The Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society recently received a grant to continue with planning studies, which included geotechnical investigations and schematic design drawings. HDC worked with Karpinski Engineering to size the ductwork to make sure they would fit in the ceiling plenum and to locate the interior and exterior equipment. During the design process, it was discovered that the basement ceiling is not sagging but rather it simply follows the bowl shape of the floor above. The designers and builders of the church did not waste any space, which made it a challenge to locate mechanical equipment! The project also received coverage in the Columbus Dispatch in honor of Black History Month, detailing what this property teaches about the past and how we can honor its history moving forward.  Click here to read the article.

Southwest corner of the Mount Zion Baptist Church in January 2024, after removal of the stained glass windows to secure storage for protection.

The top five finishers of each breed in 2022 were invited to the 2023 invitational, held December 12-16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Ziti was invited as the #2 beagle in 2022, where she finished with a Best of Breed rosette and an FCAT8 certification rosette. But first, we had to drive her down to Orlando and then get her back.

      Left: Ziti goes back to Flagler beach and still cannot appreciate the ocean. Right: We revisit the sweet shop in town to pick up some snacks.

     
Left: Ziti gets to enjoy Lake Louise State Park when it’s not raining. Right: On the way out Ziti poses by some artwork by the entry station.

   
Left: Ziti shows off one of the two rosettes she wins at the Invitational. Right: The group that runs at The Gated Dock, where Ziti got her start in FastCAT.

     
Left: Congaree National Park in South Carolina allows dogs, so Ziti gets to visit a swamp. Right: Ziti next to some cypress stump rings.

     
Left: Cowpens National Battlefield, a Revolutionary War site, also allows dogs. Right: Ziti gets a nice walk and poses with a cannon cutout.

     
Left: Kings Mountain National Military Park (another Revolutionary War site), also allows dogs. Right: Ziti walks some hilly trails and climbs some monument steps.

     
Left: Ziti visited New River Gorge National River park as a puppy in the summer  of 2019 and now poses by Sandstone Falls in the winter. Right: We hike a trail we did not do in 2019 and Ziti gets to chase some wild turkeys.

While working on the Taylor Farm buildings for the City of New Albany, HDC proposed that the chicken coop be repurposed in the proposed park, possibly as a vending facility or restrooms. In the fall of 2023, HDC was asked to prepare HABS documentation of the chicken coop, which the City thought may have to be moved and/or deconstructed because it sits in a flood plain. Our research revealed that at the turn of the century, raising chickens became more industrialized and specific buildings were developed to facilitate laying eggs (laying house), raising young chicks after they have hatched (brooding house), and raising older chickens for meat (broiler house). The building on the Taylor Farm is a laying house. Designs of chicken houses with clerestory windows appeared in USDA guidebooks and poultry journals around 1902, with variations and refinements up through the 1920s. Click here for a copy of the report.

 Jeff Bates photo of the southeast corner of the Taylor Farm Laying House

HDC is currently working on a project to renovate a portion of the basement at the Beightler Armory in Columbus. The Beightler Armory is named after Robert S. Beightler (1892-1978) a U.S. Army two-star general born in Marysville[1]. The armory was designed by Ted H. Prindle of Prindle and Associates and constructed in 1965. The original design had a two-story octagonal drill hall in the center with four wings extending at each corner[2], which has been almost completely engulfed by subsequent expansions to support its role as the joint force headquarters of OHARNG. As a result, this building has been determined not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

[1] Wikipedia. 2008. “Robert S. Beightler.” Last modified December 23, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Beightler

[2] Sunny E. Adams and Madison L. Story, 2023, Architectural Survey of Eight Ohio Army National Guard Armories, 1971-1977, ERDC/CERL TR-23-12, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, pp 192-196

Current aerial image from Google Earth with approximate footprint of the original building superimposed on top

HDC is also a consultant to American Structurepoint’s Indianapolis office to design a new Lima National Guard Readiness Center in Lima, Ohio, and to renovate the Tarlton Armory in Amanda.

Front elevation of the Tarlton Armory near Amanda, Ohio

When it comes to door hardware, there are so many more choices, decisions and options than you might think. Believe it or not, this is one of the most detail- and decision-intensive processes we help lead our clients through.

These considerations include the type of lock and how doors will close, how controlled access should be handled and how safety precautions for things like a fire should be prepared for. Aesthetic choices like the color of the metal or finish are, of course, always a big consideration for our clients. Given our work on historic architecture, we often help our clients determine if some of that original hardware can be utilized or left in place as a decorative item, leaving as much of that original character as possible. Each of these choices also hinges upon availability (pun intended!), cost and ultimately how the contractor bids the work and who their manufacturers are. It is our job to make this process as seamless as possible, ensuring that our clients ultimately end up with the right recommendations for their project!

Second floor of the Woodward Opera House with reconditioned historic corridor door at right and new interior suite door at left

Architects often put people in their drawings to convey the sense of scale of their design The typical scale figure is a 6’-0” man, which doesn’t seem very typical to me as a woman just over 5’-1” in height. So, my compromise is to use Ziti the Noodle Dog as the HDC scale figure. You can also click here for the HDC holiday greeting using the drawing of Ziti at the Gardner House.

East (front) elevation of the Gardner House with Ziti shown on the proposed front porch

Don Durst and Ziti at far right with all the teams who earned Perfect Day ribbons at the CPE agility trial on September 10, 2023.

Ziti earned her third Excellent Q in Standard agility on September 1, 2023, and is now competing at the Masters level in both Standard and Jumpers With Weaves. She was also able to earn a Perfect Day ribbon in a recent CPE agility trial for qualifying in all five events that day. After her personal best FastCAT runs in June, Ziti regained her title as the fastest beagle in the country! As a result, Ziti will once again go to the FastCAT Invitational in Orlando this December. To stay in shape, Ziti ran four 100-yard dashes in an exterior CPE Speedway event in August.

Ziti is now over one tenth of a mile per hour faster than the next beagle.

Ziti and Don running a Pitstop event in an outdoors CPE Speedway trial.

HDC is working with Metro CD Engineering to conduct facility assessments of totaling over 600,000 SF of space. The facilities date from the original 1953 construction and include newer facilities such as the dormitories and a new administration building. This is HDC’s first time working on the campus, which is across the street from us on Morse Road. President Charissa Durst also owns the 1875 Sharon Township Cherry Hill School building, which sits at the entry of the Ohio State School for the Blind on High Street. The goal of the assessments is to make recommendations for renovations and demolitions for immediate, short-term, and long-term planning. The result of the study will be used to determine the buildings that move forward with lighting upgrades for energy conservation.

 
L: Entry lobby to the Old Administration Building at the Ohio School for the Deaf, which retains its original 1953 pendant light fixture. R: One of the new dormitories built in 2012.

HDC was awarded a project to modernize five elevators in the City of Columbus Department of Public Health Building on Parsons Avenue. This building previously served as the Ohio State School for the Blind before they moved to their current campus with the Ohio School for the Deaf in 1953.

 
L: Front elevation of the Health Department. R: One of the elevator lobbies next to historic stone walls.

How did HDC end up getting this project? We previously worked on the team that prepared criteria documents to modernize nine elevators in the Ohio Statehouse and Senate Building with engineering firm Roger D. Fields & Associates and elevator consultant Lerch Bates’ Columbus office where a key component was modernizing the controls without impacting the design features from the 1990s rehabilitation.

 
L: Front elevation of the Ohio Senate Building. R: View of the top of one of the atrium elevators.

HDC subsequently supported the Bailey Edward design team, which included Lerch Bates’ Cincinnati office, to modernize nine elevators in the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Cincinnati for the GSA, where a key issue was preserving historic interior finishes and lobby finishes. Typically, elevators are modernized about every 30 years, when their components reach the end of their life cycle.

 
L: The first floor elevator lobby of the Peck U.S. Federal Courthouse features marble panels and green tile. R: The upper floor elevator lobbies feature a distinctive red floor tile.

Typically, the cab itself (a steel box), the hydraulic cylinder, and the shaft remain unchanged. Upgrades include new microprocessor-based controls (both inside the elevator and at every lobby level), new pump motors and valves, new closed-loop door operators, new lobby status panel at the security desk, new LED light fixtures, and new interior cab finishes.

HDC submitted the final version of the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Baker Brothers Wholesale Grocery Building in December 2022 and the National Park Service officially listed it in June 2023! The nomination was highlighted in Ohio History Center’s Echoes Magazine September & October issue of Echoes Magazine.

To read the nomination, click here.