2024 KPA Award Projects
At Kansas Preservation Alliance, we're passionate about recognizing exceptional efforts in historic preservation across Kansas. We're shining a spotlight on 2024 project winners because for their remarkable contributions.
Please take a look at the details provided below.
Dyche Hall | Medallion Award
In 2017, the University of Kansas began extensive preservation work on Dyche Hall (also known as the Natural History Museum). Dyche Hall was designed by the architecture firm Siemen & Roots and completed in 1902.
Upon commencement of the preservation work in 2017 on Dyche Hall, it was discovered that the eight unique grotesque statues that adorn the building were all in a state of serious deterioration and preservation of them would be impossible. It was determined that another course of action would have to be taken. Originally carved from Cottonwood limestone (quarried from Cottonwood Falls, KS), the grotesques were created by Joseph Roblado Frazee and his son Vitruvius. Dyche Hall was originally adorned with four grotesques on three of the facades (twelve in total), but the 1963 addition to the north elevation of Dyche Hall required the removal of four of the grotesques. Of these four removed, three are stored inside Dyche Hall and one was lost or stolen at that time. The grotesques, along with other carvings on the building, depict various animals and thematic content emblematic of the natural world and our relationship with it. In this regard, the statues celebrate the building as a cathedral of nature and symbolize stewardship of the planet.
It was determined that replications would be carved of the eight grotesques that remained on the outside of Dyche Hall. Our team submitted a proposal that included planned photogrammetry scans of the eight exterior grotesques and 3D digital models to be created from the photogrammetry scans using McNeel and Associates Rhinoceros (“Rhino”) 3D NURBS modeling software, as well as digital corrections to be made to these 3D models. Quarter-sized 3D models were printed of PLA plastic and were used by the stone carvers to make the maquettes. Upon approval by the University of Kansas of the maquettes, stone carvers Karl and Laura Ramberg began the replicated stone carving work.
Karl began by “roughing out” each of the grotesques in a small work area in front of Dyche Hall. The grotesque was then transferred to Laura’s studio and finished there. After all eight were completed, they were on display in the Panorama Gallery of Dyche Hall for about a year before being installed on the outside of the building. On the back of each grotesque, the year of completion and “Ramberg” is carved.
Lofts at 832 | Medallion Award
The A.J. Harwi Hardware Company Building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. The four-story brick and timber building reflects the wholesale and warehouse businesses that operated in Atchison and is an excellent example of an early twentieth century commercial warehouse of mill construction. The building represents the apex of the A.J. Harwi Hardware Company, considered one of the significant jobbing businesses in the turn-of-the-twentieth century Atchison.
The recent adaptive reuse and rehabilitation retained the building's historic character and defining features while constructing 41 loft-style apartments and tenant amenity space. The exterior work consisted of restoring the brick and stone and installing new aluminum historic replica windows and storefront. The interior work conveyed the building's utilitarian character by retaining the historic heavy timber columns, beams and ceilings, along with the exposed brick perimeter walls.
Coal Creek Library | Merit Award
The Coal Creek Library Association was established in 1859; the library building was constructed in 1900 by community craftsmen and laborers. Community members and groups actively supported the library and helped maintain the building for more than 120 years.
Rehabilitation of the Coal Creek Library began with a project to address moist conditions in the whole town of Vinland. Douglas County Public Works and Palmyra Township engineers and work crews designed and installed additional culverts and worked on drainage ditches in 2018-2019.
A 2020 Heritage Trust Fund grant supported work to improve drainage on the library site and to repair 120 years of deterioration due to moisture, weather and age. The scope of work was determined in consultation with the project architect, engineer, and SHPO, and followed the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, with a focus on preserving primary character-defining features. Original materials were retained and protected (sandstone foundation rock, pressed metal siding on W, windows and window hoods, porch trim, and stair railing). New materials (W F Norman pressed metal [galvanized] siding on N, E, S; porch ceiling, porch flooring, concrete steps, screen door) replicated original materials. Some new materials were installed (treated wood floor joists and sill plate, concrete foundation below grade, new electrical system, lightnIng rod system, guttering and downspout system, attic insulation, exterior and interior paint).
The building moving contractor and general contractor worked collaboratively with project managers to implement the project work. Community volunteers helped catalog, pack, and move library collections out of the building, and did some of the preparation and painting work; the Douglas County Community Foundation granted funds for storage costs. Donations from community members provided the 20 per cent HTF project match and an endowment fund for building maintenance in the future.
HiTone Lofts | Merit Award
The Tribune-Monitor Building is a contributing property located in the National Register Fort Scott Downtown Historic District, which is in the central business district of Fort Scott, Kansas and the county seat of Bourbon County. The District comprises nine and one-half blocks incorporating approximately eighty-eight buildings with fifty-eight of those being contributing historic structures.
On March 31, 1917, the property that the Tribune-Monitor building would be located on was sold to George Watson Marble. A native to Fort Scott, Marble was born on October 9, 1871. In 1885, at the age of 15, Marble began working at the Fort Scott Tribune sweeping floors and cleaning the presses. He then advanced to a “printer’s devil” and served as an apprentice at the newspaper. In 1891, Marble was noted as attending business college in Chicago. In the 1896 Fort Scott City Directory, Marble is listed as “City Editor” of the Fort Scott Tribune and it is at that time he acquired a small-interested in Ownership of the business with George W. Martin. In 1902, Marble purchased full ownership of the Fort Scott Tribune and became publisher and president of the company. In 1925, the Tribune-Monitor Building was erected.
The new construction was fabricated specifically to house the Tribune-Monitor publication and distribution equipment and offices for the running of the newspaper. The Tribune-Monitor had presses in the basement of the eastern part of the building with business offices on the first floor and news-writing and layout areas, conference room, and executive offices on the second floor. The building has been under-utilized and partially vacant for more than five years.
Independence City Hall | Merit Award
Independence City Hall is a classical revival-style building that serves the municipal functions of Independence for just over 100 years. It was designed in 1915 by Rose and Peterson Architects, from Kansas City, Kansas, to gather all the City departments into one structure. The building housed the city administration offices, city clerk, municipal court, city commission, and the fire and police departments. Constructed in the Beaux-Arts style, the building consists of three-story masonry load-bearing exterior walls with a concrete frame and floors inside. Exterior character-defining detailing consists of Carthage Marble limestone foundation veneer, bands of glazed architectural terra-cotta ornament, an overhanging terra-cotta cornice, and an elaborate terra-cotta arched awning over the main entry door on the west side. Located prominently facing West at the corner of North 6th Street and East Myrtle, Independence City Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Part of the Independence Downtown Historic District.
Over the years, the City made many modifications to the building's interior, including the addition of an elevator in the central core, the subdivision of spaces into smaller offices, and the installation of suspended ceilings below the historic plaster ceilings in many areas of the basement, first, and second floors. On the exterior of the building, changes include the addition of a radio tower to the roof, the addition of a third vehicle bay at the rear (east side), and multiple repointing campaigns to the terra cotta, brick, and limestone. The City vacated the building in the summer of 2016 due to concerns about its environmental condition. The City commissioned a feasibility and master plan in 2017. The master plan included a historic conditions assessment, and the subsequent project was approved for Kansas rehabilitation tax credits.
An example of good stewardship, the City decided to renew the Beaux-Arts style building to continue housing City offices and police department functions. TreanorHL planned and designed the two-phase project rehabilitation.
Phase 1, completed in 2021, restored and repaired the historic dark brown brick and Carthage Marble exterior with terra cotta ornamental detailing. This phase included replacing roofing material, removing rooftop radio/emergency warning equipment, removing non-historic windows, installing compatible new windows, restoring exterior masonry, and selective demolition of non-historic interior features and finishes.
One of the significant contributors to the moisture infiltration and environmental concerns was the non-historic windows installed during a previous project. Those windows leaked and allowed water into the masonry walls. During Phase 1, we installed new aluminum windows to match the historic profile of the original wood windows.
Phase 2 renovated City Hall's interior for the City Administration, City Clerk, Code Enforcement, Municipal Court, Police and Independence Housing Authority departments. This phase patched and restored original plaster walls and ceilings, retained marble wainscot and terrazzo in public corridors, and restored historic wood door casing and trims. We replaced all mechanical/HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. During this phase, a one-story addition was constructed to house the Independence Police Department's 911/dispatch center. The simple modern addition displays brick veneer detailing reminiscent of the historic City Hall and compatible with the existing 1960s apparatus bay addition. Phase 2 construction was completed in 2023.
Territory Ballroom | Merit Award
Located within the Downtown Council Grove Historic District, 117-119 Main Street is also listed as a contributing building on the National Register. The historic character-defining features include: an Italianate design of the two-story painted brick building with stone quoining, prominent cornice and window hoods matches between 117-119 Main Street. The ornate metal cornice has brackets and steeply pitched centered pediment. The upper-story windows are 2/2 double-hung units with ornate stone lintels and natural-faced stone sills. Stone columns frame the storefront, which is topped with a steel lintel with rosettes.
The rehabilitation including restoring the 2nd story wood windows that faced Main Street. New life safety devices, ratings and a 2nd means of egress were added to the building. The exterior steel stair system was installed in the alley. 2 short term rentals were created on the 2nd floor of the building and a meeting room with office. The original corridor was rehabilitated including existing doors, trim and wood floor finish. Although the windows facing the alley were missing, historic replica windows were utilized.
The first floor included a restrooms, a catering kitchen, offices for a co-work space and assembly space for events. The first-floor work included structural stabilization of the wood floor system due to rotten beams and decaying foundation. The floor system was also analyzed and strengthened for additional live load capacity. The project meets the Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation and is a State and Federal Historic Tax Credit Project.
Post Rock Fitness | Honor with Distinction
For most of the building's history, the CR Building/Hundertmark’s Variety building has served as a general store or grocery store. In the early 1980's, a significant remodel replaced the original storefront, installed a drop ceiling throughout the space, installed wood paneling over the plaster walls, and walled-up the mezzanine. After the building had been vacant for nearly 5 years, Kelly purchased the building in 2019 and began rehabilitation for the space to become a new fitness center. The drop-ceiling was removed and the original press metal ceiling was cleaned (by hand!) and restored. Plaster walls were repaired and all new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems installed. Part of the roof was replaced. Glass was installed in the storefront where it had been removed in the ‘80s and the upper façade repainted.
The project was made possible with support from the Kansas Department of Commerce through their Community Development Block Grant for Commercial Rehabilitation and their Historic Economic Asset Lifeline programs and the Kansas Historical Society through their federal and state historic tax credits programs, and financing from the Bank of Tescott and Network Kansas through their Kansas Community Investment Fund.
The Strand | Honor with Distinction
Rehabilitation involves the actions or procedures aimed at enabling a property to serve a suitable purpose by means of repair, modifications, and expansions, all the while safeguarding the aspects or elements that reflect its historical, cultural, or architectural significance. Our renovation project successfully maintained the historical essence of the structure while rejuvenating it into an event center with a fresh yet analogous purpose for this historic theater. Given that the Rehabilitation Standards recognize the necessity of modifying or augmenting a historic edifice to accommodate ongoing or novel functions while preserving its historical essence, we believe our undertaking aligns seamlessly with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
Central School Apartments | Honor with Distinction
Central School Apartments LLC led this sensitive rehabilitation of the former elementary school building into apartments. The plan is very sympathetic to the existing layout, generally inserting a new apartment into each classroom, retaining the existing classroom entries and original demising walls. The gymnasium was retained as a communal area, which preserves the historic open volume of space. Many of the historic finishes were retained, including glazed tile walls in corridors and stair halls, terrazzo stairs and historic railings, and original classroom built-ins, doorways and doors. New finishes complement the mid-century character of the school. The historic acoustical tile ceilings were restored in many of the classrooms. Hardwood floors in were restored. This project preserved an important community asset while providing much-needed middle-income apartments in the heart of Atchison.
C. N. James Cabin | Honor
The Historical Society and Museum applied for and received a Heritage Trust Fund Grant to repair the east wall, foundation, windows and door of the C. N. James Cabin. The project began in earnest September 2022. All facets of the repair were required to meet the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Heritage Trust Fund Grant. The architect, engineer and builder all complied to the requirement throughout the project. The project was overseen by the Kansas Historical Society.
Liberty MD | Honor
Located within the Emporia Downtown Historic District, 708 Commercial Street was a non-contributor when the project began with an estimated construction date of 1915. This one-part commercial block featured a non-historic aluminum-framed storefront system comprised of a four-part display window resting on a bulkhead clad with painted wood and plastic, a flush full-light entrance door at the north end, and a storefront transom opening covered with plastic panels. The second door provided egress from the basement.
The upper façade wall had a non-original stucco cladding over wood framing. A non-historic decorative paired arch frame element was applied to the upper façade wall. In January of 2022, on the upper façade wall, the stucco clad wood framed element was removed to reveal the original brick façade with an exposed steel beam showing the historic character defining features. The process of changing is status from non-contributor to contributor was initiated at this point.
As part of the remodel project, the aluminum storefront system was removed and an appropriate storefront system was installed with transom glass. New mechanical, plumbing and electrical were also within the scope of work to transform the former gun shop into exam rooms. The front entry vestibule and waiting area were taken to the original height of the space. The project meets the Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation and is a Federal and State Historic Tax Credit Project.
Two original windows remained and these were used to create the custom windows for the project. A non-historic first floor storefront was removed, and an appropriate storefront system was installed.
