Highlights from the 2007 Kansas Preservation Conference Awards Reception

Medallion Award for Rehabilitation

Eisenhower Ridge – Leavenworth, KS

Nominated by the Preservation Alliance of Leavenworth

The buildings that comprise the Eisenhower Ridge project were originally built as part of a planned community for disabled soldiers from the Civil War.  The campus in Leavenworth was started in 1885 and by 1890 there were 40 buildings.  In 1930 the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was incorporated into the newly created Veterans Administration and this property was designated a VA medical center.  In 1995 a new domiciliary building was built and the aging campus buildings were vacated.  A landmark agreement was reached between the Veterans Administration and Pioneer Group of Topeka for an Enhanced Use Lease that allowed Pioneer Group to renovate the buildings.  The first phase the project rehabbed 16 of the 38 buildings into 45 apartments.

Advocacy Award

Kathleen Fox – Preservation of Hard Chief’s Village Site

Nominated by Timothy Weston, SHPO Archeologist

Hard Chief’s Village is a multicomponent archeological site near Topeka.  The site’s major importance centers around its use as a Kansa (or “Kaw”) Indian village, occupied from 1830 to 1848.  The village was established in 1830 by Hard Chief, with a least 50-100 earthlodges being built there to shelter a band of 500-600 people, making it the second largest of the three main Kansa villages in the area at that time.

Property owner, Kathleen Fox, has maintained an interest in Hard Chief’s Village for many years.  She understands and appreciates the historical and archeological significance of the site.  In order to ensure its continued preservation, she has supported its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and is currently engaged in transferring ownership of the property to the Archeological Conservancy.

Medallion Award for Reconstruction

Manhattan Union Pacific Depot

Nominated by Bruce McMillan, AIA Architects, P.A.

The Manhattan Union Pacific Depot project was a combined effort involving state and local professionals and advocates for preservation.  The project took over twelve years to complete with the final phase completed in 2006.

The Kansas Union Pacific Depot  (c1901) served the community until 1984 when service to the community ceased.  The original brick single story building was designed in the “Mission Revival” style similar to many train depots across the mid-west with an ornate tower and red clay tile roof.   The building and site were acquired by the City of Manhattan in 1990 at which time the building fell dormant and was the victim of periodic vandalism.  The project entailed restoring the integrity of the original structure yet allowing it to assume its role of contributor to the community once again, now as a public meeting and conference facility.

Honor Award for Rehabilitation

Old English Court Apartments – Wichita

Nominated by Kathy Morgan, Senior Planner Wichita Historic Preservation Office

Located in the Topeka/Emporia Historic District, the Old English Court Apartments had fallen into poor condition and the apartments were cited for various code violations.  Using the Kansas and Federal Historic Tax Credit programs, the apartments now are a credit to the neighborhood.  The two-story garden style apartments buildings were built in 1930.  The Colonial Revival buildings are clad in multi-colored brick with sill and lintel brick soldier courses.  The entrances to the units face the central courtyard with each entrance providing access to four units.  The rehabilitation project included rehabbing each apartment on the interior plus re-pointing of the brick on the exterior, and the entrance canopies were refurbished.  Cast metal balconies on the back of the buildings were re-anchored to the buildings and refurbished.

Medallion Award for Rehabilitation

Crancer Building – Leavenworth

Nominated by the Preservation Alliance of Leavenworth

The six-story 1908 warehouse was built for the Crancer Hardware Company.  They were at one time the largest supplier of tin fabrications and tools west of the Mississippi.  From the 1940s to 1971 the building operated as a Montgomery Wards.

All historic materials and interior configuration of the building were retained in the rehabilitation.  Mechanicals, restrooms and other utilitarian spaces were limited to the rear corner of each floor.  Paint was removed from wood columns and beams, the brick walls were left exposed.  Throughout the building non-historic windows were replaced with new windows that matched the one-over-one, double hung configuration of the original windows, as depicted in an historic photo.

The most notable aspect of the project was the restoration of the storefront.  The original transom, with rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Luxfer prisms, remained but was badly deteriorated.  The distinctive transom was fully restored, using salvaged Luxfer prisms to replace missing and damaged elements.

Medallion Award for Preservation

St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church – Wichita

Nominated by Camilla Hartman, Church Historian

St. Anthony Church is the oldest Catholic church in Wichita still in use.  In 1902 work began on the present church building and was completed in 1905.  From the earliest days, the church was artistically and historically significant.  The church was designated a local historic landmark in 1988.  The house of worship’s architectural spirit is that of the German Romanesque, a fusion of essential Gothicism and Romanesque forms that were somewhat peculiar to Northern Europe.

The final phase of this many-year preservation effort involved restoration and preservation of the intricate and delicate interior stencil work.  A laboratory color analysis of the original paint was done, blow-ups made of historic photographs and digitalized computer copies enabled the artists to assess colors, shades, and previously unseen design elements.  The focus of the effort was always the restoration of their beloved church, in keeping with its original purpose as a house of worship.

Honor Award for Rehabilitation

Memorial Hall – Independence

Nominated by Elizabeth Rosin, Rosin Preservation, LLC

Memorial Hall is an excellent example of the memorial hall property type constructed in communities throughout America during the 1920s.  It commemorates the casualties of World War I and provides a location for civic gatherings.  The Classical Revival design utilized architectural motifs, elements and materials popular throughout the country during the 1920s for public buildings, in general, and memorial buildings, in particular.

The buildings systems were updated including the latest technology for theater lighting, sound design and HVAC.  Entrances were redesigned for ADA and spaces were converted to meeting and conference rooms.  The design changes were implemented in a way that they are reversible.

Advocacy Award

Fort Larned Old Guard – Woodston

Nominated by Timothy Weston, SHPO Archeologist

The Indian Village on Pawnee Fork is an archeological site that was the location of a Cheyenne camp during the winter of 1866-67.   The village was the location of a confrontation between the Indians and the U.S. Army that had implications far beyond the Pawnee River Valley.

Locating the Indian Village on Pawnee Fork took diligent investigation and research of expedition maps.  Earl Monger and George Elmore, a ranger at Fort Larned, located the site in the 1970s.  Subsequent archeological investigations by the KSHS archeologists confirmed the location.  Complete ownership of the site was obtained by the Fort Larned Old Guard in 2004.  The Old Guard is now protecting and preserving this highly significant historic site.  It is currently being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.  Once the site is secure, a management plan is in place, and the site is placed on the National Register, it will be offered to the National Park Service as a detached unit for Fort Larned NHS.