March 19th, 2010
We’re finally underway on the stabilization of Rosetyme. We had to remove the back 25% of the house because of the fire damage. When we did, we exposed an interior foundation that wasn’t the strongest, so things started moving around.
Blake Riley (left) and Charles Fowler, P.E. looked at the back wall foundation on March 23.
This will delay the framers starting on the roof for a while, while the engineer designs a foundation wall to go under the back wall (below) that will stabilize the rear of the house.
Now it will be necessary for our engineer to design a foundation wall to replace these pilings along the north side of the house, so the roof plate will be straight.
If you would like more information about this project of the Abilene Preservation League, or would like to know how you can help, please email us.
Tags: construction, J.D. Magee Home, Rosetyme
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March 12th, 2010
It’s been a long road getting here, but the original arbor that was on the south lawn of the Swenson House is under construction! Yesterday’s photos show the forms and rebar all set for the pouring of the slab. Set in a Greek cross shape, the arbor was originally constructed with columns taken from the front of the home in 1928 when a brick portico and columns were added. We have preserved the original cypress columns, but are planning to use new materials for the columns and beams due to the cost of rehabilitating the old ones. Some of the original wood from the arbor can be seen at the southeast corner of the lawn where for his Eagle Scout project, Shawn Butler constructed a pergola.
The arbor will provide a beautiful setting for weddings, receptions and parties of all kinds on the south lawn. Thank you to Bill Emory, an engineer at CADCO Architects-Engineers and a Swenson neighborhood resident, for his many hours volunteering to do the plans for the arbor reconstruction. The lead donor for the arbor reconstruction will be announced at a later date, but we are very grateful. Estimated time for construction is about sixty days.
Update on March 12: here are some photos of the pour:
Tags: arbor, construction, Swenson House
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March 3rd, 2010
Here’s a photo of the J.D. Magee home at 1910 North 3rd St as of this morning. The damaged portion of the roof has been removed and the rooms have all been cleaned up. We had to remove the rear section of the house because of structural concerns, but the rest of it is sturdy. The framers will start soon putting a new “plate” around the top of the house to which the roof framing will attach. We’ll be putting some signs up before too long. Already the neighbors are excited about this stabilization… on its way to being a neighborhood anchor again.
Tags: construction, J.D. Magee Home, Rosetyme
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February 25th, 2010
Stanley Marcus home
This week in Dallas, the former home of Stanley Marcus, the great retailer, received landmark status. That’s not too remarkable in itself, considering its famous owner, its architect and how through the decades it was the site of parties for people like Grace Kelly, Eleanor Roosevelt and Lord Mountbatten.
But when the current owner first bought the house in the mid-1990s, he planned to tear it down and build (perhaps) a McMansion on the desirable lot. Through a lot of behind the scenes work and persuasion, preservationists in Dallas have turned the situation around. The owner is now in favor of the landmark status, which will allow him to make many of the changes he would like, while preserving the character of the home. Katherine Seale, director of Preservation Dallas, noted, “There’s a great misunderstanding that historic status is so limiting that an owner can’t make any changes to the house, and that’s not true,” she said. “We don’t regard a historic house as an object in a museum.” Congratulations to Katherine and the City of Dallas for their approach to this!
For the whole news story: click here
(photo by John F. Rhodes – Dallas Morning News)Labels: Dallas, top ten preservation list
Tags: Dallas, top ten preservation list
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January 19th, 2010
The race track at Fair Park
For those of you who have not yet seen the third in Jay Moore’s series of videos about “unseen” Abilene history, the one titled Abilene’s Fair Park is equal to any of this popular series. On a cold Friday, January 8th we had nearly 200 people in the Elks Arts Center Ballroom to watch the premiere of this video. Just another indication of the interest in local history that exists in Abilene!
The race track that was there (right), polo fields, the Municipal Auditorium where Elvis performed a week before his breakthrough performance in Shreveport, even Charlie the Chimp at the Abilene Zoo… they’re all there! For our most current schedule of showings on Channel 7, click here.
And you may purchase copies of any of the DVDs in the series at the Preservation League offices, 1174 North First at Cedar. Prices are $10 for The Bankhead Highway, $15 for Who Is That Street and Fair Park of Abilene.
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May 12th, 2009
u may have seen the feature on our home page about the new Storefront Histories program that helps downtown buildings look better while they’re vacant. At the Optical Clinic-Hall Music Building at 258 Pine, we got some great shots of the interior… which is basically untouched from the 1920s. That’s right, behind all the wallboard that’s in the front of the building, is original woodwork and pressed tin ceilings from the ’20s. These photos are of the built-in safe with “Hall Music Company” in gold leaf lettering. For more info on the Storefront Histories program, email us.
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A built-in safe from one of the original tenants
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Before
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Tags: Downtown Abilene, Optical Clinic buuilding
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