Holiday Jewels Tour and Feast: ARCH celebrates three historic landmarks with food and cheer!

Fort Wayne, November 3, 2009: ARCH will celebrate the holidays and the historic preservation of three landmarks downtown landmarks at the annual Holiday Jewels Tour and Feast. This year’s theme centers around historic transportation resources in the Summit City. The event begins at 5:30pm on December 4, and includes appetizers, scrumptious dinner buffet, and tasty desserts.

 Tour stops include:

 Fort Wayne Outfitters & Bike Depot, 1004 Cass Street—Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served at the historic c. 1889 Lake Shore and Michigan Passenger Depot. 5:30-7:30pm.

 Baker Street Station, 221 West Baker Street—Buffet dinner will be served amid the outstanding beauty of the restored concourse of the c. 1914 Pennsylvania Railroad Station, designed by the nationally prominent firm of Price & McLanahan. 6:30pm-8:30pm.

 Canal House, 114 East Superior Street—Desserts and coffee will be served in the c. 1852 John Brown Stone Warehouse, once a warehouse and office for a canal contractor, and the very first restoration project of ARCH back in 1975. The Canal House is now the home of Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, and ARCH is a proud, funded member of this important organization for all of northeastern Indiana. 7:30-9:30pm.

 Admission to the event is $45 per person, and reservations are required. Please call Lori at 260-426-5117 to make reservations prior to December 1st.

ARCH Teams Up for Design Awards with Downtown Improvement District, and American Institute of Architects

one of this year's nominees

 

Fort Wayne, November 3, 2009: ARCH, Inc., The Fort Wayne Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; and the Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District will present their design and preservation awards at a combined Awards Celebration to be held November 11, at 6:00 pm on the second floor of the One Summit Square (AEP) building in downtown Fort Wayne.   A reception will take place beginning at 5:00pm, followed by the Awards Celebration at 6:00pm.

 “Representatives of our organizations wanted to recognize outstanding achievement in design and preservation,” said Cory Miller, AIA, and Associate at SchenkelShultz Architecture, and Design & Practice Chairman for the Fort Wayne chapter of the American Institute of Architects.   “Providing an annual opportunity to celebrate and reward best practices and design excellence was something we – as organizations with like-minded goals – could do better as a group than individually.”

Angie Quinn, Executive Director of ARCH, noted that “the preservation of our community treasures is accomplished building by building, project by project, through the efforts of individuals who see the value of good design. AIA and DID share these goals with ARCH. ARCH’s  Historic Preservation Specialist, Mike Galbraith, was instrumental in organizing this grand celebration.” ARCH will also announce its list of the community’s Most Endangered Structures for 2009.

Richard Davis, President of the Downtown Improvement District, welcomed the opportunity to join what is expected to become an annual collaborative awards celebration.  “While our 91-block area represents a smaller concentration of potential projects to recognize, the downtown contains a disproportionate number of the significant achievements, both in terms of architecture and community heritage.”  Davis cited the recently-completed Parkview Field, the current restoration of the Allen County Courthouse, and the additions to Trinity English Lutheran Church as examples of large-scale downtown projects in which design is the critical element.

Those wishing to attend should RSVP Lori Graf at 426-5117.

For further information contact:

ARCH  Historic Preservation Specialist Michael Galbraith, mgalbraith@archfw.org ,(260) 580-0672 or Executive Director Angie Quinn aquinn@archfw.org, (260) 426-5117.

Cory Miller, AIA, SchenkelShultz Architecture, cmiller@schenkelshultz.com (260) 424 90

Rich Davis, Fort Wayne DID; richard@downtownfortwayne.com; 260 420 3266 x 302

Halloween Haunts with ARCH

“You will get unrestricted earfuls and possible eyefuls of vengeful deer, ghostly face powders, stolen corpses, botched hangings, burning hotels, haunted hospitals, cistern drownings, unburied soldiers and possessed pianos.” Steve Penhollow, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, October 9, 2009.

Duke Tumatoe & the Power Trio Rock the Temple for Halloween!

Fort Wayne, August 26, 2009: ARCH will hold a Halloween Party, featuring Duke Tumatoe & the Power Trio from 8:00pm-12:00am on Friday, October 30, in the Grand Ballroom of the Masonic Temple, 216 East Washington.   Duke Tumatoe will rock the Temple beginning at 9:00pm, and there will also be a costume contest, refreshments and a Cash Bar. Attendees must be 21 years old or older.

Tickets for the Halloween Party are $12 in advance, $15 the day of the tour, and can be purchased at ARCH, 437 East Berry Street, Suite 204, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, or by calling 260-426-5117. Officde hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm.  Ticket sales will begin on September 3^rd.

ARCH is Fort Wayne’s Historic Preservation organization and is a Funded Member of

Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne

ARCH offers Haunted Sites Bus Tours! Fright Site Hikes! More!

Fort Wayne, August 26, 2009: ARCH will offer Haunted Sites Bus Tours from 7:00pm-12:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24^th as part of Downtown Fright Night.  The ARCH haunted bus tours will depart from the Indiana Hotel lobby at the Embassy Theatre, 125 W. Jefferson Boulevard, at 7pm and 9pm. The 11pm Bus Tour will depart from the Botanical Conservatory Lobby, 1100 South Calhoun.  The tours are part of Downtown Fright Night, organized by the Downtown Improvement District, and sponsored by WAJI. The Haunted Sites Bus tours include over a dozen stories featuring downtown Fort Wayne landmarks and true stories of ghostly encounters, creepy places, and things that go bump in the night. Two tour routes are planned again this year, focusing on sites both north and south of the Embassy Theatre. “The Lady in White,” “The Hauntings of Carole Lombard,” “The Mysterious Burial of Dillinger’s Pal, Homer Van Meter,” “The Lost Cemetery,” and “The Bones of Anthony Wayne” are among stories to be featured. The tours will run simultaneously at 7pm, 9pm, and 11pm. Each tour is approximately 90 minutes in length. Bus Tour tickets are $10.00 for adults and $5 for children under 18, when accompanied by an adult. Ticket sales will begin on October 1; call ARCH at 260-426-5117, or at www.archfw.org to purchase tickets. Any remaining tours will be sold on October 24^th beginning at 5:00pm in the lobby of the Indiana Hotel.

ARCH will also offer 1-hour Fright Site Hikes as part of Downtown Fright Night. These walking tours will be approximately 1 mile in length, and will include such sites as the “Public Hanging Ground,” the “Aveline Hotel Fire Disaster,” and others. Tours begin in the Indiana Hotel Lobby at the Embassy Theatre. The Walking tours will be given at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. The final walking tour will begin at 11:30 from the lobby of the Botanical Conservatory.  Walking tours will be $5 for adults and $2 for children under 18, and tickets will be available at the door only, on Oct. 24^th beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Indiana Hotel Lobby at the Embassy Theatre.

 

NEW EVENT:

 ARCH announces NEW Fright Site Hikes for the public during October, featuring additional haunts and other frightful bits of Fort Wayne lore:

October 9, 8:30pm, beginning at the Masonic Temple, 216 E. Washington Boulevard.

October 10, 8:30pm, beginning at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, 431 W. Berry Street.

October 17, 8:30pm, beginning at the historic Rockhill-Tyler House, 918 Van Buren Street.

Walking tours are $5 for adults and $2 for children under 18, and tickets for these hikes can be purchased in advance from ARCH, 260-426-5117 or at www.archfw.org.  A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.

 

ARCH is Fort Wayne’s Historic Preservation organization and is a Funded Member of

Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne

ARCH Goes to Adams County!

Photographed by Arthur Rothstein, June 1938, from the Library of Congress

Fort Wayne, July 30, 2009: ARCH, the historic preservation group in Fort Wayne, has received a grant to complete a survey of all structures in Adams County built before 1970, as part of a state-wide effort to document potential sites for the National Register of Historic Places. The project includes the survey and the creation of an inventory of historic sites and structures in Adams County, which was last surveyed in the early 1990s. The project will also include a publication of an Interim Report of the findings.

Adams County has a rich history and many historic resources. The photos on this page are from the Decatur Homesteads, federally funded by the Farm Security Administration during the 1930s, and part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, and one of the many sites that will be surveyed by ARCH during the coming year.

The Adams County Survey has been funded in part by a grant from the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.  There are also opportunities for local residents and businesses to financially support this project, and information is available from ARCH.

What is a Historic Sites and Structures Survey?  The Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology website says:

“The survey program is a result of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966…to help promote the preservation of the nation’s cultural resources on the federal, state and local levels… (led to) the creation at the state level of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). ..Responsibilities of the SHPO are…the establishment of the state-wide survey in an effort to locate and inventory the resources that require protection. Secondly, in an effort to protect such resources, the SHPO reviews state and federally funded projects to determine what kind of impact there may be on historic properties. The survey allows for more thorough investigations of the historic resources within the proposed project area.”

The primary surveyor for the Adams County project is Michael Galbraith. He will travel by

Photograph by Carl Mydans, May 1936, from the Library of Congress

 automobile along all roads in Adams County, working in one township at a time. The surveyor will make a visual inspection of the structure from the road, and will photograph and describe the architectural details of those structures estimated to be 40 years old or older. The surveyor will likely walk most areas in towns and villages, and will complete photographs and written descriptions from the public sidewalk or roadway.

ARCH will then take the completed data, and publish an Interim Report of the Adams County Historic Sites and Structures Inventory. The report will also contain a history of Adams County, and histories of the townships and communities, along with a section on the architectural styles found in the county. ARCH will print 250 copies of the Report. 125 will be given to the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology for their disbursement.  125 will be distributed to schools, libraries, and other organizations for education use.

The survey activities will be completed by June 2010, and the publication will be completed in 2011. ARCH has completed similar surveys in Wells, LaGrange, and Steuben Counties. The Steuben County Interim Report Book has been published, and the LaGrange book will be available during the fall of 2009. Wells County’s book will be published in 2010.

Residents who have historical information about Adams County and its communities are encouraged to call ARCH to share their information. Volunteers to assist with the survey are welcome, and training will be provided. Please call ARCH at 260-426-5117 for additional information.

Great Fun at the ARCH Bike About

"Let's Go Swimming" expresses it all on the Aqueduct Club monument at Orff Park.

Well, two trips are better than one, right? The Bike About on May 16 was rainy and so we held it again on May 30. During the two tours ARCH met 15 new members, and another 10 members rode along. We had a great time, and plan to hold the event again this autumn. Watch this page for news of the next ride.

Our ride included a peek inside a home being restored on Main Street.

We visited the Alexander Rankin House on Lafayette, being restored by ARCH.

Bike About for Historic Preservation is Rescheduled for May 30, same place, one tour only, begins at 9am.

Brookview

Arthur Asahel Shurcliff (1865-1957) was a prominent landscape architect who immediately followed Charles Eliot and Frederic Law Olmstead in the succession of great Bostonian landscape architects. Best known for his work at Williamsburg, his work in Fort Wayne includes three City Beautiful era neighborhoods – Wildwood Park, Lafayette Esplanade and Brook View. The last of these, Brookview, is threatened by multiple projects that threaten to destroy the historic integrity of the neighborhood.

In 2002 the “Historic Residential Suburbs” bulletin from the National Park Service clarified the importance of historic garden suburbs like Brookview. Elements like planned vistas, meandering and riverside drives and green park space became defining elements that were eligible for federal recognition on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Bound by Clinton Street on the east, the former New York Central tracks on the west and the Centlivre apartment complex on the north, the roughly triangular neighborhood is bisected by Spy Run Creek. Spy Run Creek has always had periodic flooding, but in recent years this once occasional event has become routine. Current projects to address this flooding, as well as traffic “enhancement” projects threaten to disrupt the neighborhood in such a way as to render Shurcliff’s design unrecognizable.

The first of these projects, the replacement of the US 27 (Clinton Street) bridge over Spy Run. ARCH, along with Friends of the Parks, Brookview Neighborhood Association and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana are working to mitigate the harm that this project will create by engaging in a process known as Section 106 review. Named after the section of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act that mandates it, the review requires the federal government to “take into account” the effects of its undertakings on “historic properties.”

Identification and evaluation of historic properties as part of this review has led to some new discoveries in the Brookview Neighborhood. The first and most important is a legal finding by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that the Brookview Neighborhood is Preliminarily Eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places as part of a Historic District. This means that as federally funded projects happen in and around this neighborhood the neighborhood is considered to be historic, and there needs to be an effort to “avid, minimize or mitigate” effects from any project that may damage those characteristics of the neighborhood that make it historic.

The second important legal finding is that closing Westbrook Drive and possibly Eastbrook Drive at Clinton Street are part of the Clinton Street bridge project and constitute an “adverse effect” on the neighborhood.

These findings mean that there will be some federally funded mitigation efforts in this neighborhood. Friends of the Parks, along with ARCH, HLFI and the Brookview Neighborhood Association will be asking for documentation efforts like the preparation of an NRHP Nomination and Cultural Landscape Report, as well as physical mitigation related to the creek, bridge and green space. As further developments happen with this project and with the upcoming State Street project, I hope to be able to give further updates.

Posted by Mike

rally for rail service for the historic Baker Street Station

Standing Room Only at the Rally for Rail, Baker Street Train Station, April 3, 2009

The only thing missing from the phenomenal restoration of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station on Baker Street in Fort Wayne,  is actual train service. AMTRAK moved its passenger line north to tracks in Waterloo, Indiana over 20 years ago, leaving Fort Wayne without passenger service.

A new effort is underway to restore rail service to the restored station.  The Northeast Passenger Rail Association is asking for help contacting our state legislators. 

A fully occupied, and functioning train station is the best way to preserve a train station.

posted by Angie

UPDATE April 9, 2009: Robert Pence has added a number of excellent photos of the station and the rally on his site .