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BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A fire destroyed a large century-old house Sunday morning on Bainbridge's south end.

A man thought to be in his 40s suffered smoke inhalation and was flown to Harborview Hospital in Seattle shortly after firefighters were called to the scene at 6:15 a.m., according to the Bainbridge Island Fire Department. No other injuries were reported.

Five people were staying overnight at the home's property, which is part of a large gated community at the end of Country Club Road on Restoration Point. The approximately 3,500-square-foot house's two occupants were able to escape. Three people were sleeping in a neighboring guesthouse, which suffered no significant damage.

Bainbridge Fire Chief Hank Teran said the main house is a total loss. It overlooks Seattle from a high bluff.

The smoke was visible across Puget Sound.

"We received a number of calls, including one from a ferry," Teran said.

Kate Jacobson was sleeping in the guesthouse when her dogs woke her.

"The dogs were doing something. I looked out, and I screamed over (at the main house) and ran outside," she said.

Her sister, Nancy Jacobson, was sleeping in the main house with her fiance, Matt Sullivan.

"I heard crackling and screaming," Nancy Jacobson said with tears in her eyes and a blanket around her shoulders. "It was mainly in the chimney. There was a lot of smoke."

Teran said it's too early to know what caused the fire.

That it might have been caused by a fireplace or chimney fire is "hearsay right now, but we're looking into it," he said.

About 20 firefighters from the Bainbridge, Poulsbo and North Kitsap fire departments were at the scene. The Leschi fire boat came from Seattle and floated on standby for several minutes. It was sent back after firefighters contained the blaze.

Nancy Jacobson, 29, of Seattle said the house is owned by her parents. She and her friends were staying over the weekend. The house is usually unoccupied.

She and Sullivan planned to marry at the house in a few months.

"We sent out the save-the-dates two days ago," Sullivan said.

Nancy Jacobson said the house was built by her "great-great-grandfather."

"And his great-great-grandchildren will rebuild it, right?" Kate Jacobson said to her sister.

Most of the fire was extinguished by 8 a.m.

Original post:
Fire destroys century-old home on Bainbridge's Restoration Point

February 27, 2012 5:26 AM

A traveling man could get a pretty nice room for $2 a day at the Dunlap House a century ago.

The old Dunlap was an 80-room hotel which once stood where the Morgan County Center is now located on West State Street.

The Dunlap House was completed in the spring of 1858 and for many years was considered to be one of Jacksonville’s principal buildings. Sketches of the hotel were included on maps and other publications.

The hotel was the brainchild of Col. James Dunlap, a local entrepreneur, who took a residence and enlarged it. The front part of the brick hotel building had three stories, while two rear wings had two floors.

The guest rooms were said to be “neat and airy,” and each room was supplied with a stove and gas fixtures.

“Although this hotel will be a just subject of pride to our citizens, and has involved a very heavy expenditure in its erection, it is entirely a private enterprise on the part of Col. Dunlap, and one which entitles him to the commendations of the community for the liberality and public spirit it evinces,” wrote a local journalist in 1858.

The Dunlap soon supplanted the Mansion House, later known as the Park Hotel, as the city’s leading hostelry.

Samuel Clemens, better known as “Mark Twain,” stayed at the Dunlap when he came to town in 1869 to talk about his travels abroad.

Members of the Dunlap family ran the hotel for many years before Capt. Alexander Smith, a Civil War hero and veteran hotel clerk, bought the place in 1880. He earned his rank fighting for the Union Army and proudly kept it the rest of his life.

“Cap” Smith, who is said to have been “a born hotel keeper,” quickly undertook a complete remodeling of the hotel. An army of painters, plasterers and carpenters renovated every inch of the building.

The renovated Dunlap’s rooms were all equipped with an electric bell connected to the office. And “another feature which few, if any, hotels in our state possess is the ladies private washroom and bathrooms ... fitted up in the best possible manner,” the Journal reported in September 1880.

“As a guarantee that the house will be ably conducted in such a manner as to satisfy the traveling public, we need only state that Capt. Alex Smith, the proprietor, ... will have personal supervision of the house and see that the wants of all guests are promptly supplied.”

For the entertainment of his guests, Smith also had a billiards room added to the hotel in 1880, a room large enough to accommodate six tables.

“Conventions always delighted him, and he was happiest when the great lobby and dining rooms were filled with sociable guests,” wrote an unknown local historian around 1940.

“On one occasion, the Travelers Protective Association state meeting was held (at the Dunlap House) and as each guest went to the desk to pay his bill for himself and his family, the clerk smilingly handed him a bill already receipted by ‘Cap.’”

Smith got out of the hotel business in 1904 and died in a fire in his Jacksonville home in 1917.

A modern, five-story brick and steel-frame hotel building went up just east of the old Dunlap in 1925. Called the New Dunlap Hotel, it dwarfed its outdated predecessor for a few years before wreckers demolished the old hotel.

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The Way We Were: Dunlap House was a source of Jacksonville pride

Ambrico recently reported that a building renovation using the company's own EZ-Wall System and Hanson Versa thin brick stood up to an earthquake that occurred while the project was still underway.

Warren, MI (PRWEB) February 26, 2012

American Brick Company (Ambrico) recently reported that a building renovation completed last year that used the Ambrico EZ-Wall thin brick installation system with Hanson Versa thin brick stood up against an earthquake that occurred in the middle of the project. The project, a renovation of the Extended Stay America hotel in Richmond, VA, to repair an existing thin brick installation that was failing in some parts of the building, didn’t suffer any setbacks as a result of the earthquake thanks to the durability of the EZ- Wall panel system and Hanson Versa thin brick.

As reported by the thin brick experts at Ambrico, the combination of the EZ-Wall system with a high quality thin brick product like Hanson Versa thin brick is a clear winner when it comes to thin brick installations on a variety of buildings, including malls, hospitals, restaurants and sporting arenas. “You can’t really argue with a product that not only stands the test of time – it can withstand the environment. An earthquake is the ultimate test of safety for a structure, and we are pleased, but not surprised, that Hanson Versa Thin Brick installed with the EZ-Wall installation system is a solid solution that you can rely on,” reported Brian Burns, the company’s spokesman.

In addition to Hanson Versa thin brick, Ambrico specializes in other thin brick brands, including durable and attractive designs from Clover Creek Brick, Glen-Gery Brick, Metro brick and others, at the company’s showroom in Warren, Michigan. Ambrico reports that it has seen a steady rise in the demand for thin brick installations over thick brick, as building owners continue to ask for renovation and new construction siding options that are both environmentally friendly and affordable.    

Headquartered in Warren, Michigan, Ambrico includes a showroom, brickyard and manufacturing facility. The company offers free estimates and information for builders and contractors interested in learning more about brick veneer installation, and also maintains a large selection of brick veneer samples to view in the state-of-the -art Ambrico showroom. For more information, please visit ambrico.com.

###

Brian Burns
Ambrico
866-663-6898
Email Information

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Ambrico EZ-Wall System and Thin Brick Stand Up to Earthquake

If someone could tell you how to build a home with practically no more money than a conventional heating and cooling system, and you'd have no heating or cooling bills, would you do it? If they could then tell you how to eliminate your electric bills also and end up with a "net zero" home, would you do it?

STAFF PHOTO BY JOE SARNO

Located on Route 23 in Pequannock, Solar & More has definite ideas on how to curb your energy costs.

One would hope so, because this is all possible now, and you really don't have any out of pocket costs because it's part of the cost of the house.

A geothermal heating and cooling system works off the constant 54 degree temperature of the earth.

With heat pumps that take heat out of the house in the summer and bring it into the house in the winter, you have an air distribution system that is the most comfortable of any heating or cooling system there is. If dry heat bothers you with asthma, bronchitis or allergies, geothermal will reduce those symptoms and you'll be much more comfortable.

So here's how it can work. Contracting for a geothermal system with Solar & More will give you the opportunity to save 30% on your system and your home's insulation and ductwork. How do we do this? Solar & More will design and include the home's air handling and ductwork into the geothermal system. We then provide the spray-in foam insulation as part of the geothermal system also. This does two things; it increases the insulation from the home's "envelope" (the insulated living area of the house) and reduces the size of the geothermal system because of this extra insulation. Spray in insulation is much more efficient than standard mat insulations provided with most homes.

What's all this mean? Basically, you get a geothermal system for the same amount as a traditional heating and cooling system. And, you get a much tighter home with fewer drafts and the most comfortable heat and cooling system you can buy!

So now you've finished building the house and you're in. What happens next?

You've reduced your heating and cooling bills by up to 70%! You also cover about 70% of your domestic hot water bills with this geothermal system as we install a "desuperheater" that transfers heat from the heat pumps to a hot water heater. What could be better!

Tell your architect to be sure he considers a geothermal system. If he doesn't, we've got an architect who will design this for you and it won't cost you any more than a traditional design. If he's really good, he'll also give you a south facing roof for some solar panels. This could eliminate the remaining portion of your electric bill to give you that "net zero" home…no electric, no heating and no cooling costs…for the life of your home. That's energy efficiency!

Tom Ferraro owns Solar & More, a retail showroom in Pompton Plains, NJ where you can go to see and learn about solar, geothermal and other renewable energy systems. For more information, see their website at http://www.solarnmorestore.com, or call 800-782-0241.

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Geothermal can save you big bucks

By The Record

February 27, 2012 12:00 AM

California - even with a state prison medical facility already under construction southeast of Stockton - has been advised by the Legislative Analyst's Office to hold off on building new medical facilities for inmates.

That view contradicts plans by the court-appointed receiver who has run the prison health system since a federal judge declared it unconstitutional and inadequate. The receiver has plans for $2.3 billion in new clinics and upgrades.

Construction is one of the final sticking points before the state can end six years of federal oversight of inmate medical care. The judge has ordered preparations for returning control to the state but said the lack of new medical facilities is an ongoing problem.

California is already building a new facility for long-term medical and mental-health care near Stockton. But the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, also wants to convert three nearby former juvenile correctional facilities to provide care to adult inmates and spend $750 million on upgrades to clinics throughout the 33-prison state system.

Although the Legislative Analyst's Office said in a report issued last week that some medical facilities remain in poor condition, it questioned the need for new construction. The prison population is declining because low-level offenders are being kept in county custody to reduce overcrowding.

That rerouting "may make it possible to close some prisons in the future," the report said. "It would be unwise to make significant infrastructure investments at such facilities at this time."

Kelso has said that some new medical facilities will be necessary anyway. Prison medical needs are increasing as the inmate population ages.

There are 70,000 prisoners with chronic health problems such as hypertension, HIV and diabetes, and 50,000 inmates are at least 50 years old.

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State advised to postpone prison medical facility

Wet weather has hindered ongoing work at District Judge Charles Conway's new office building in Export.

A rainy fall and not-so-cold winter have caused muddy conditions during construction of the 3,000-square-foot building between Grant Avenue and the Export Moose, said Jay Bandieramonte, construction and maintenance manager for the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp.

"We would have been much better if everything were frozen," he said. "The biggest problem is we've been fighting Mother Nature."

Even at the groundbreaking ceremony in September, tents were pitched to shield officials from rain. Bandieramonte estimated that the $636,000 project will be completed at the end of April.

A roof is up and crews are doing interior work. "They're putting the drywall up, doing the electrical work and such," Bandieramonte said.

Conway is still holding court in his Corporate Lane office.

The new building will be a "cookie-cutter" image of offices constructed in recent years for other district judges, Bandieramonte said.

Amenities will include security features for the staff and judge, such as separate entrances and restrooms. Holding cells will have improved safety features.

A fixed glass window will separate staff from the waiting room, replacing a sliding window that separates the two in the current office.

"It's much safer for the guards, it's much safer for the employees," as well as those there for hearings, Bandieramonte said.

Construction of the Export district judge's office is the fifth such project Westmoreland County has undertaken since 1999.

Special Courts Administrator Don Heagy said commissioners in the past decided it was more cost-effective to build new facilities rather than lease space in privately owned structures.

"Previous boards were interested, where feasible, to relieve the county of private leases," Heagy said. "Building justifies our existence in those facilities for 20 years or more."

The county has built district judge offices in Youngwood, Jeannette, Monessen and Allegheny Township.

Heagy said preliminary plans call for magistrate offices to be built in Scottdale and West Newton, with construction on those projects beginning later this year or early in 2013.

Part of the Export property, which was owned by the local Moose lodge, was sold to the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. The borough owned the remainder of the land, which officials donated to the county.

More Westmoreland headlines

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Weather delays work on district court office in Export

Originally published February 26, 2012 at 8:00 PM | Page modified February 26, 2012 at 10:49 PM

Longtime Seattle developer Martin Selig says he has scrapped plans for an eight-story apartment building next door to downtown Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park, and now plans a four-story office building there.

"When I see this many apartments getting developed, it scares me," Selig said Friday.

More than 6,000 apartments are under construction in King and Snohomish counties, with thousands more planned. The region hasn't seen this much new multifamily development in 20 years, and, while most developers remain bullish, some researchers now say the apartment market could be overbuilt.

Selig's property at 3031 Western Avenue, just north of the much-praised sculpture park, now is the site of a two-story garage. Selig, who has owned it for 30 years, has floated several plans to redevelop it.

When he proposed a 14-story luxury-apartment project on the site in 2007, some neighbors and others said it would ruin views from the park and was out of scale. A city design-review board agreed in 2010 that the planned building seemed to "simply loom over the park," and should be shorter.

So Selig proposed a seven-story office building — taller than zoning allowed — and neighbors again expressed objections.

Then came a proposed eight-story, 64-unit apartment building, which complied with the city's higher height limit for residential structures.

Selig said his decision to drop that plan and build a shorter office building instead was driven entirely by the market. He said he will pursue permits now, but wait to build until tenants in two nearby office buildings he owns want to expand.

Former state Sen. Sylvia Skratek, who lives nearby and led opposition to several of Selig's previous proposals, said in an email that she isn't familiar with his new plan, but neighbors "will take a look at any submission that he puts forward and review it as we have in the past to determine if it is consistent" with the neighborhood and city guidelines.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

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Selig now plans short office building near Sculpture Park

WESTERLY -- Officials studying the possibility of extending the town’s sewer system to Misquamicut hope to deliver their findings next month.

The plans will be discussed during a Public Works Committee meeting scheduled for March 8 at 5 p.m. Officials said the Planning Board and the Economic Development Commission will be invited to the meeting. The plans will later be presented to the Town Council and to the Misquamicut Fire District.

Town Councilor Christopher Duhamel, a member of an ad-hoc group studying the sewer proposal, said current estimates put the cost of the project between $20 million and $23 million, including a 10 percent contingency for possible overruns or unanticipated costs. The cost would be borne by residents of the Misquamicut Fire District and the owners of businesses to be served by the system, Duhamel said.

A lawyer representing some of the business owners said his clients were willing to pay “substantially more” of the cost of the system than what residents would pay.

Town Manager Steven Hartford said that if approved, the town could use a revolving loan fund administered by the Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency. Previously, when the sewer system has been extended into new neighborhoods, the cost of a bond issue was split between the town and the affected property owners.

Under the plan being developed for Misquamicut, Hartford said businesses that benefit from the project would pay “a substantially larger share than under conventional methods” to pay off the loan.

This latest proposal to bring sewers to Misquamicut was prompted by a state law and Department of Environmental Management rules requiring owners of property within 200 feet of a coastal shoreline feature, including salt ponds, to install costly denitrification septic systems to replace cesspools, Duhamel said.

Additionally, DEM refused to allow the town to participate in a loan program that would have helped property owners with the cost of replacing cesspool systems, saying the loan program would not be made available because of a town plan which calls for the eventual installation of sewers at Misquamicut.

Since the ad-hoc group started its work, DEM has indicated a willingness to modify the rules, allowing for systems that cost less than the $30,000 denitrification systems. The proposed new rules remain in the draft stage.

Misquamicut falls within the town’s sewer district but residents have resisted efforts to extend the line to the beach area. Voters rejected plans to establish sewers in the area at referendums in 1984 and 2000. Other attempts have also lost steam over the years.

The town’s wastewater treatment plant on Margin Street has sufficient capacity to handle the addition of sewers at Misquamicut, Duhamel said, adding that sewers would play an integral role in protecting the salt ponds from excessive nutrient loading which boosts algae growth and reduces oxygen for fish and plants.

The project’s cost estimates are based on reports by BETA Group, Inc., a Lincoln-based engineering firm that provides sewer consultation to the town, and Pare Corp., a Lincoln-based engineering firm hired by a group of Misquamicut business owners. Duhamel said the two firms have proposed slightly different systems.

If the project gains support, Duhamel said on-going drainage work on Atlantic Avenue would be concluded with a temporary patch to the road, which could be easily removed for the construction of sewers. Once the sewers are in place a permanent cover, which is budgeted as part of the drainage project, would finish the roadway.

Attorney Thomas Liguori represents the owners of the Andrea Hotel, Pleasant View Inn, Maria’s Seaside Café, Breezeway Resort, and the Ocean Blue Motel, all of whom are “willing to accept a larger share of the cost than typical,” he said.

Liguori said he also represents other business owners, who are also supporting the sewer proposal, though he declined to name the others. Additionally, Liguori said another local lawyer represents other shoreline businesses that would be affected by the sewer proposal.

Duhamel has provided periodic status updates on the ad-hoc group’s work to the Town Council. Hartford wrote to property owners affected by the state law and DEM regulations in September, informing them that the town is studying the possibility of extending the sewer system into their area.

dfaulkner@thewesterlysun.com

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Misquamicut sewer plans offered

FORT MYERS — The Owen-Ames-Kimball Company (O-A-K) construction team has achieved LEED Silver Certification for construction of the St. Leo the Great Catholic Church Parish Life & Education Center located at 28290 Beaumont Road in Bonita Springs.

According to public records, the project is the first LEED certified project in Bonita Springs and the first LEED certified church facility in Florida. The project involved the utilization of best practices in green building technologies to construct a 14,500-square-foot Life Center and 18,000-square-foot Education Center.

Following the project completion in January 2011, O-A-K submitted the project for LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

LEED, short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. To achieve LEED certification, the design team and the construction manager work together to accomplish design and construction practices and guidelines provided by the USGBC. Certain criteria must be met and points are assigned in the following categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation and Design Process.

The O-A-K project team included Rick Gutknecht, job site superintendent; Abel Natali, LEED AP as the LEED coordinator; Abrie Spies, project manager; Patrick Conran, vice president of operations/general superintendent; Steve Richards, chief estimator and Dave Dale, principal in charge. Lou Ann Kapcin with Architecture Inc. was the project architect and Ted Sottong, formerly with Architecture Inc., now Studio+, was the principal in charge for the architectural design. Joe Broughton, P.E. with Burgess Engineering provided the mechanical/electrical/plumbing design.

Owen-Ames-Kimball Company has offices in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties.

Continue reading here:
Owen-Ames-Kimball Company earns LEED Silver Certification for Bonita Springs church

By JOY BROWN

STAFF WRITER

Crews from Alvada Construction Co. began work Saturday night to demolish most of the fire-damaged fourth floor of the Argyle apartment building in downtown Findlay.

Removing all but four feet of the walls on the fourth floor, where the fire was most heavily concentrated, is expected to make the building more stable. Cranes will be used to do the work, which could be completed by Monday morning if crews work around the clock and encounter no further problems, city officials told affected business owners at a meeting Saturday.

"Like anything else, when you start to tear apart a building, even the best laid plans can hit a snag," said Fire Chief Tom Lonyo.

A structural engineer hired by the city determined Friday that bracing work that had been completed wasn't sufficient to keep walls stable. He recommended fourth floor demolition, where the walls are not connected to anything else. Below, "everything is still tied together" and structurally sound, said Service-Safety Director Paul Schmelzer.

As soon as demolition has made the building safe, fire investigators will enter and try to determine a cause, and perform one more canvass to make sure no one is trapped in the wreckage.

Lonyo said the biggest problem spot is the building's southeast corner, which is bowing inward. The north wall is pushing out, he said.

Structural integrity has been compromised not just by the blaze, which caused the roof to cave in, but by high wind and the large amount of water used to fight Thursday's fire. The water has been expanding and contracting as it freezes and thaws.

"For the businesses under the Argyle (apartments), you can expect the worst" in terms of damage, Lonyo said Saturday. "Over four million gallons of water were poured into that building and it all ran down."

"Every day it (the structure) gets worse. As of (Friday) the building had moved again," Lonyo said.

"This is a moving target," said Findlay Fire Investigator Eric Habegger. "We don't know what types of problems we're going to get into. What you're hearing today may change in three hours."

Main Street, from Sandusky to Lincoln streets, continues to be closed.

But some businesses on that part of Main Street remain open, despite being within a barricaded area.

They include: Bryant Shoes; Glass City Window and Door; the Heck Professional Building, which includes Jerry Payne Agency, Patti Baumgartner-Novak, Damon D. Alt, Bolotin Law, Charles Boyk, and AFLAC; the Arts Partnership; Ambrosia Tanning; Guitar Ranch; Dress for Less; Romans; Core Fitness; Northwestern Mutual; Central Marathon (accessible from East Lincoln Street); RCM Architects and Engineers; Ameriprise Financial; Elks Club; Trends on Main; Property Analysts; Main Street Deli; Massage Professionals of Ohio; the Blackford Building, which includes Moyer Financial Services, Bosse Financial Services, CBC Companies, Noggle Law, TFC Architects, Lisa Miller Law, and Golden Feather Photographic Art; Scrambler Marie's; Hancock County Probation Office; Eastman & Smith Law; and Chase Bank.

Apartments above these stores and offices also remain open, according to the Findlay Fire Department.

The rest is here:
Demolition starts on top of fire-damaged Argyle building