Norman Alston Architects

Dallas' Praetorian Building Doomed.

The Dallas City Council has apparently removed the last roadblock to the demolition of the historic Praetorian Building in Downtown. For several months it has been known that the planned expansion of the Joule Hotel would remove Dallas' oldest skyscraper. Additional information on the building's history can be found at this Dallas Public Library site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were wondering why it doesn't look familar to you, this is what it looks like today thanks to an "updating" it received in the 1960's. It has long been understood that the update did an unusual amount of damage to the building, including the complete removal of the massive terra cotta cornice at the top.

 

Too bad.

US Post Office and Courthouse Building Restoration receives Preservation Achievement Award

Last Friday, the jury for Preservation Dallas' 2012 Preservation Achievement Awards selected the restoration of the historic US Post Office and Courthouse Building as an award winner. The presentation of the award will be made at the Majestic Theater, around the corner in Downtown Dallas, on Wednesday, May 16, 2012.You can see additional information about this project from my post last December as well as last September .

Congratulations to developer Shawn Todd and the rest of the project team!

 

Old Dallas High School historical photos

Came across this image at the Dallas Public Library. It's from a 1939 yearbook and shows the front entrance hall at old Dallas High School/Crozier Tech. The statue is Athena, the Roman goddess of Wisdom. This particular statue is a copy of one at the Vatican. Unfortunately, the statue at DalHi is no longer there.

Trouble by the Bay

It's always a challenge to read about preservation issues when they are covered by "main stream" media because the really critical questions seem never to get asked, much less answered. In this article in the New York Times, residents of stunning historic neighborhoods in San Francisco are reported to be rebelling against the requirements associated with repair and renovation work taking place in existing historic districts. So much so, that there is fear it will undermine politically an on-going effort to protect many more nearby neighborhoods and structures. As preservation efforts are almost always grass roots efforts of the local residents, one can only wonder what has happened to bring about this sort of rebellion. Gleaning what I can from the article, I note the following hints:

• There is a stated desire to ease the provisions of the Secretary of the Interiors Standards, with no indication those standards have been augmented with more stringent local provisions, or even that their interpretation or application has been especially narrow.
• Among the modifications mentioned as likely to encounter resistance from those reviewing and enforcing the preservation district restrictions are window replacement and extending new garages into the building setback line established by the original structures. Such issues are among the most common and familiar to those working with historic districts.
• The high cost of conformance is mentioned. One again, a concern voiced repeatedly by those working withing historic districts.

I am not there, but from this article I expect we have come across an example of:

The Preservation Generation Gap

It works something like this; an historic neighborhood sits in need of stabilization and investment. Urban Pioneer types come in using the stability and predictability of historic preservation provisions as an important tool to improve the neighborhood's apprearance, liveability and, of course, property values. This wave of residents seeks to reclaim the appeal that the neighborhood was once thought to have.

Judging from the article, this has been achieved. These neighborhoods are apparently successful by anyone's standards; architecturally engaging, well cared for and valuable. They are so nice that a new generation of residents seeks them out, residents who fully appreciate the beautiful neighborhood that has been created but who may not have a real feel for how it got that way. The value of the preservation component is substantially lost on them.  Specifically because the neighborhood is so successful and subsequently so expensive, this  new generation tends to be highly educated, financially successful, politically active and used to achieving success on their own terms. "Sure this is a beautiful neighborhood, and it will be even better when I .........."

In this way, a neighborhood might very well choke on its own success. A case that bears watching.

Drury Blakeley Alexander: 1924 - 2011

I am very sad to note the passing Sunday of Blake Alexander. He pretty much was the face of the School of Architecture to me while I was at the University of Texas and he taught my very first class, Architecture and Society. Dignified and distinguished in his bow tie, he was the living image of what a college professor should be. On the last day of our Architecture and Society Class, everyone stood and applauded when he finished, a new custom adopted from the movie "Paper Chase". He was our KIngsfield. Every semester his classes waited for him to show up for class just one time wearing his Viturvian "Firmness, Commodity and Delight" t-shirt beneath his blazer. Even today his book Texas Homes of the 19th Century is the seminal work on early Texas architecture and is referred to by my colleauges and myself regularly.

A more complete and more fitting biography can be found here. First Hal Box and now Blake Alexander in 2011. Tough year.

Mid-Century Modern: When they start to recognize it as historic in New England, you have to figure it's arrived.

I came across this article in the New York Times that describes how important Modern buildings have gone main stream with the traditional historic preservation folks in New England. A sign of rapidly changing times, but a move that should help efforts to protect buildings from this area across the country. General recognition of these types of buildings as historic is likely still a long time coming.

Economic advantages of historic preservation

I expect to be linking frequently to the work of PlaceEconomics, a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. that focuses on the economic impacts of historic preservation activities. The firm's  founder, Donovan Rypkema, is widely known for his work in this area and for the fact that he is an interesting, opinionated and "straightforward" speaker. In this first post, I am linking to a report called "Good News in Tough Times: Historic Preservation and the Georgia Economy". With economic conditions as they are, and with pressure from all sides to compromise good preservation technique, especially from the sustainability side, such information can be helpful in maintaining endangered resources.

The Empire State Building continues to demonstrate that historic preservation and sustainability can coexist.

I posted a report back in March about sensitive energy upgrades on the Empire State Building and how this looked to be a good example of how to upgrade an historic building without sacrificing historic significance. Now comes an update from the National Trust further outlining the ongoing success of this effort.

Norman Alston Architects to move to historic 400 North Ervay.

I am excited to announce that beginning January 1, 2012, Norman Alston Architects will be officing in the former US Post Office and Courthouse Building in Downtown Dallas, now known as 400 North Ervay. We have been working with building owner Shawn Todd on the restoration and adaptive reuse of this beautiful historic structure for more than 4 years. I have previously reported the completion of the project, a step that will make some of Dallas' most beautiful and historic interior spaces accessible to the public after being shuttered for more than a decade. Now I can imagine no more fitting way to begin the year than showing up to work in one of Dallas' most historic structures. More information and a date for an open house will follow.

Hidden New York: Historic Backhouses

I share this information from a posting by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation because it is such an interesting urban phenomenon, and because it is unknown here. I am especially taken with the way these very old and historic structures have been adapted over the years to remain viable, overcoming physical limitations far beyond the comparatively simple issues that seem to try and derail preservation efforts here. Also see this related post from another East Village blogger. These were brought to my attention by my daughter Leslie who actually lives in one of the subject backhouses on East 12th Street. Her perception of her modest New York home has been premanently and dramatically changed, as has my own. And she reports that she has enthusiastically adopted the term "Horsewalk" to describe the entrance passage to her apartment.

 

The photo is from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's "Off the Grid" blog.