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The Lumber Exchange Building was the first skyscraper built in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, dating to 1885. It was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Franklin B. Long and Frederick Kees and was billed as one of the first fireproof buildings in the country. It is the oldest high-rise building standing in Minneapolis, and is the oldest building outside of New York City with 12 or more floors.
Bergen, Norway
One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Bergen was to photograph these houses – Bryggen, a harbour district of Bergen. They are not the easiest of buildings to capture especially from the roadside due to all the table and chairs and bus stops right in front of them, so in my opinion, the other side of the harbour probably produces the better overall image. This one was taken on the only sunny day we had.
The history of the area is very interesting so I make no apologies for lifting the text from the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website… It’s better than anything I could have written!
Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen, is a reminder of the town’s importance as part of the Hanseatic League’s trading empire from the 14th to the mid-16th century. Many fires, the last in 1955, have ravaged the characteristic wooden houses of Bryggen. Its rebuilding has traditionally followed old patterns and methods, thus leaving its main structure preserved, which is a relic of an ancient wooden urban structure once common in Northern Europe. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape.
Outstanding Universal Value – a brief synthesis
Bryggen is a historic harbour district in Bergen, one of North Europe’s oldest port cities on the west coast of Norway which was established as a centre for trade by the 12th century. In 1350 the Hanseatic League established a “Hanseatic Office” in Bergen. They gradually acquired ownership of Bryggen and controlled the trade in stockfish from Northern Norway through privileges granted by the Crown. The Hanseatic League established a total of four overseas Hanseatic Offices, Bryggen being the only one preserved today.
Bryggen has been damaged by a number of fires through the centuries and has been rebuilt after every fire, closely following the previous property structure and plan as well as building techniques. Bryggen’s appearance today stems from the time after the fire in 1702. The buildings are made of wood in keeping with vernacular building traditions. The original compact medieval urban structure is preserved with its long narrow rows of buildings facing the harbour, separated by narrow wooden passages. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape and these contain sufficient elements to demonstrate how this colony of bachelor German merchants lived and worked, and illustrate the use of space in the district. It is characterized by the construction of buildings along the narrow passages running parallel to the docks. The urban units are rows of two- to three-storey buildings signified by the medieval name “gård”. They have gabled facades towards the harbour and lie on either one or both sides of the narrow passages that have the functions of a private courtyard. The houses are built in a combination of traditional timber log construction, and galleries with column and beam construction with horizontal wooden panel cladding. The roofs have original brick tiling or sheets, a result of fast repairs after an explosion during World War II. Towards the back of the gård, there are small fireproof warehouses or storerooms (kjellere) built of stone, for protection of special goods and valuables against fire. This repetitive structure was adapted to the living conditions of the Hanseatic trading post. The German merchants took up winter residence in the small individual wooden houses and the storerooms were used as individual or collective warehouses. A true colony, Bryggen enjoyed quasi-extraterritoriality which continued beyond the departure of the Hanseatic merchants until the creation of a Norwegian trading post in 1754, on the impetus of fishermen and ship owners of German origin. Today, Bryggen is a significant part of the historic wooden city of Bergen.
Criterion (iii): Bryggen bears the traces of social organization and illustrates the use of space in a quarter of Hanseatic merchants that dates back to the 14th century. It is a type of northern “fondaco”, unequalled in the world, where the structures have remained within the cityscape and perpetuate the memory of one of the oldest large trading ports of Northern Europe.
Integrity
Only around a quarter of the original buildings that existed in Bryggen remained after demolitions at the turn of the 19th century and several fires in the 1950s; the property is comprised of these remaining buildings. Notwithstanding, the medieval urban structure is maintained and the buildings include all elements necessary to demonstrate how Bryggen functioned: offices and dwellings at the front, warehouses in the midsection and assembly rooms (“Schøtstuer”), kitchen facilities and fireproof stone cellars at the back.
Bryggen can be experienced as an entity within a larger harmonious urban landscape. It is connected more closely to the areas of small wooden dwellings beyond Bryggen and in the medieval city centre than to the larger 20th century buildings in its close proximity. The risk of fire, excessive numbers of visitors as well as global climate changes with more extreme weather and possibly higher sea levels are some of the potential risks Bryggen faces today.
Authenticity
The Hanseatic period at Bryggen ended long ago, but the Hanseatic heritage is documented through buildings, archives and artefacts which are well preserved for posterity. There are also series of architectural surveys of the buildings from 1900 onwards.
The preservation of the buildings commenced on a larger scale in the 1960s and had made major progress by 1979, the year of inscription on the World Heritage List. Some buildings at the back were moved in 1965 to create an open area for fire emergencies, but no further changes have been made to the urban structure since. The solutions and methods chosen have been well documented, and limiting the replacement of original materials has been an objective. Bryggen is built of wood, which is subject to rot, insect attack and ageing. Since 2000, there has been an increased focus on maintaining original methods and building materials in the restoration, with careful consideration given to the choice of material, paint, plugs, nails, etc. and the use of original tools as far as possible.
As the activity at Bryggen decreased after 1900, the buildings became derelict. However, from the 1960s the former trading in stockfish and commodities was gradually replaced by small arts and crafts businesses. An increase in the number of visitors has led to the establishment of restaurants and tourist businesses. This has resulted in inevitable changes in the spirit of the place, particularly along the front facades, whereas the atmosphere of the Hanseatic period can still be sensed in the more secluded area further back.
Protection and management requirements
Bryggen, including its cultural deposits, is listed pursuant to the Norwegian Cultural Heritage Act and is also protected through the Norwegian Planning and Building Act. The adopted protection plan includes an extensive area that functions as a buffer zone. Bryggen is privately owned and the majority of the buildings are owned by the Bryggen Foundation, which was established in 1962 with the objective of preserving Bryggen. The remaining owners have established a separate association to secure their interests. The stakeholders at Bryggen collaborate in different constellations of owners and authorities.
"The Bryggen Project" was established formally in 2000. This is an extensive and long-term project for monitoring, safeguarding and restoring Bryggen, including both archaeological deposits and standing buildings.
Bryggen is managed according to a management plan that is revised regularly. A fire protection system with detection and suppression has been installed and is continually being improved. Climate conditions are a key issue and measures have been taken to prepare for future changes. Possible impacts resulting from tourism are monitored.
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The Brown Palace Hotel, is a historic hotel in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the second-longest operating hotel in Denver. It is one of the first atrium-style hotels ever built. It is now operated by Highgate Hotels and Resorts and joined Marriott's Autograph Collection Hotels in 2012. The hotel is located at 321 17th Street between 17th Street, Broadway and Tremont Place in downtown Denver behind the Republic Plaza. The main entrance door is on Tremont Place.
The hotel was built in 1892 of sandstone and red granite, one year later than the Oxford Hotel. It was named for its original owner, Henry C. Brown, who had homesteaded the Capitol Hill area, and was designed with its distinctive triangular shape by architect Frank Edbrooke, who also designed the Oxford Hotel. The interior and the exterior of the building are considered to be the "finest extant example" of Edbrooke's work.
Built with an iron and steel frame covered with cement and sandstone by the Whitehouse & Wirgler Stone Company, the building was "one of America's first fireproof structures, according to a May 21, 1892 cover story in Scientific American." Upon its completion it was Denver's tallest building.
The 22-story, 231-room tower directly across Tremont Place was built as a new wing of the hotel in 1959, known as the Brown Palace West. For many years it operated as a budget wing of the hotel, until the Brown Palace's owners branded the guest rooms in the annex as a Comfort Inn in 1988, and then as a Holiday Inn Express in December 2014. The lower levels of the tower are shared with the Brown Palace, including the Grand Ballroom and executive offices. The tower is connected to the main building by a skybridge over Tremont Place and a service tunnel running under the street.
(source: Wikipedia)
The 1886 Potter Building at 38 Park Row in lower Manhattan.It's the city's first steel-framed building to be fireproofed with terra-cotta.The building was named after Oliver Brunson Potter a former lawyer,businessman,and House of Representatives member who ventured into real estate later in life.Mr Potter also helped form the NY Architectural Terra Cotta Company (1886-1932),a Long Island based company that supplied terra cotta to over 2,000 projects across the US and Canada including Carnegie Hall and the Ansonia and Plaza hotels.This is a different shot I took of the Potter Building which actually sits at a corner angle.The one-time office building was converted to apartments in 1981. The building sticking out behind it is a Frank Gehry multi-purpose building called 8 Spruce St (see tag) which is either the second or third tallest skyscraper in the city.8 Spruce looks like two towers in the shot,but it's actually just one. www.6sqft.com/terracotta-in-new-york-city-beautiful-build...
A view of the south facade of the Macoupin County Courthouse in Carlinville, Illinois. Known as the "Million Dollar" courthouse, the building was designed by the prolific architect Elijah E. Myers (1832-1909) whose work includes three state capitols (Michigan, Texas, and Colorado), along with courthouses and other public buildings in the United States and internationally. The McDonough County Courthouse, featured last fall in my series on Macomb, Illinois, was also designed by Myers.
After serving in the military during the Civil War, Myers settled briefly in Springfield, Illinois, and it was there that he obtained the Macoupin County courthouse commission. Myers must have put every ounce of his architectural knowledge into the Macoupin County design, whose grand size and elaborate ornamentation seems more suited to a state house than a rural courthouse. The Beaux-Arts building was under construction from 1867-70.
Beyond the beauty of this courthouse is an interesting backstory about how this building came to be known as the "Million Dollar Courthouse." The following description is borrowed from the Macoupin County website (macoupincountyil.gov/)
Macoupin County’s “Million Dollar Courthouse” received its nickname because when construction was halted in 1870 – that was halted, not completed – it cost $1.3 million. That would be $23.5 million dollars in today’s money. At the time, it was the biggest instance of overspending in Illinois history.
There were accusations by county residents regarding misappropriations of funds during the construction of the courthouse. One of the commissioners, Judge Loomis was accused of using stone from the courthouse to build a grand hotel, the Loomis House, on the square. Judge Loomis stated he purchased the stone but never produced a bill of sales. Another commissioner, County Clerk George Holliday, was seen leaving town by train in the middle of the night carrying a carpet bag. Public opinion was that the bag was filled with some of the money raised for construction of the courthouse. Holliday was never seen again and it is still a mystery as to where he went.
When the courthouse was opened in 1870, it was the largest courthouse in the country with the possible exception of one in New York City. The doors, staircases, windows sills and sashes are all made of cast iron, making the courthouse the first fireproof building in the country.
It took the citizens of Macoupin County 40 years to pay off the debt. Many lost their homes and farms because of the taxes. There was a two day jubilee to celebrate the burning of the last bond in 1910.
The “Million Dollar Courthouse” is one of few courthouses of its age that is not a museum, white elephant, or has been demolished. It is still a working courthouse which is open for business 5 days a week.
It stands as an awe inspiring example of what men did with their hands and simple tools a century and a half ago. Over the years, the “Million Dollar Courthouse” has become a showplace that attracts tourists, architects and artist from around the world.
The Macoupin County Courthouse is the focal point of the Carlinville Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. At the 2020 census, the population of Carlinville was 5,710.
It's now just an interesting alley in the theater district with some wonderful details and lines.
But Chicago has had its fair share of horrific disasters and this innocent looking alley is the site of one of them.
Back in 1903 the Iroquois Theatre fire claimed 602 lives and is still the nations worst theater fire disaster. And kind of like the Titanic was promoted as unsinkable, the Iroquois was touted as fireproof.
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more here: nisah.myportfolio.com/
Built in 1879, throughout the late 1800’s the building that used to stand here was occupied by a hardware store, a bookstore, stationery store, and the Masonic and Odd Fellow’s Hall, to name a few. Although most of the building was demolished because of earthquake damage in 1983, parts of the facade including the original iron columns and fireproof doors remain. Eureka, NV
2M66 Huddersfield to Manchester Piccadilly.
The SPA Mill was established as a steam-powered woollen spinning mill in 1860s, single-storeyed weaving sheds added by 1887. Acquired in 1902 by Slaithwaite Spinning Company which had built three cotton-spinning mills in the vicinity, and which in 1906-7 built large five-storeyed fireproof cotton-spinning mill on site, modelled on contemporary Lancashire designs. Low card room along one side; five-storeyed service block at one corner. Existing sheds enlarged and largely rebuilt for winding cotton.
The mill was subsequently converted into residential apartments.
Railways, stations and trains. The clock tower of the former Midland Railway's Midland Grand Hotel, adjoining St Pancras station in London.
At the time of the opening of the station on 1 October 1868, the single span roof, whose end is just visible on the right, was the biggest enclosed space in the world, the whole being designed by William Barlow.
Sir Gilbert Scott won the competition to design the hotel that the Midland Railway decided was required and created the ornate red brick Gothic building. Opened fully in April 1876, the hotel had many then innovative features, such as fireproof floors and hydraulic lifts, but the lack of bathrooms amongst other factors ended its hotel days in 1935.
From 1935 to 1980 it served as railway offices, this part of its life then coming to a close as it failed the then fire safety standards, perhaps ironic since fire safety features had made the hotel stand out in its early days.
Earlier than that, in the mid 1960s, closure of the station was being considered, as was demolition of the whole site, but Grade 1 Listing in 1967 concentrated minds on how it would be maintained for a long term future.
The hotel reopened as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in 2011. By then the station was St Pancras International, Eurostar services having transferred here from London Waterloo in November 2007.
The first fireproof building in Decatur was the seven-story, Hotel Orlando. The hotel opened on Feb. 18, 1916, and immediately became the social, political and cultural center of Decatur and Macon County. The renaissance-revival style building was designed by the architectural firm of Holmes and Flinn of Chicago.
Built in exactly one year at an approximate cost of $375,000, the hotel was named after Orlando Powers by his son Charles. The building is located on the corner of S. Water and E. Wood streets, the site of the second Powers Opera House, which had been built by Orlando Powers and destroyed by fire in 1914. The first Powers Opera House also met a similar fate.
The Hotel Orlando had 208 guest rooms, a large ballroom/convention center, 20 large sample rooms, a barber shop, a billiard room, several dining rooms, and modern kitchens. It was one of the most impressive and modern hotels in downstate Illinois. Guests over the years include John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, John Foster Dulles, Clark Gable, and Guy Lombardo.
Over the years there has been a succession of owners of the building, including a period when the Hotel Orlando was part of the Van Orman Hotel chain. The hotel was converted into apartments beginning in the mid-1960s. In 1971, ownership returned to the Powers family. Today the building consists of one and two bedroom apartments designed for senior living, along with businesses operating on the ground level.
The Hotel Orlando (now Orlando Apartments) is a significant architectural and historical property in the Decatur Downtown Historic District. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1985.
Decatur is the seat of Macon County. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in central Illinois. Decatur has an economy based on industrial and agricultural commodity processing and production. The city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College.
Decatur's estimated population for 2019 was 70,746, making Decatur the thirteenth-most populous city in Illinois, and the state's sixth-most populous city outside the Chicago metropolitan area.
The Rookery was built in 1887–1888 by the architectural partnership of Daniel H. Burnham and John Wellborn Root, known as Burnham and Root. In the architectural boom that followed the Great Chicago Fire, architects in what would become known as the Chicago School of commercial architecture competed with each other to create the world's first true skyscrapers. By mixing modern building techniques, such as metal framing, fireproofing, elevators and plate glass, together with traditional ones, such as brick facades and elaborate ornamentation, Burnham and Root sought to create a bold architectural statement. At the same time, they intended their buildings to be commercially successful. This building is one of the few results of their partnership that is still standing.
Beginning in the early 20th century, the building underwent three major renovations. In the first, from 1905 to 1907, Frank Lloyd Wright was retained to remake the interior spaces. In keeping with contemporary tastes, Wright's design covered Root's elaborate wrought iron finishes with white carved Carrara marble surfaces. Nearing the peak of his fame, Wright's changes brought enhanced status to the building, making the Rookery one of the most sought after buildings in all of Chicago. Some of Wright's other changes included incorporating simplified ironwork and adding planters as well as light fixtures.
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Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes for my recent surgery. I am on the road to recovery and today return to posting with a new series on my wife's hometown, Carlinville, Illinois. As I do with most of my series featuring county seats, we will begin this tour with the county courthouse.
The Macoupin County Courthouse was designed by the prolific architect Elijah E. Myers (1832-1909) whose work includes three state capitols (Michigan, Texas, and Colorado), along with courthouses and other public buildings in the United States and internationally. The McDonough County Courthouse, featured last fall in my series on Macomb, Illinois, was also designed by Myers.
After serving in the military during the Civil War, Myers settled briefly in Springfield, Illinois, and it was there that he obtained the Macoupin County courthouse commission. Myers must have put every ounce of his architectural knowledge into the Macoupin County design, whose grand size and elaborate ornamentation seems more suited to a state house than a rural courthouse. The Beaux-Arts building was under construction from 1867-70.
Beyond the beauty of this courthouse is an interesting backstory about how this building came to be known as the "Million Dollar Courthouse." The following description is borrowed from the Macoupin County website (macoupincountyil.gov/)
Macoupin County’s “Million Dollar Courthouse” received its nickname because when construction was halted in 1870 – that was halted, not completed – it cost $1.3 million. That would be $23.5 million dollars in today’s money. At the time, it was the biggest instance of overspending in Illinois history.
There were accusations by county residents regarding misappropriations of funds during the construction of the courthouse. One of the commissioners, Judge Loomis was accused of using stone from the courthouse to build a grand hotel, the Loomis House, on the square. Judge Loomis stated he purchased the stone but never produced a bill of sales. Another commissioner, County Clerk George Holliday, was seen leaving town by train in the middle of the night carrying a carpet bag. Public opinion was that the bag was filled with some of the money raised for construction of the courthouse. Holliday was never seen again and it is still a mystery as to where he went.
When the courthouse was opened in 1870, it was the largest courthouse in the country with the possible exception of one in New York City. The doors, staircases, windows sills and sashes are all made of cast iron, making the courthouse the first fireproof building in the country.
It took the citizens of Macoupin County 40 years to pay off the debt. Many lost their homes and farms because of the taxes. There was a two day jubilee to celebrate the burning of the last bond in 1910.
The “Million Dollar Courthouse” is one of few courthouses of its age that is not a museum, white elephant, or has been demolished. It is still a working courthouse which is open for business 5 days a week.
It stands as an awe inspiring example of what men did with their hands and simple tools a century and a half ago. Over the years, the “Million Dollar Courthouse” has become a showplace that attracts tourists, architects and artist from around the world.
The Macoupin County Courthouse is the focal point of the Carlinville Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. At the 2020 census, the population of Carlinville was 5,710.
John W. Cook Hall, which is named after the University's 4th President (1890–1899), is a building which resembles a castle on the Quad of Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal. Designed by Bloomington architect George H. Miller, the building was completed in 1897.
The "look" of the building was heavily influenced by John Altgeld, who was Illinois governor during its design and construction. Altgeld was a German native who favored Gothic Revival architecture. The governor had a great liking for medieval castles and insisted new state construction during his term in office be inspired by them. Hence, this building is also known as the "Old Castle." Although Cook Hall contains the elements favored by Governor Altgeld, which is the Gothic turreted-style with towers and battlements, Miller gave it a Richardsonian flavor by using rusticated Bedford limestone. Other Altgeld castles can be found at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, and Eastern Illinois University at Charleston. EIU and ISU are the only schools where the "castle" is not named after Governor Altgeld.
Cook Hall’s original use was as a gymnasium. The building was equipped with the exercise equipment of the day—ropes, ladders, rings, slippery pole, parallel bars, huge leather horses, and racks of Indian clubs and dumbbells. Plans for the inclusion of a bowling alley and a swimming pool located in the subbasement never came to fruition. It was designed as a fireproof building and, early in its existence, also housed the university library. In later years, the tower housed the University radio station, WGLT. The building is now the home of ISU's School of Music, and serves as a practice area for many music students. Listed in 1986, Cook Hall is the only building on the ISU campus, and in the town of Normal, that is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Illinois State University is a public research university that was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University. It is the oldest public university in Illinois, and is recognized as one of the top ten largest producers of teachers in the United States. As of the fall of 2020, the school had an enrollment of 17,987 undergraduates and 2,733 graduate students.
Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. Located in McLean County in Central Illinois, the estimated population of Normal in 2019 was 54,469, with a metro population of 191,067.
Excerpt from castlegreen.com/about-us/overview/:
One of Pasadena’s most unique buildings, the Castle Green was built in 1898 as the annex for the famous Hotel Green. The Castle Green is an imposing seven story Moorish Colonial and Spanish style building sitting next to Central Park in Old Pasadena at Raymond and Green Street. The Castle Green was built by Col. George G. Green of the Patent Medicine Business. The Castle Green opened in 1899 as the second of three buildings in the Hotel Green complex. It was a lavish resort for easterners and others escaping winter weather.
Architect Frederick I. Roehrig, for what was later to be called the Central Annex, drew on Moorish, Spanish, Victorian, and other stylistic elements to produce Pasadena’s most stunningly original building. He blended domes, arches, pillars, balconies, and verandahs in a building of structural steel with brick walls and concrete floors, making it Pasadena’s first fireproof building. He tied it to the first part of the hotel complex, built on the east side of the street, by an ornate enclosed bridge crossing Raymond Avenue. When the Annex opened for business, its two cylindrical towers on the south and much of the roof line were (and still are) illuminated with exterior lights.Today, the Castle Green, one of the oldest standing historic landmarks in Los Angeles County, has many of the original features from its original construction including the oldest wrought iron 24 hour man-operated elevator on the west coast, gorgeous plaster, moldings, hand carved fireplace mantles, grills and wood moldings, and original lighting.
Through the restoration efforts of the owners, over time the Castle has evolved into a fully restored, luxurious condominium complex, listed as a Nationally Registered Historic Monument, a State Historical Monument, and a Designated Pasadena Treasure.
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki-za:
The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and others starred; upon Danjūrō's death in 1903, Fukuchi retired from the management of the theater. The theater is now run by the Shochiku Corporation which took over in 1914.
The original Kabuki-za was a wooden structure, built in 1889 on land which had been either the Tokyo residence of the Hosokawa clan of Kumamoto, or that of Matsudaira clan of Izu.
The building was destroyed on 30 October 1921, by an electrical fire. The reconstruction, which commenced in 1922, was designed to "be fireproof, yet carry traditional Japanese architectural styles", while using Western building materials and lighting equipment. Reconstruction had not been completed when it again burned down during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Rebuilding was finally completed in 1924.
The theater was destroyed once again by Allied bombing during World War II. It was restored in 1950 preserving the style of 1924 reconstruction, and was until recently one of Tokyo's more dramatic and traditional buildings.
The 1950 structure was demolished in the spring of 2010, and rebuilt over the ensuing three years. Reasons cited for the reconstruction include concerns over the building's ability to survive earthquakes, as well as accessibility issues. A series of farewell performances, entitled Kabuki-za Sayonara Kōen (歌舞伎座さよなら公演, "Kabuki-za Farewell Performances") were held from January through April 2010, after which kabuki performances took place at the nearby Shinbashi Enbujō and elsewhere until the opening of the new theatre complex, which took place on 28 March 2013.
Architecture
The style in 1924 was in a baroque Japanese revivalist style, meant to evoke the architectural details of Japanese castles, as well as temples of pre-Edo period. This style was kept after the post-war reconstruction and again after the 2013 reconstruction.
Inside, with the latest reconstruction the theatre was outfitted with four new front curtains called doncho. These are by renowned Japanese artists in the Nihonga style and reflect the different seasons.
This Italian Renaissance style mansion on W. William St. in Decatur was built for Mueller Co. executive Frank Cruikshank and his wife Leda, the only daughter of company founder Hieronymus Mueller. Completed in 1917 at a cost of $49,000, the 17-room estate was described by the Decatur Herald newspaper at the time as being "Decatur's Finest 1917 Residence, Rich, Spacious, and Comfortable" and gushed the Cruikshank home "unquestionably attains in every way a place as one of the finest private homes in the state."
Decatur native C.J. Aschaurer designed the showplace for the Cruikshank's. The home was considered to be Decatur's first fireproof residence, built with nine inches of concrete and six inches of tile between each floor and four layers of brick in each wall. Sometime after her husband's death, Leda Cruikshank divided the home into three dwellings - a two-story apartment on the east, where she lived until her death in 1951, and two smaller units on the west, one on the first floor and another on the second.
After Mr, Cruikshank's untimely death in 1934 while cleaning a shotgun in the basement of the residence, Leda Cruikshank divided the home into three dwellings - a two-story apartment on the east, where she lived until her passing in 1951, and two smaller units on the west, one on the first floor and another on the second.
The Cruikshank Mansion is an architecturally significant property in the Decatur Historic District, a residential historic district in the Millikin Heights neighborhood of the city that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Seen in the background to the right of the Cruikshank Mansion is the tower of the fabulous James Millikin House which was shown earlier in this series of Decatur.
Decatur is the seat of Macon County. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in central Illinois. Decatur has an economy based on industrial and agricultural commodity processing and production. The city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College.
Decatur's estimated population for 2019 was 70,746, making Decatur the thirteenth-most populous city in Illinois, and the state's sixth-most populous city outside the Chicago metropolitan area.
When the sun beats down
And burns the tar up on the roof
And your shoes get so hot
You wish your tired feet were fireproof
Under the boardwalk
Down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby
That's where I'll be
New Downtown Motel
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Springfield, Illinois
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This luxurious and pleasant motel features extra long beds, Springair mattresses, ample parking. Telephones - Television - Air Conditioning - Fireproof Construction - Ceramic tile bath with dressing table - Wall-to-wall carpeting and highest quality furnishing throughout. Heated Swimming Pool.
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Herbert Georg Studio
S45521
CAPA-005724
Although I may post more shots from this particular morning in the future, for now I close out the collection so far with a monochrome image. I took a number of shots and did end up keeping a couple of colour versions which I also liked, but decided to post this monochrome version to make the transition to some more B&W shot. I really have been enjoying shooting monochrome lately.
Here the wide angle view has made the boardwalk seem huge, but in reality while sitting down I barely fit beneath it. I am a ways from shore but ice was solid and you could see the bottom, which was definitely less than a foot deep, so I did not mind laying on it or even walking on the ice in the area. Not a view I would get in the warmer months.
Finally, about the title, it is such a GREAT song, but no worries, here about wishing my feet were fireproof. :)
Excerpt from the plaque:
Hand-Made by Anna Mlasowsky
Anna Mlasowsky embraces non-traditional viewpoints and unanswered questions in her art, which is about the exploration and investigation of glass. The video installation Hand-Made documents the artist hand-forming a sculpture-wearing fireproof glvoes-that is displayed on a pedestal next to the video projection. “On the market, craft products are described with and circumscribed by the term ‘handmade,’” Mlasowsky says. “The piece Hand-Made is a literal execution of this term. As a glass artist, I can never shape the material with my own hands. Tools function as a translator of my movement. This piece is a poetic study of material that exploits my wish to form the hot material directly, and results in shapes that can only be created by hand.”
The Surrogate's Courthouse was designed in the Beaux-Arts style.The general design was created by John Rochester Thomas,as well as by Arthur J.Horgan and Vincent J. Slattery.After Thomas 1901 death,the design was completed by Horgan and Slattery,whose relatively unknown firm had connections to the politically powerful Tammany Hall organization of the time.
The design largely conforms to Thomas's original plans, though Horgan and Slattery were largely responsible for the sculptural ornamentation.Fay Kellogg helped design or prepare plans for the Hall of Records,and designed the prominent double staircase in the building's lobby.The design has undergone relatively few alterations since its completion in 1907.
The Surrogate's Courthouse's seven-story granite facade wraps around the building's structural frame,while the interiors are elaborately designed in marble.The building was designed to be fireproof,in order to safely house the city's paper records.The interior spaces are popular with film and television production companies and have been used in many commercials,TV series, and movies.In addition to housing the Surrogate's Court for New York County,the building contains the New York City Municipal Archives and the New York City Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS)'s City Hall Library,as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Hotel Europe is a 108 year old, six storey, flatiron style building, built on a pie shaped property located in Historical Gastown, Vancouver BC Canada.
Construction began in 1908 and the hotel was completed and opened in 1909.
It was the first reinforced concrete structure to be built in Canada and the earliest fireproof hotel in Western Canada.
For the first years, the hotel flourished as people arrived to Vancouver by Steamship and stayed at the hotel.
The ground floor was once a beer parlour and is now currently a store. Below this beer parlour was an underground saloon accessible by stairs from a sidewalk entrance.
The underground area, including the saloon is said to have extended under the sidewalks on both sides of the hotel. These extensions were known as “areaways,” a typical feature of buildings in the Gastown area. Areaways were used to load and unload freight through trap doors in the outside sidewalk.
The Hotel Europe’s areaways were eventually filled in and bricked up and the underground saloon is said to be now a storage basement.
A more luxurious, Vancouver hotel opened in 1919 and the guest traffic shifted to the new hotel. At sometime it was said that the Hotel Europe became a brothel.
This building was later renovated into suites and is currently an affordable housing complex.
Rumored haunted. It is believed there is one, possibly two ghosts residing in the Hotel Europe. The first ghost was reported in the early '80s by a contractor who had been working on some repairs alone in the cellar, near the bricked up areaway entrance. Supposedly, he had left the cellar briefly and when he returned he found his tools had been scattered all over the floor. He heard scratching noises coming from behind the brick wall (a wall said to have been previously filled in) and felt a bad presence. He grabbed his tools and fled. Also, reported was a man dressed in a black coat with a flat cap that appeared in the shop on the ground level. One evening in the early 2000's after the shop owner had closed the store, the owner saw a man/ghost clearly reflected in the convex security mirror at the top end of the store. She was surprised to see him as she was sure there were no customers left in the store when she locked up. When she went to investigate, there was nobody there. The man in the mirror had vanished. The owner was left shaken and fled the property. This man/ghost was reported to return again at a later date.
It is questioned if this was the same original ghost or indeed a second one.
**Please note: All information has been compiled from various online sources and in no way has been verified to be true or accurate.
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Hotel Europe is a six-story heritage building located at 43 Powell Street (at Alexander) in the Gastown area of Vancouver, British Columbia. The building was commissioned by hotelier Angelo Calori and built in 1908-1909 by Parr and Fee Architects. Situated on a triangular lot, the building is designed in the flatiron style. It was the first reinforced concrete structure to be built in Canada and the earliest fireproof hotel in Western Canada. Contractors had to be brought in from Cincinnati, Ohio for the necessary expertise; the Ferro-Concrete Construction Company began this project six years after constructing the first tall concrete building in the world.
With funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the building was renovated in 1983 as affordable housing with A. Ingre and Associates as the project designers. The residential units are now managed by the Affordable Housing Society
F1 British Grand Prix 2019 - Silverstone
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Railways, stations and trains. The ornate eastern end of St Pancras station, or more precisely the former Midland Grand Hotel (now St Pancras Renaissance Hotel) in London, showing the substantial clock face.
Sir Gilbert Scott won the competition to design the hotel that the Midland Railway decided was required and created the ornate red brick Gothic building. Opened fully in April 1876, the hotel had many then innovative features, such as fireproof floors and hydraulic lifts, but the lack of bathrooms amongst other factors ended its hotel days in 1935.
From 1935 to 1980 it served as railway offices, this part of its life then coming to a close as it failed the then fire safety standards, perhaps ironic since fire safety features had made the hotel stand out in its early days.
Earlier than that, in the mid 1960s, closure of the station was being considered, as was demolition of the whole site, but Grade 1 Listing in 1967 concentrated minds on how it would be maintained for a long term future.
The hotel reopened as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in 2011. By then the station was St Pancras International, Eurostar services having transferred here from London Waterloo in November 2007.
The old hotel in downtown Sprague, Washington. This building had a wonderful hand-painted cigar sign near the back by the railroad tracks.
"Originally called Hoodooville, the town of Sprague began as a sheep camp in the 1870s. Officially incorporated in 1883, the town changed its name to Sprague, in honor of Civil War Union General John Wilson Sprague, an executive with Northern Pacific Railroad which had a presence in town. In 1895, a fire virtually erased downtown, prompting the construction of modern fireproof masonry buildings following the blaze. Yet, even fireproof buildings need upkeep, and decades of deferred maintenance have taken a toll. On September 6, 2013, the easternmost building on the main block of downtown collapsed, forcing city officials to close down the street and condemn the entire block of adjacent structures."
"Via the Most Endangered list, the Washington Trust was invited to assist. The 2014 Most Endangered listing raised awareness and spurred assistance in the form of a consultant donating time to assess the viability of rehabilitating an historic hotel building. The amount of money needed to bring the building back was, however, staggering. Local recognition that rehabilitation of the remaining buildings offered significant economic opportunity remained high. However, no large investment was secured and the hotel was unfortunately demolished, leaving just a few remaining historic buildings downtown."
London can be both a beautiful and scummy place all at once. Sadly the city showed me both its sides recently, my girlfriend and I had spent 4 days shooting around city, just before leaving we sat down at a pub outside Euston station where some thoughtless toerag lifted her camera bag when her back was turned. She lost a virtually new Canon 6D Mark ii along with all the pictures she had taken during the trip.
Photography is a hugely important part of both our lives and she’s worked tirelessly to save up for her pride and joy. As I’m sure you can imagine, she was absolutely devastated, not least because she wasn’t insured against theft. So I’m trying to raise some money to help her replace it and get back behind the camera as soon as possible. To do that, I’m offering a selection of 7 digital original images of my most popular London images up for sale for just £10, every single penny of profit from the sale of this set will be going towards replacing her equipment.
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The Hotel Vicksburg opened on the fourth of July, 1929. Not only was it fireproof but for many years it was the tallest building between Memphis and New Orleans. The hotel closed on November 14, 1975.
The Vicksburg was sold in 1978 and the conversion into apartments began. The Vicksburg Apartments opened in 1980, and they are still operating. Some of the apartments offer great views of the Mississippi River. Vicksburg, Mississippi. 6.24.2014.
Excerpt from blogg.sorentio.no:
The former sea cabin is full of history and one of the most iconic buildings in Ålesund. It started with fish exports and has since housed a large number of businesses.
Ever since 1812, there has been a trading house here, strategically located in the city's inner harbor. It started with ship owner and fish exporter Carl Rønneberg, who established the company Carl E. Rønneberg & Sons, before the business was eventually taken over by the sons. The company name can be seen in the facade to the south, with the inscription "R & S".
After the city fire in 1904, an extensive reconstruction of the city began, and as a result of the fire, the Storting passed the Murtvang Act. It ensured that many beautiful brick buildings were erected in the city center, and Rønnebergbua, with white natural stone in marble, is among those that stand out in particular.
Before the smoke had settled, help from home and abroad was already on its way to a city in ruins. In a time of recession, many professions and large workforces sought refuge in the city to participate in the reconstruction, including architects who provided solid, fireproof buildings. They were also interested in aesthetics, and the Art Nouveau style prevailed in the city center. Rønnebergbua was completed in 1907. Karl Norum was the architect behind Rønnebergbua.
Then as now, the building has been an architectural gem in the middle of the city, and a favorite photo motif for tourists and people with an interest in architecture. It has been a long time since fish was received and processed here, but there is still a bustling business community in the building, which today is run by Handelshuset Rønneberg, located on the 4th floor.
Silverstone Classic 2015
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Porsche LMP Team - Porsche 919 Hybrid #1 driven by Neel Jani (CHE) / Nick Tandy (GBR) / Andre Lotterer (DEU)
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#71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO: Davide Rigon, Sam Bird World Endurance Championship - Silverstone - Friday
Sometimes you wish you could just walk inside the garage and clean up the scene :(
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A view of the dome inside the Michigan State Capital Building.
The building was built in 1872 and was designed by Elijah E Meyers. As the previous building had burnt down, this one started a trend for Capital Buildings by being fireproof. Listed as a National Historic Site in 1971
#66 Team Parker Racing Ltd - Mercedes-AMG GT4 - Nick Jones, Scott Malvern British GT Championship - Oulton Park
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#11 Paddock Motorsport - Bentley Continental GT3: Kelvin Fletcher / Martin Plowman - Pro/Am
Round 3 - Donington - British GT
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