Posted in: Historic Miscellania New Life at Central State Part III: The 1899 Building

The 1899 Building, formerly the Men’s Dining Hall for Central State Hospital. (Photo: 1899indy.com) When last RWAV headed west, we visited Central State Hospital’s Administration Building in the middle of its restoration and transformation into “Central...

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Posted in: Misc Mondays Misc Monday: Moses in Wonderland

One amazing local business coming to the rescue in the midst of the “food desert” of Indy’s East Washington Street corridor is Tlaolli, an incredible lavender house of tamales in a sea of post-industrial gray. ...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania The Scot Butler House and the Office in the Round

The former Board of Church Extension Building or “office in the round” at 110 South Downey Avenue. Photo: courtesy  Irvington Historical Society This edition of A Room with a View is going to be a...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania New Life at Central State Part Two: Restoring and Repurposing

Window restoration is always a key element to preserving old buildings. This view peers north from the top floor of the Administration Building at the Central State Hospital site, photo taken earlier this year.  This...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania History of the St. Vincent Hospital Fall Creek Building

There were an improbable number of mustard bottles littering the kitchen table as we poked our heads through the doorway. In some ways, this apartment was just like every other in the crumbling edifice most...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania The Thomas Askren House

I have to admit, I am guilty of being too downtown-centric when it comes to thinking about Indianapolis’ historic buildings. Simply because there is a higher concentration of old buildings doesn’t make the rest of...

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Posted in: Vintage Flats Flats Saved: Fletcher Avenue

Due to the large population increase of downtown in 1890-1920, the addition of apartments was absolutely necessary; Fletcher Place was one neighborhood that built flats very early during this increase. The irregularly shaped Fletcher Place...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then & Now: Eastern Fire Station/Firehouse Colorlab/Angie’s List, 1030 E. Washington Street

Luckily, several of our city’s old fire stations have survived through the years and have found new uses. The Eastern Fire Station is one of the oldest, having been constructed in 1896.   The three-story...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Adaptive Reuse

Kendall Inn at the former Fort Benjamin Harrison Adaptive Reuse. Our last preservation themed Building Language term for Preservation Month lets us examine adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse is the ultimate building recycling – when a...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Facadism

Facadism. Our next preservation related Building Language term, in honor of Preservation Month, is facadism. The term facadism occurs when a construction project “saves” the historic façade (or front) of a structure, but demolishes the...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Infill

Infill. If you live in a locally designated historic district, today’s Building Language term should be a familiar friend. In preservation, infill describes new construction that remains sensitive in design to the surrounding historic buildings....

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Recent Past

Recent Past. Continuing in our exploration of preservation related Building Language terms for Preservation Month, today we’ll explore the recent past. The recent past is defined as cultural resources that are less than 50 years...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark. The month of May is Preservation Month and to celebrate, I’ll be featuring preservation related Building Language terms for the five Tuesdays in May! We’ll start with National Historic Landmarks. A National...

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Posted in: Heritage Steward Heritage Steward: Lorraine Phillips Vavul

*As a side note, this week we wanted to showcase a devoted volunteer who works at this job in addition to a daytime career; there are so many ways to make a difference to history...

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