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Historic District Commission wants old structure preserved

The Historic District Commission has raised concerns about the demolition of this building because of historical significance.Jeff Mcmenemy photo

EXETER A long-time local businessman's efforts to demolish an abandoned garage in the downtown to put up a new mixed-use development has run into opposition from the town's Historic District Commission.

Pam Gjettum, the chairman of the commission, told Allen Lampert, the owner of the garage at 1 Franklin St., she is opposed to having the building demolished because she believes it is "historically significant."

"They would be tearing down something that means something to Exeter," Gjettum said during the commission's recent meeting in Town Offices.

The commission eventually deadlocked 2-2 on a vote to demolish the building.

But Gjettum said in an interview earlier this week that a recent tour of the site the first garage and car dealership in Exeter has her hopeful that commission members can work with Lampert's architect to save at least some elements of the garage.

"They're thinking about (putting) a restaurant there," Gjettum said. "At least if we could save a wall or save a facade so people could look at it and know there was a garage there once."

Gjettum said she is "cautiously optimistic" that something could be worked out.

"Al is a really, really nice guy and he does a lot for the town," Gjettum said.

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Developer meets opposition on garage demolition

BY GARY GOULD

810-452-2650

A look down Main Street in Davison following the completion of the makeover project. File photo It has been a busy and eventful year in the Davison area, so here are just some of the news events we thought were important to readers of The Davison Index.

Main Street resur facing

Work began July 8 on what Davison City Manager Michael Hart called the Main Street Makeover project. At a total cost of $1.248 million (funded primarily through federal grant money) it included replacement of the old water main, widening about a half-mile stretch of the street between Clark and Flint streets, and lighting and landscaping improvements.

About half of the funding, more than $616,000, is federal transportation grant money and the remainder of projects price tag including about $134,000 in overruns came from the citys capital improvement fund.

Some overruns arose due to unexpected issues which cropped up during underground work to install a new water main on Main Street.

Bob and Geraldine Callis at the unveiling of plans for Lake Callis at the new 40-acres being added to the Jack Abernathy Regional Park. File photos The first issue was a 30-plus year old water main which broke during construction at Main and Rising streets. The broken main flooded and damaged an old sewer line which collapsed and resulted in a small sinkhole.

That was $35,000 just to fix, said Chris Brinks of Wade Trim on Oct. 14. Another $7,000 for the emergency repair to the main.

Overall, that emergency repair cost the city about $63,000 total when it was all completed. Other unexpected expenses arose with additional work needed to curbs and gutters, iron tree grates, the replacement of aging catch basins and removal of an underground gas tank discovered in front of Chucks Barbershop and Larsons Ace Hardware.

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A look back at the top five stories of 2013

ARCHITECTS OF EVOLUTION - Universe Without Design (OFFICIAL) New Single
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The House Is Free, But You Have to Take It With You
Two architects are giving away their house in pricey Arlington, Virginia, but there #39;s one condition -- whoever takes it is responsible for moving it. Two arc...

By: GeoBeats News

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The House Is Free, But You Have to Take It With You - Video

Lack of euro treasury key to crisis and to recovery

Thursday, January 02, 2014

THE architects of the euro knew that it was incomplete when they designed it.

By George Soros

European authorities were confident, however, that if and when the euro ran into a crisis, they would be able to overcome it. After all, that is how the EU was created, taking one step at a time, knowing full well that additional steps would be required.

With hindsight, one can identify other deficiencies of which the euros architects were unaware. The euro was supposed to bring about economic convergence, but it produced divergences instead, because its architects did not realise that imbalances may emerge not only in the public sector, but in the private sector as well.

After the euro came into force, commercial banks could refinance their holdings of government bonds at the discount window of the European Central Bank, and regulators treated government bonds as riskless. This caused interest-rate differentials between various countries to shrink, which generated real estate booms in the weaker economies and reduced their competitiveness.

At the same time, Germany, suffering from the after-effects of reunification, had to tighten its belt. Trade unions agreed to concessions on wages and working conditions in exchange for job security. That is how the divergences emerged. Yet the banks continued to load up on the government bonds of the weaker countries in order to benefit from the minuscule interest-rate differentials.

The consequences of the lack of a common treasury first became apparent after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, when governments, in order to prevent financial markets from collapsing, had to guarantee that no other systemically important financial institution would be allowed to fail.

At that time, Angela Merkel rejected a Europe-wide guarantee, insisting that each country should guarantee its own institutions. Interestingly, interest-rate differentials widened only in 2010, when the newly-elected Greek government announced that the previous government had vastly understated the true fiscal deficit.

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Lack of euro treasury key to crisis and to recovery

More and more cities are investing in ways to get bikers on the road, but London has been particularly preoccupied with keeping them safe.After a particularly brutal spate of deaths last year, Mayor Boris Johnson drew the ire of cyclists when heinsisted theres no amount of traffic engineering that we invest in that is going to save peoples lives.

Actually, about $360 million of engineering should do it. Thats according to plans for SkyCycle, a 137-mile network of elevated bike paths that would allow Londoners to pull a Mary Poppins by riding above the citys traffic. Unveiled this week by a team of architects including Lord Norman Foster (the guy who designed thatgiant egg-shaped building), the design is two years in the making and would take about 20 years to complete.The Guardian has more:

The project, which has the backing of Network Rail and Transport for London, would see over 220km of car-free routes installed above Londons suburban rail network, suspended on pylons above the tracks and accessed at over 200 entrance points. At up to 15 metres wide, each of the ten routes would accommodate 12,000 cyclists per hour and improve journey times by up to 29 minutes, according to the designers.

Lord Foster, who says that cycling is one of his great passions, describes the plan as a lateral approach to finding space in a congested city.

By using the corridors above the suburban railways, he said, we could create a world-class network of safe, car-free cycle routes that are ideally located for commuters.

As bike enthusiasts andinfrastructure wonks alike keep themselves busy arguing over whether SkyCycle is even a good idea, the design firms still trying to raise money just to study its feasibility. But hey, cities can dream.

Correction 1/2/14 3:45 p.m. ET: A previous version of this story quoted the estimated cost of SkyCycle at $3.6 million. The correct amount is $360 million. Salon regrets the error.

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Architects unveil plan for $360 million bike path in the sky

Alfonso Architects will design the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM) in St. Petersburg on behalf of collector Rudy Ciccarello and the Two Red Roses Foundation (TRRF). Scheduled to open in early 2016, the four-story, 90,000-sq.-ft. museum will include rare and one-of-a-kind works by leading craftsmen and artists of the early 20th century. A reference library, furnished with period pieces such as Stickley furniture and Tiffany lighting, will house books and catalogues on the Arts and Crafts Movement and the TRRF collection.

The museums architecture is inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement in its detailing and customization of materials and joinery, architect Alberto Alfonso said in a statement. The spaces will embrace natural light and respond to the different scales of the objects they hold. It will be a building of our time that celebrates this immensely important period of art, architecture, and American history.

Plans also call for spaces for special exhibitions, events galleries, a small auditorium, restaurant, caf, gift shop, and bookstore.

Original post:
Alfonso Architects Selected for Arts & Crafts Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida

Visitors to Davenports River Heritage Park along the Mississippi River will find history reflected in the guard railing along the seawall.

The 808 feet of decorative railing features a design that suggests the arches of the nearby Government Bridge. The subtle, yet eye-pleasing element of Davenports newest city park, located at East 3rd Street and River Drive, was designed and manufactured by Crawford Co., Rock Island.

This railing that combines a historical motif with a safety function joins a gazebo already in place at the seven-acre park. Among the features yet to come is a proposed foot bridge that will enable park visitors to cross River Drive. The foot bridges design was inspired by the Mississippi Rivers first railroad bridge, an 1856 structure whose western terminus was located at the park site and is part of the rich history that the attraction celebrates.

Participating in projects such as River Heritage Park, where architectural elements contribute to both the esthetics and historical complement, is nothing new for Crawford Co. While it is known for its industrial and residential plumbing, heating and cooling services as well as metal fabrication, the company also performs unique custom architectural work.

That specialty can be seen at several high-profile landmarks in the Quad-Cities.

In addition to the River Heritage Park guard railing, such projects include protective canopies at the historic Clock Tower building, the headquarters of the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Working with divisions within the company as well as outside vendors, Crawford manufactured and installed the canopies at three entryways of the historic landmark, completed in 1867 as the Rock Island Arsenals first building.

The structures include a curved thumbnail shaped overhang at the main entrance and two 35-foot long canopies at the sides of the building. With fiberglass decking supported by stainless steel frames in a color scheme in keeping with that of the original building, they feature decorative cast aluminum finials in oak leaf patterns matching the oak leaf designs incorporated in the historic fencing on the property.

The guard railing at Davenports River Heritage Park consists of 101 eight-foot long sections of powder-coated, galvanized steel incorporating the trapezoid shapes of the Government Bridges arches.

Keith Gerks, Crawfords division manager for weld/laser sales, said the project posed challenges.

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Architectural products shine the spotlight on Crawford Co.

History is one of the favorite channels in our home. I particularly enjoy the shows where they rescue the rusty gold and send antiques for expert restoration. The transformation of various vehicles, toys and other items present amazing before and after stories.

There seems to be plenty of need for restoration in our lives and in our country. I could sure go for some restoration of separation of powers in our national government.

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Michael Zimmer: Embrace restoration in the new year

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