic Revival style with its dark brick contrasted by limestone detailing, Tudor arch entryways, center tower, corner turrets, oriel window, and overall massive presence on the street. The interior is richly decorated with terrazzo, plaster work, murals and marble ornament, moldings, painted stencil designs, gold leaf detailing and wainscoting.
The building fulfilled the needs of the Masonic Lodge from its dedication in 1926 until the summer of 2003, when the local lodge members vacated the building to pursue meeting space in another location. (The temple building was too large for the lodge, whose membership has declined in recent years.) Shortly thereafter, local community members came together to form Cornerstone Center for the Arts. Throughout the nearly 100 years of this building’s use, most of the original character-defining exterior and interior features have remained unaltered. All of Cornerstone’s events happen in a historic setting, which adds to visitors’ experiences, adds to the community’s sense of place, and inspires creativity. Over the last decade, Cornerstone has been made efforts to restore the building’s historic interior and exterior features and make several other upgrades to make the building more functional and safe.
After successfully applying for a variety of state, federal, and local grants over many years—including several Historic Preservation Fund grants administered by the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology—the Cornerstone building has benefited from a new roof, tuck pointing, and other building envelope repairs. Hopefully, it will continue to inspire people for another 100 years.
