HDC’s association with Metro CD Engineers on their GSA contract has finally moved into bidding and construction for multiple projects. The renovation of offices for Senator Sherrod Brown in the Bricker Building in Columbus and the Peck Building in Cincinnati are currently under construction now that the contractor has acquired the needed security clearances for his personnel. In Cleveland, projects to apply security film to the glass-walled lobbies at the Celebrezze Building and to renovate multiple areas of the Metzenbaum Courthouse are also under construction. Finally, at the Rice Federal Building in Dayton, the project to renovate the Secret Service suite on the 8^th floor is now bidding and the project to place a new generator and provide an enclosure around the meters will be bidding soon.

  Left: Exterior of the Metzenbaum Courthouse, a historic building constructed in 1910. Right: One of the two lobbies at the Celebrezze Building.  Below: The Rice Federal Building and Courthouse opened in 1975 in Dayton.

Whether you call them historic structure reports, feasibility studies, condition assessments, or renovation master plans, they all include the same basic elements: assessment of existing conditions and deficiencies, phased work recommendations, and cost estimates. Back in 1992, we still went to the library to read the Commerce Business Daily in the reference section to find listings of federal projects for which we might be qualified. When we saw one from the Wayne National Forest titled “Architectural Evaluation of the Walter Ring House,” we borrowed a book on how to write a proposal and submitted for this project. Much to our surprise, we were selected! Project Manager Ann Cramer told us 30 years later that she was also surprised—at how young we looked! But it all worked out and for the next 15 years, HDC ended up inventorying and assessing all the buildings that the Wayne National Forest acquired when enlarging its land holdings.

  Left: Walter Ring House.  Right: One of HDC’s assessment notes.HDC also assessed a lot of buildings for Naval Facilities Engineering Command, usually when a historic building was placed on the demolition list and the Navy had to examine all possible other options. For these projects, HDC typically considered No Action, Demolition, Mothballing, Renovation for Stabilization and Renovation for Occupancy. The Navy called these “Case Alternative Reports,” although the last one we did the project manager wanted to call it an “Economic Analysis Report.”

    Left: Building 25 at Naval Station Great Lakes, a former dormitory, taken from Building 28, an identical building across the street. Right: Building 76, the former Red Cross Building at Naval Station Great Lakes. Sadly, these buildings were ultimately demolished.

HDC has also prepared Historic Structure Reports as per the National Park Service Guidelines, including buildings owned by the National Park Service. Two very different examples include the Richmond Hamilton House in New River Gorge National River Park in West Virginia. The Park Service hoped to interpret the house as a 19^th century homestead, but our research concluded that the original 19^th century house had been replaced by an early 20^th century structure on the same stone foundations. At the Charleston Navy Yard in Boston Historical National Park, HDC completed a Historic Structure Report for Building 150, the Chain Forge, which once made 3” diameter anchor chains for the Navy. This large building consisted of the “Power House” at the west end connected to the “Smithery,” which retained historic forge machinery.

  Left: The Richmond-Hamilton House in West Virginia. Right: HAER photograph of the interior of the Chain Forge in Massachusetts.

  Left: The Power House portion of the Chain Forge. Right: The Smithery section.

HDC is currently preparing a Historic Structure Report for the Avery-Downer House (aka Robbins Hunter Museum). The high-style Greek Revival house was completed in 1842 and occupied by the Avery, Spelman, and Downer families until 1902, during which time an addition was constructed in 1875. The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity purchased the house in 1902 and sold it to the Kappa Sigma fraternity in 1928. Kappa Sigma created a large meeting room with exterior porch in 1930. In 1956, when nearby Dennison University began allowing fraternities on campus, the fraternity sold the house to Robbins Hunter, Jr.

Left: Southeast corner of the Avery-Downer House. The porch in the rear was added in 1930 by the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Right: The Victoria Woodhull memorial over the side entry to the rear of the original 1842 house. The wing to the right was moved here by Robbins Hunter and is currently leased to a retail store.

Hunter purchased the house with the intent of preserving it as a museum, and for the next 23 years furnished it with antiques worthy of its interior. He constructed a rear kitchen addition in 1965, and in 1973, built a fanciful octagonal room where he kept a desk and enjoyed playing the organ. After visiting a memorial to Victoria Woodhull in England (she was the first woman to run for president in 1872), Hunter learned that she was from Licking County and was determined to create the first memorial for her in the United States. He commissioned a clock tower bearing her likeness and donated it to the Village of Granville as a bicentennial gift. The house opened as a museum in 1981 under provisions of his will.

Left: The main stair to the second floor.  Right: the exterior door of the octagonal room constructed in 1973.

Ohio Business magazine recently published its inaugural Ohio 500 list of most powerful and influential people in Ohio, and HDC’s Charissa Durst is featured on the list for being one of the many women and men who work to make our state great! Read about the full list HERE.

The Columbus Metropolitan Club hosted a forum on August 10 to introduce Rebecca Kemper, the new Executive Director of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and to talk preservation in Columbus. David Melecca was the host and Charissa Durst and Brad DeHays were the other two panelists. Watch the forum HERE.

Charissa and Rebecca had lunch the following week and Charissa discovered why the church on Fifth Avenue that was repurposed into a vet meant so much to Rebecca: her mother was Dr. Denise Porter who took over after Dr. Christine Apple passed away. Dr. Apple was Bagle the Beagle’s vet for over 10 years!

  Left: Bagle the Beagle in 2003. Right: the veterinary hospital building as it appeared in 2008.

Ziti continues to run the 100-yard Fast CAT event in less than 8 seconds, maintaining her title as the fastest beagle in America in 2022. Fast CAT grew out of CAT (coursing ability test) which is a 600-yard run where the dog has to follow a lure on a figure-8 shaped track all by herself. The first time Ziti ran the CAT, she made it about 100 yards before she realized there was no one at the other end and turned around back to where the humans were standing at the start line. On her second run, she made it about 75% around the track before she caught scent of something and wandered off course. On her third run, she made it around the track with some encouragement from her humans. She ran her fourth and fifth runs completely on her own and in great form — and in less than one minute! And, most importantly congratulations Ziti for qualifying for a CA certification!

Click HERE to watch a video of Ziti running the CAT in Medina.

 
Ziti takes a corner on the figure 8-shaped course in a photo by Stacie Parks (left) and posing for her CA ribbon (right)

In December of 2019, HDC was commissioned to prepare the Section 106 documents needed for construction of the Pearl House in Zanesville, which required the demolition of three historic buildings on the block. HDC inventoried the three buildings and prepared a Memorandum of Agreement that stipulated a district nomination as mitigation for the loss of the three buildings. HDC advised the client to apply for a Pipeline grant from the Ohio Department of Development to help fund the nomination, which was approved in November of 2021. The district contains over 90 buildings, with contributing buildings constructed between the 1830s and 1970s. Some of these buildings are already individually listed in the National Register and retain much of their historic character while others were modernized in the mid-20^th century by removal of the top floors and construction of a new flat roof–AKA when the “buzzsaw of death” visited Zanesville.

 
Left: This intact block of buildings on Main Street is fronted by the Ohio Power Building (built 1929), which is individually listed in the National Register. Right: This small building still retains 1890 sandstone lintels and sills from when it stood three stories in height as the Central Fire Station.

Ziti is affectionally known as the Noodle, and has been called the Noodle Dog in her agility class when an instructor could not get her name out. She turned three years old on Sunday, March 6, which she spent exploring portions of the south end of the Ohio and Erie Towpath Trail in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. It seemed like she knew it was a special day since she climbed up on logs and posed on lock walls without being told, all in the hopes of getting a treat after the photo!

    Ziti on top of a fallen log on the towpath (left) and perched on the walls of Lock 10 (right).

HDC completed the CAD drawings of the plans and elevations for the exterior repairs of the Kentucky Capitol Annex building in Frankfurt. HDC is a consultant to THP Limited, Inc. who requested that we draw every block of limestone on the elevations. HDC’s John Creasy was up to the challenge, having previously prepared elevation drawings of the former Sears Department Store in Cincinnati, where THP requested that we draw every single brick! John said the Annex building was pretty tricky, with several wall areas hidden behind balustrades or in courtyards.

CAD drawing of the north (front) elevation of the Kentucky Capitol Annex building.