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Woodward Opera House Project Receives OHPO Award!
Each year, the State Historic Preservation Office recognizes achievements in historic preservation by presenting awards in Public Education and Awareness, and Preservation Merit. The Woodward Opera House project received a Preservation Merit award at a lunch reception on October 19, 2019, at the Ohio History Center in Columbus. Completion of this rehabilitation project was 25 years in the making, starting with the creation of two non-profit groups to own and operate the property, many grants and donations that enabled work to the first floor and exterior to commence, and finally the creation of a for-profit partnership and successful utilization of the historic tax credits that enabled completion of work to the upper floor theaters. In January of this year, the theatre saw its first performance in nearly 100 years. And an unexpected visitor, Susan Woodward, great-granddaughter of the man who originally opened the venue, attended. Click here to read about all of 2019’s award winners.
The Woodward Opera House project team: Jim Demsky (Korda Engineering), Sandy Crow (Woodward Development Corporation ), Pat Crow (Woodward Development Corporation), Patrick Crow, Jr. (Woodward Development Corporation), Jay Panzer (Facility Strategies Ltd.), Fred Hall (Modern Builders), Richard Mavis (Mayor of Mount Vernon), Steve Hall (Modern Builders), Burt Logan (Ohio State Historic Preservation Officer), and Charissa Durst (Hardlines Design Company)
American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA) Conference Has Interesting Side Trip Sites
The 2019 ACRA national conference took place October 24-26 in Spokane, Washington, in the historic Davenport Hotel. HDC resident Charissa Durst attended as a board member, chair of the awards committee, and served s one of the panelists who spoke about the first 25 years of the organization. Don Durst flew to Spokane after the final event on the 26th, and the two went sightseeing on Sunday before flying back to Columbus on Monday.
Left: The grand lobby of the historic Davenport Hotel in Spokane.
Right: The grand Doges Room was removed from the original building and reinstalled in the hotel’s addition.
Left: One of the multiple wooden train trestles that dot northern Idaho.
Right: The Dog Bark Park Inn in Cottonwood, Idaho. Don and Charissa did not spend the night but picked up a wooden beagle sculpture by the artist who started the bed and breakfast in 1997.
Addition to Belmont Correctional Institution Paper Packing Plant Completed
HDC was commissioned by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to design an addition to an existing toilet paper packing plant operated by Ohio Prison Industries (OPI). The facility takes gigantic rolls of toilet paper and turns them into individual rolls of paper that are then sold to other prisons throughout Ohio and other states. OPI has been extremely successful and after receiving contracts with additional states, needed to expand its warehouse space so it could move materials out of the main plant to make room for another machine to assemble the individual rolls. At OPI’s request, the expansion was made as large as possible within the confines of the existing loading dock and proximity to the perimeter road and wall. The floor structure spanned an underground electrical vault, and the loading dock was reconfigured to be more efficient. The addition features a tall space with a shorter connector to the main building, which allowed clerestory windows to light the space and did not touch the existing roof, which was being replaced under a separate contract.
Left: Interior view showing clerestory windows high on the wall. Right: Interior of the loading dock that is now under roof.
Rehabilitation of the Gardner Homestead Moved Forward
After completing the master plan to convert the house into offices for the Flint Cemetery, HDC is now preparing bidding documents for Phase 1, which will replace the asphalt shingle roof, reinforce the attic structure, and demolish the modern rear porch addition. Since the Cemetery board opted to retain the two existing garage buildings, the new asphalt shingle roof on the main house will match that of the existing support buildings. News of the rehabilitation was also featured in Worthington News, the local weekly newspaper.
Southeast corner of the Gardner house.
Ziti Starts Taking Puppy Agility Classes!
With her energy level, it is painfully obvious that Ziti needs a job. As a result, Don Durst enrolled her in a puppy agility class with ARF (Agility for Rally and Fun) that meets Wednesday evenings in Gahanna. Ziti does OK on the basic fast and slow heel around the room (she’d rather sniff the floor), and she does very good on coming when called. She’s not so great at the exercises designed to strengthen her core muscles, such as walking backwards, sitting up to beg (she’d rather stand), and the equivalent of a doggie push up: a series of sit, down and stand commands one after another. Ziti, however, is happiest when using the actual apparatus: leaping on the balance board, walking across elevated beams, jumping through tires and running through tunnels.
Don gets Ziti ready to run through the tunnel.
Ziti has also taken to going on outings to Prairie Oaks Metro Park, especially on a sunny day.
Left: Ziti now walks elevated logs with ease — good training for the agility course! Right: Ziti photobombs a landscape shot at Prairie Oaks Metro Park that Don was in the process of setting up.