Pierre & Wright's Fire Station #18 on the 10 Most Endangered List

Indiana Landmarks recently published their 10 Most Endangered List for 2017 and Pierre & Wright's Fire Station #18 is featured prominently on the list. A stylish Art Deco fire station built in 1936 on Indianapolis' west side, the building served the Indianapolis Fire Department handsomely until it was replaced in 1994 and left vacant.

A few years ago, Edward Pierre's granddaughter donated a large collection of the architect's papers, photographs, and other materials he collected over his long career. In the papers, he cited Fire Station #18 as one of his favorite buildings he designed. He matched fashionable design elegantly with the utilitarian needs of men who needed efficiency in their race to save lives and property. Pierre was proud to live in Indianapolis and worked very hard throughout his career to make it a better city for its citizens. He was proud to design important buildings like the Indiana State Library, but also proud to design small, utilitarian buildings like Fire Station #18. From gas stations to libraries and office buildings, Pierre infused every project with the best design he could produce.

Today the former fire station at Washington Street and Tibbs Avenue sits ready for redevelopment to transform it into its next life. Perhaps a restaurant, a residence, or an office will find its new home there. No matter what, the building will serve its purpose with style and grace straight from one of the greatest architects in Indiana history.


Images: Fire Station #18 rendering by Leslie Ayres, 1936. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.
Current photo by Evan Hale, Courtesy of Indiana Landmarks.

Happy Howloween from the Drawings + Documents Archive

The Indiana Architecture X 3D project has taken a decidedly seasonal turn with its latest building and detail. Introducing the charming and not at all spooky Indiana State Library building Rare Books and Manuscripts bookcase owls. Located on the original architectural drawings by architects Edward Pierre, George Wright, and Fran Schroeder in our Pierre & Wright Architectural Records collection, the owls have guarded books and researchers for over 75 years from their perch in the Rare Books and Manuscripts room. Now they have been 3-D modeled and reprinted on a MakerBot, and will be available for all soon on the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. What color you choose to print them is yours, but we think they look amazing in glow-in-the-dark.

Images: Indiana State Library building architectural drawing and 3-D printed owls. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records and Indiana Architecture X 3D. Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University. Photos by Carol Street

NEW! Leslie F. Ayres collection now online

 

Thanks to the generosity of donors Steve and Sharon Zimmerman, a new collection of Leslie F. Ayres drawings was donated to the archive this summer. The entire collection has been digitized and is available for viewing online in the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. It consists of drawings, sketches, presentation drawings, photographs, and reproductions of drawings made by the Indianapolis architect from 1926 to 1945. The finding aid for the collection can be found on our website.

 

 

The earliest drawings and sketches depict his student work at Princeton University, possibly his work at the prestigious architectural firm Pierre & Wright, and scenes around Indianapolis that caught his interest. The Indianapolis scenes include a wide range of subjects that include power plants, high schools, monuments, clubs, civic structures, and religious buildings. During a visit to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 he sketched scenes from the Belgian Village.

 

Ayres was well known among Indiana architectural circles for his highly refined and exquisite renderings. Even after he embarked on his own architectural practice he continued to receive rendering commissions from his former employers, Pierre & Wright, as well as from other prominent firms such as Rubush & Hunter, A. M. Strauss, and Robert Frost Daggett. His beautiful and atmospheric renderings, which were often made in watercolor and colored pencil, lent an air of sophistication to any project and were used to sell the client on the architect’s design. He was so successful that in 1948 the magazine National Architect described him as "just about the only professional renderer in Indiana."

His professional drawings from the 1930s and 1940s depict residences, apartment buildings, and churches that it is not yet known whether they were ever built or where they stand. One realized project represented by seven black-and-white photographs in the collection is the Wilkinson House in Muncie, Indiana. This Art Moderne masterpiece has been widely celebrated as one of the best examples of this style of residential architecture in Indiana.

Images: Indianapolis Athletic Club sketch, 1933; Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and Monument Circle sketch, 1933; Chicago World's Fair Belgian Village sketch, 1933; Small house similar to Honeymoon House presentation drawing, undated. Leslie F. Ayres Architectural Drawings, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Losing Another Edward Pierre: 16th and Capitol

 

 

In a refrain that is becoming fearfully common, another building designed by Edward Pierre is expected to be torn down. The teardown of this particular building rips at the hearts of many in Indianapolis who know it as the former home of much beloved Crawford's Bakery, the local purveyor of delicious cream cheese brownies and splendid birthday cakes. For anyone interested in architecture, the loss from this rather small building will be heartbreaking, indeed. Its demure stature belies its historic significance to Indiana architecture.

It was built by Pierre & Wright, Architects, in 1926, and originally held George Pandell's Flower Shop. You can see Pandell's Flower Shop in the historic black and white photo, above, which is in the Pierre & Wright Collection at the Drawings + Documents Archive at Ball State University.

The handsome commercial building now stands at the corner of 16th Street and Capitol Avenue, but may not stand there for very long. Its shop fronts look much like they did in the 1920s, with large expanses of glass and stately limestone eagles perched atop ornamental columns along the façade. Rosettes are interspersed amongst the terra cotta arranged in a stylish diamond pattern.

It's an altogether elegant building that has stood the test of time well and provided a refuge for those in need of beauty, whether in the form of flowers for a sweet occasion or sweets for any occasion. But most of all it provided beauty in an area that is increasingly strained with its fast food chains and uninspired parking garages. This is not only a loss for Indianapolis architecture, but also a loss of what is beautiful about our city.

Indiana Landmarks has been trying valiantly to save this building for years, but to no avail. The building owner has offered to allow someone to salvage the terra cotta from the façade. If anyone is able to preserve this portion of the building, please contact Indiana Landmarks.

UPDATE: The building was indeed lost torn down on the very day that had historically kept the businesses it contained--a flower shop and sweet shop--thriving: Valentine's Day. It's a heartbreaking architectural loss for the city.

A call placed to the gentleman who worked quickly to salvage some of the decorative Terra Cotta pieces on the façade has led to a promised donation of one of the flower designs. The archive doesn't typically save building fragments, although we do have quite a few in the collection, but this building evokes generations of happy memories as well as provokes multifaceted discussions of preservation. If a sound, well-loved building cannot be protected, what can we protect?

Pandell Flower Shop/Crawford's Bakery building, 1926-2015.

Images: Pandell Flower Shop, 16th and Capitol, Indianapolis, 1926. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.
Former Crawford's Bakery, 2014. Photo by Indiana Landmarks.

On the market: Edward Pierre

 

A colleague recently alerted me to an Edward Pierre residence on the market that appeared in the July issue of Indianapolis Monthly under the title "Realty Check: What $550,000 Gets You in Brendonwood." Well, what someone will get is Pierre's 1954 Indianapolis Home Show model home, called The All American Home, for which we have fantastic interior and exterior renderings. And we get to see some of the changes to the home over the past 60 years. To look at current real estate photos, check the Indianapolis Monthly article online and the listing on Zillow. You can compare these current images with images in our collection, which you can see a sampling here or the full set in our online Pierre & Wright Architectural Records collection in the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository.

Photograph of the home on display at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1954:

 Interior renderings:

Landscape plan by James A. Maschmeyer:


 

Images: Indianapolis Home Show house and landscape, 1954. Photograph and renderings. Edward Pierre, architect; James A. Maschmeyer, landscape architect. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University. 

 



Leslie Ayres Architectural Drawings

 

We are very pleased to announce a recent donation from Stephen and Sharon Zimmerman of drawings, sketches, photographs, and watercolor paintings by Indiana architect Leslie F. Ayres. The collection includes some of his early work, likely for the architectural firm Pierre & Wright, his student work at Princeton University, and later examples of his own commissions. Many of the drawings, sketches, and paintings depict scenes around downtown Indianapolis during the 1920s through the 1940s. Ayres grew up on the east side of the city and went to school at Arsenal Technical High School, so many of the scenes show that area of town and nearby downtown. The image above is the DePew Memorial Fountain in downtown Indianapolis' University Park.

 

Ayres (1906-1952) was an extremely talented renderer and architect. His beautiful and atmospheric renderings, which were often made in watercolor and colored pencil, lent an air of sophistication to any project and were used to sell the client on the architect’s design. He was so successful that in 1948 the magazine National Architect described him as “just about the only professional renderer in Indiana.”

While his time was in high demand for other architect's projects, he also built his architectural practice by designing residences, apartments, commercial buildings, and chapels in his distinctive Art Moderne and Art Deco styles. Buildings such as the Federal Economic Recovery Act Building (1934) at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and the Wilkinson House (1936) in Muncie, Indiana, exemplify his modern and glamorous contributions to Indiana architecture. An active leader in the Indianapolis Home Show from 1940-1947, Ayres designed many of the model homes during this time. He created sophisticated small homes that did not trade style for square footage.

 

Ayres died at the young age of 46, but left behind extraordinary contributions to Indiana architecture. His buildings that remain typify the elegance of an age long lost, and his drawings, now archived at the Drawings + Documents Archive, allow us a glimpse into that era.

 

Image: DePew Memorial Fountain, University Park, Indianapolis, undated. Watercolor on paper. Leslie Ayres Architectural Drawings, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Historic Indianapolis Architecture Video on YouTube

You can now view a selection of historic images of Indianapolis architecture on our new video available at YouTube. See Bush Stadium, formerly known as Perry Stadium, soon after it was built in 1932 by architects Edward Pierre and George Caleb Wright. Recently renovated to condos, the façade remains intact much as you see in the historic photographs. Notice the ticket booths in the columns of the stadium--Pierre later wrote that was one of his most clever design elements of the project. Other highlights of the short film include buildings, such as the Athenaeum and Herron Art Gallery, by the venerable firm Vonnegut & Bohn.

Losing another Edward Pierre

While the city enjoyed the Circle of Lights, a much-beloved yearly holiday tradition Edward Pierre created many decades ago, bulldozers and wrecking balls were being planned for one of his buildings just a few blocks away at 1440 North Meridian Street. It was torn down this weekend.

His design for the Riddick Building in 1949, shown above, was altered substantially in later years from the inviting, open wall of glass meant to highlight the display of grand pianos on the first floor. As it looked most recently on Google Street View, below, shows the negative impact of such a severe alteration. The building, which once looked modern with its clean lines, glass walls, and streamlined columns, suffered from the addition of a stone façade that lent it the air of a small, but forbidding fortress on Meridian Street. Riddick Building, 1949-2013.

Images: Riddick Building, 1440 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis, 1949. Sketch by Leslie Ayres. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Google Street View of 1440 N. Meridian Street, accessed December 19, 2013.

Circle of Lights History

It took the vision of one man, architect Edward Pierre, to make the holiday seasons brighter in downtown Indianapolis for generations. Learn more about the origin of the yearly spectacle from a recent WTHR news story by correspondent Mary Milz as she interviews Edward Pierre's granddaughter and visits the Pierre & Wright collection at the Drawings + Documents Archive.


Image: Monument Circle holiday model photograph, date unknown. Fran Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

The (Often) Interesting Lives of Archival Materials

The route an item takes before it enters into an institutional collection can be incredibly interesting, mysterious, often serendipitous, and, sometimes, baffling. Such is the story of how one very large framed photo collage came to be reunited with its already-donated companions after ten years apart.

The photo collage in question measures five feet long and two feet high, so it’s surprising that it was overlooked when boxes containing the extensive Wright, Porteous, and Lowe collection were packed at the Fort Wayne offices of its subsequent firm, the Bonar Group. But the photo collage did miss the van that brought numerous rolls of architectural drawings, presentation drawings, and two similarly-sized framed photo collages to the Drawings + Documents Archive in the summer of 2003.

Ten years pass and this is when serendipity starts to happen. Over the past ten years, the Bonar Group has been sold to another firm and moves locations. The building sits empty for some period of time until it gets a new owner, RealAmerica Development, LLC, who hires RATIO Architects to renovate it. Architect, Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning alum, and friend of the Drawings + Documents Archive, Ben Ross, is the one who walks through the building and finds, hanging on a wall, the framed photo collage containing photographs of Wright, Porteous, and Lowe architects and building projects. Ben has no idea there are two other companion photographs already in the archives and we have no idea there is a third, missing photograph until he sends an email with the photo, below, asking if we would want it, which is answered with a resounding YES!

The photographs in the two collages that had already been donated represent the principals and building projects during different eras of the firm’s existence. Beginning with Vonnegut & Bohn, Architects, the first photo collage includes black and white photographic portraits of Bernard Vonnegut and Arthur Bohn, and photographs of some of their accomplishments in Indianapolis, namely the Fletcher Trust Company, Southside Turnverein, Athenaeum, Herron School of Art, William H. Block Company, L.S. Ayres & Company buildings, and a busy street scene along Washington Street.

The firm Vonnegut & Bohn operated approximately from 1887 to 1919. Bernard Vonnegut died in 1908, but was succeeded by his son, architect Kurt Vonnegut, Sr., father of novelist Kurt Vonnegut, so the name remained the same. From 1920 to 1944, the firm became known as Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller, with the addition of engineer O. N. Mueller.

George Caleb Wright joined this firm after his firm with Edward Pierre, known as Pierre & Wright, dissolved in 1944. The new firm became Vonnegut & Wright and then Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager for a short time before becoming Vonnegut, Wright and Porteous, Inc. in 1955.

The second photo collage dates appears to have been assembled sometime around 1950, the only date which appears on the front of the photograph of Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. Projects depicted include earlier work done by their respective previous firms, such as the Indiana State Library, Victory Field (now known as Bush Stadium), Perfect Circle Factory, and Oxford Gables Apartments, by Pierre & Wright, and Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Lyric Theater, and Roosevelt Building, by Vonnegut & Bohn.

The third photo collage, which we just received, dates from after the time of George Caleb Wright’s retirement in 1961. Wright’s son, William Caleb Wright, had joined the firm by then, as well as Alfred John Porteous, and C. Charles Lowe, Jr. The three gentlemen on the left are unidentified, but are likely W. C. Wright, Porteous, and Lowe. One of the architects in the photos has been identified as Robert LaRue. Projects depicted include the construction of the City-County Building before the demolition of the Marion County Courthouse, Lilly facilities, First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana, (Pierre & Wright were the architects of record for Eliel Saarinen), Indiana University’s Metz Memorial Carillon, Bloomington, Indiana, and yet unidentified residences and office buildings.

The photographs fill in an important part of the history of the firm, and we’re thrilled to have them back with their companion pieces. When you start to think of all the decisive moments that added up to this piece being saved and coming to the right institution—from the person who originally found it and left it behind, to the building managers who left it hanging there and didn’t throw it away, to the new building owners who wanted to do the right thing, and the architect who recognized its research value and made the connection to our archives—it’s really quite astounding and serendipitous that it found its way back to join the others.

Images: Wright, Porteous & Lowe photograph collage, photo by Ben Ross, 2012. Vonnegut & Bohn; Vonnegut & Wright photograph collages, early 1900s-1950s. Wright, Porteous & Lowe Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

The Wheeler Estate, Marion College, and the Time in the Middle: New Discoveries in the Archives

Now part of Marian College’s campus in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Wheeler/Williams/Stokeley Estate was originally built in 1912-1913 by the Philadelphia architect William L. Price, of Price & McLanahan, for automotive industrialist Frank H. Wheeler and his family. Wheeler, one of the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and owner of Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company, instructed the architect to design a “home that was luxurious without being ostentatious,” and the result was a stunning Mediterranean-style mansion that included a four-story water tower with apartments, man-made lake with an island, Japanese teahouse, and fruit orchards.

The Drawings + Documents Archive has digitized our collection of 39 black and white photographs taken by the H. H. Coburn Company shortly after it was built. All of these are available in the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. There you'll find incredible images of the landscape, exterior of the home, as well as the interior, which includes some of Price's own furniture designs that were made specifically for the house.

This week the Archives uncovered another piece of the estate's history when processing a recent addition to the Pierre & Wright Collection. In 1927, the estate sold to G. Monty Williams, the CEO of the Marmon Motor Company of Indianapolis. He is credited with modifying the estate significantly, but the designers or architects he hired remains unknown.  However, thanks to these two drawings, shown below, we know he consulted Pierre & Wright to explore ways in which to subdivide and alter the substantial property. One solution appears to be apartment or connected housing that maintains the orchard and stables on the property, and the other shows conventional subdivided lots with single-family homes. This project, however, does not appear on the comprehensive Pierre & Wright job list.

Williams lived at the house for ten years and sold it to William B. Stokely of the Stokely-Van Camp Company, in 1937. Stokely lived at the home the longest length of time and in 1963 the estate was then sold to Marian College. Williams' swimming pool is now used by college students. The Japanese teahouse remains, although without the pond. Also missing are the gazebo, 2-story water tower, garage, and tennis pavilion.

Images: Wheeler Estate Photographs, ca. 1913. Wheeler Estate Photographs. Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Preliminary site plans for G. Monty Williams, ca. 1927. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records. Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Indianapolis Home Show

The Indianapolis Home Show has played a vital role in the development of architecture and design as well as promoting home ownership in Indianapolis from its beginning in 1922. Many of the architects reflected in the collections (Richard Bishop, Edward Pierre, Fran Schroeder, Leslie Ayres, Joseph Cezar, among others) participated in the event and therefore we have architectural drawings, ephemeral materials such as brochures and newspaper clippings, photographs, and other material related to this yearly Indianapolis event.

Depicted above is the souvenir booklet for the 1941 Indianapolis Home Show, which showcased three homes: the $5,000 All-American Four-Star Home by Pierre & Wright and built by Thelma D. Schaffner (the first woman builder at the Home Show); the Homemaker by architect Charles D. Ward and built by Bridges & Graves; and the Manor House by architect Leslie F. Ayres and built by S. E. Arvin, which is depicted above. All three houses were landscaped by James H. Lowry.

Typically the show organizers created just one full-scale home. In 1940, the year prior, the show organizers had also created three full-scale homes and were building on the success of that show. 1940 and 1941 would be the only years with three full-scale homes on display. The following year, the organizers decided to discontinue the show during World War II and wouldn't have another display until 1946, after the war ended.

The life of the display homes extended well past their short life on display for the thousands of visitors that flocked to the tour the homes every year. All three of the 1941 homes were dismantled after their exhibition and reconstructed throughout the city. The All-American Four-Star Home now resides at 2708 E. 58th Street, the Homemaker is at 5805 N. Oxford, and the Manor House is at 6085 N. Olney, all in Indianapolis.

The All-American Four Star Home would later be featured in the 1947 holiday issue of Popular Home magazine, shown below. The Pierre & Wright firm had disbanded earlier, in 1944, but Edward Pierre revisited the original design and created ten variations on the floor plan of the popular ranch-style house. Potential home builders were directed to order plans from Pierre at his office in the Architects' and Builders' Building in downtown Indianapolis.

You can find digitized items regarding contributions to the Indianapolis Home Show from the architecture firm Pierre & Wright, as well as Edward Pierre's work after the Pierre & Wright partnership dissolved, online in Ball State University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. Other items are available to view in the archives. For those intrigued by the history of the Indianapolis Home Show homes, you can read Indianapolis Home Show: Its History, Evolution, and Centerpiece Homes, an impressive and informative thesis written by Shannon L. Hill, for her Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Ball State University. Copies are available in Archives and Special Collections, as well as in the Architecture Library.

Images: Indianapolis Home Show booklet, 1941. Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Popular Home, 1947. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Architectural Holidays

This undated tri-fold holiday card from Indianapolis architect Edward Pierre and family displays the warmth and creativity we have come to expect from his cards. Printed on blueprint paper with hand-drawn colored pencil, the card might have been a prototype since it appears to have a few penciled-in additions to the text (the addition of wish after Christmas, and welcome under the stairs) and two disparate house facades. The third panel shows a very traditional house with columns flanking the door while the house in the first panel is considerably more modern.

The female figures wearing striped skirts in the first panel are most likely portraits of his wife, Louise, and their daughter, Mary Dien. Both women appear on additional Pierre family holiday cards, as well as in other papers in the collection. Two of Edward Pierre's most ardent supporters, they sent this telegram, pictured below, signed "Your Sweethearts" to him while he was at the 1951 American Institute of Architects convention in Chicago to accept his election to the prestigious Fellowship program. 

Images: Pierre family Christmas card, not dated. (3-117); Sweethearts Telegram, 1951. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Monument Circle at Christmas



This week the Drawings + Documents Archive received two separate, significant collections of work by the Indianapolis architects Edward Pierre and M. Carlton Smith. These two architects didn't work together but they were contemporaries and likely knew each other. Both collections, once they've been cataloged, will become valuable resources for researchers of Indianapolis architectural history.

It is particularly exciting to see the large amount of manuscript material--such as photographs, writings, speeches, letters, pamphlets--that came in with the Pierre donation. While we already have an extensive collection of Pierre's architectural drawings, prior to this donation we had few of his papers. We've only begun sorting the materials, but I couldn't resist posting this photo, below, of the multiple files regarding the Indianapolis Christmas Committee since Pierre was the driving force behind decorating Monument Circle at the holidays. The two camel drawings, which were used in the design for the Monument Circle Nativity scene, came from the folders and give you a little glimpse of the treasures within.

Images: Camel drawings for Monument Circle Nativity scene, ca. 1943. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives & Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Photo of  Indianapolis Christmas Committee folders by Carol Street.

Architectural Holidays

The holiday season gives us a chance to post some of our favorite holiday cards made by architects that make up our collections in the archives. These cards provided an opportunity for architects to display their drawing and design skills to clients, fellow architects, friends, and family. Given that some are printed on blueprint paper, it may have also been an economical choice, as well, since they already had the supplies in their offices. We feel furtunate to have so many of these cards in our collections because they give us an additional glimpse into the lives of the architects who built Indiana.

We're starting our holiday with one of my favorite cards from Leslie F. Ayres, the Indianapolis architect for the Wilkinson House in Muncie, and the subject of a recent publication from Commercial Artisan, titled Commercial Article 05: Leslie F. Ayres and written by architectural historian, Connie Zeigler. We were thrilled to participate during the research for the publication as well as to contribute many of the images that you see in it.

The Art Deco typography you see on the card, above, is pure Ayres and the design appears to be stamped in silver and black inks on hand-cut brown paper. The verso is plain, uncoated paper with pencil lines indicating where to cut the design. This card has never been folded but it's possible to imagine it being folded like a tent to perhaps display on the tree.

This interesting card belongs to the Fran E. Schroeder Collection. Ayres and Schroeder worked together at the Pierre & Wright Architects firm and, considering the numerous cards from Ayres that Schroeder saved, they were likely good friends in addition to colleagues.

Images: Greeting from Leslie F. Ayres card, 1930s. Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Cover of Commercial Article 05: Leslie F. Ayres. Indianapolis: Commercial Artisan, 2012.

Happy Birthday Arsenal Tech High School!

Arsenal Technical High School celebrated an impressive milestone this week when it turned 100 years old on September 11th. Of course the original military structures are much older than that, and some, such as the Pierre & Wright designed Milo H. Stuart Memorial building (seen above in the article Tech Honors Its Founder) built in 1938, are more recent. The Drawings + Documents Archive contains an extensive range of items related to the high school campus and will be posting a series of images from various collections in honor of this historic campus.

For this week, you see a small poster printed for its 20th anniversary in 1932. This comes from our Fran E. Schroeder Collection, an architect who worked for Pierre & Wright before starting his own firm in Indianapolis. Given the extent of material related to Arsenal Tech within his collection, it's likely he worked on the 1938 Milo H. Stuart Memorial building. The Pierre & Wright building is depicted in an Indianapolis Star article about its dedication, which took place May 22, 1940, a date chosen to honor the day known as "Supreme day by the faculty and the student body because of a Supreme Court decision which gave the campus of 76 acres to the school city of Indianapolis." As seen in the third image, an interior mural within the building "memorializes the life and service of Milo H. Stuart, one of Indiana's stalwart educators and inspired administrators."

Images: Arsenal Technical High School clippings and photographs, Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Moveable Feast: Give to Grow, Grow to Give

Getting fresh produce into the hands of people who live in what we today refer to as "food deserts," apparently isn't a new problem. These drawings made in 1920 by Indianapolis architect Edward Pierre for Servu Stores Corporation show how he designed for the problems intrinsic to a travelling grocery store: sloped shelving that can be moved, cold storage, aisles for shopping, and a place for the cash register. It's not known if these vehicles ever hit the streets in 1920, but ones like it today are experiencing tremendous success.

An example of a modern-day version of Pierre's motor market is Chicago's Fresh Moves, which began in 2011. With a donated Chicago Transit Authority bus and design assistance from Architecture for Humanity, the Fresh Moves grocery store on wheels brings healthy food into local communities that need it.

To see the above drawing as well as plans for the motor market transportation routes in Indiana, visit our online Pierre & Wright Collection.



Image: Details of Motor Market for Servu Stores Corporation, 1920. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Red, White, and Blueprint

Indianapolis architect Edward Pierre (1890-1971)  possessed "a high concern for both intelligent planning and individual responsibility," so it is no surprise that he responded wholeheartedly to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1960 challenge of the All American Resolution: "That a group of selfless, able and devoted citizens be formed outside of government, to define for America long range goals that would spur us on in our efforts, but would also meet the stern test of practical reality."

You can see more of Pierre's designs for the All American Resolution in the Pierre & Wright Architectural Records online collection. There you will find the numerous small house plans, logos, designs, reports, and promotional material he created for the project.

The Drawings + Documents Archive will be closed July 4th in honor of Independence Day.

 Images: Red, White, and Blueprint for America, ink on vellum, 1960s; Indianapolis Star article, July 3, 1960 [3-176.1] Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Functional Modernism: Fire Station #18

Fire Station #18, located at Washington Street and Tibbs Avenue on the west side of Indianapolis, is the earliest of the two Pierre & Wright designed fire stations represented in our collection of Pierre & Wright drawings. They both have a similar, Art Deco style with curvilinear walls of windows flanking the central fire truck bays.The fire department moved out of #18 when they built a larger building; however this Art Deco gem still stands today, although it is in need of preservation. Below is a description of the building soon after it was built, that appeard in American Builder magazine in June 1937.

Functional modernism is the order of the day--now even fire stations are models of efficiency in planning and construction. The building above, Fire Station #18, in Indianapolis, lacks the classic bell tower, brass poles, and elaborate stalls which characterized such buildings of twenty years ago. Instead it is compactly planned on a single floor with an exterior having modern lines and clean cut decoration.

The layout shows a central apparatus room, the entrance equipped with upward acting doors. Dormitories on both sides provide bunk room for the fire company; the locker room with showers and toilets extends across the rear and is directly connecting with sleeping quarters. At one side of the front there is a pleasant, well lighted recreation or lounge room with fireplace and a small office adjoining to the rear. Opposite are placed the dining room and kitchen. The small tower which can be seen in the exterior view is used to dry hose and not house the fire bell, as was the former function of such details.

Construction is fireproof, with masonry walls of haydite concrete block and brick facing, reinforced concrete floor, concrete ceiling slabs on steel joists and steel casement. The cost was approximately $20,000; Pierre and Wright of Indianapolis were the architects responsible for the efficient planning and modern appearance of the structure.

Images: Fire Station #18 photograph, ca. 1937 [34-216], Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records; Presentation Drawing photostat, construction drawing, 1936 [3-41], Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.