LPA Announces Summer 2022 Preservation in Progress Awards

For our Summer 2022 Preservation in Progress Awards, LPA welcomes back an old friend, salutes a daring whole house rescue and recognizes a long-term effort by a local couple to care for an iconic historic Lawrence property.

Turnhalle, 900 Rhode Island Street

Turnhalle

Turnhalle is coming back! After being vacant and shuttered from the public for the past nine years, this landmark (1869) German American community building is about to be the subject of a major rehabilitation project.

Local business owners Zarif and Mamie Haque purchased the property from developer Tony Krsnich in March. Krsnich had purchased it from LPA in 2014 but was unable to find a way to bring the property back to daily use with a new tenant. The Haques have hired local preservation design firm Hernly Associates to help them plan and coordinate a rehabilitation project that will pass historic review and use both federal and Kansas historic tax credit programs. Planning documents have been filed with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, and it will be an agenda item for the Historic Resources Commission—with LPA support—on August 18. The Haques plan to return the Turnhalle to its original use as an entertainment venue and community social center.

The architect team of Stan Hernly and Mike Myers are very aware of the significance of this project. “I’m excited that we’ve been entrusted to create the plans for Turnhalle’s rehabilitation as a surviving cultural artifact from another generation,” Mike says. “Older buildings have often seen so many disparate uses that one must peel back several layers of material to discover the true nature and original configuration. With Turnhalle, there are no extra layers of anything. It’s as if it has been suspended in time since the Lawrence Turnverein sold it in 1938.”

In addition to repair of character-defining features, a key component of the project will be to install modern plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems, as well as safety systems like fire suppression, elevators, stairs and ramps—and doing all this in ways that won’t damage historic materials or compromise historic integrity.

One new component of the plan is a small two-story addition behind the east end of the building that will house accessible bathrooms, kitchen prep and greenroom areas that can support the mixed-use performance and event space the new owners envision. The addition is appropriately sized and will keep those essential activities out of the main hall interior and the stage, while allowing the use to be very similar to its original historic one.

Protecting the Turnhalle as a viable rehab candidate has been a prime focus of LPA since 2012, when it purchased the property because of grave concerns about its failing condition. LPA led a stabilization project, largely funded by a Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council grant, that corrected a major structural defect between the stone and wood frame sections of the building and addressed numerous water infiltrations. In 2018, with Turnhalle still in need of a larger project to return it to public use, LPA intervened again by purchasing the parking lot across 9th Street to preserve a parking option in hopes that a time like this would come.

Stan Hernly recognizes these efforts that gave Turnhalle another decade of life and a chance to come back. “Lawrence is really lucky to have retained this building for so long when its use since the 1930s has been so marginal,” he says. “It could easily have been demolished or fallen so deeply into disrepair that rehabilitation would have been prohibitive.”

It's possible that “preservation in progress” couldn’t happen to a more deserving building in Lawrence right now. LPA’s thanks and best wishes go out to Zarif and Mamie Haque for taking it on and making it happen.

1313 Massachusetts Street

1313 Massachusetts Street

Anyone driving down Massachusetts Street near South Park probably has noticed the work going on at 1313 Massachusetts Street, immediately south of the Castle Tea Room. We certainly have.

The small house at this address has been vacant since 2006, and there were questions whether rehabilitation or demolition would be the next step for this property. But now new owner (and LPA board member) Pat Watkins—after a thorough and painstaking project—is putting the finishing touches on a sweet house that he brought back from death’s doorstep.

This gable-front National Folk-style house has more than a next-door connection with the John N. Roberts House, now known as the Castle Tea Room. Built in 1870, 1313 Massachusetts was sold in 1873 by John and Emily Roberts, who would later build the castle as their personal residence. After several twists and turns involving different owners—including Roberts again in 1898—and several small additions and changes over time, the two properties became connected by ownership again when Libuse Kriz Fiorito and her husband Louis purchased them in 1947 in an effort to save the deteriorating Roberts home. Libby Fiorito opened the Castle Tea Room and ran the restaurant herself until her death in 2004.

Today 1313 Massachusetts is listed on the Register of Kansas Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. The register nomination, written by Stan Hernly and available here, is a fascinating read about the lineage of ownership and different architectural styles implemented with each addition—the predominant one being the Craftsman style evident in the entry foyer, a triple window, two dormers and the remodeled kitchen.

Windows are a spectacular feature of the house, and every component of every window has been restored. It’s one of Pat’s favorite features of the home because of all the light they bring inside. Another aspect of this project that received major attention was the foundation masonry. Kyle Weiland of Stonehouse Construction personally oversaw the removal and restacking of the stones and leveling of the floor above them in a particularly complex and technical task. Now newly painted a beautiful shade of blue, the house looks great, and one can appreciate the added value of the Castle’s courtyard and historic fountain complementing it immediately next door.

This property is projected for office or short-term rental use and is using both the 25% Kansas Historic Tax Credit and 20% Federal Historic Tax Credit programs to help cover the expenses of working on a historic registered property. Part of Pat’s law practice is providing historic tax credit consulting services, so that was one subcontractor he didn’t have to search for. Keep an eye out for an LPA Old House Warming open house sometime this fall as a part of Pat’s well-deserved celebrations in successfully completing this project. We’ll let you know when a date is set. Driving by is fun, but we can’t wait to see this project up close.

1111 E 19th Street:
38 Years of Dailey Life on the Robert H. Miller Farmstead

Robert H Miller House

It’s a fact: historic structures have longer lives than the humans who occupy them. It’s one reason why we often hear owners of historic properties refer to themselves as caretakers. This is certainly the case with longtime LPA members Dennis and Judy Dailey, who have wrapped up 38 years of ownership of the Robert H. Miller House (1858) at 1111 E. 19th Street, just east of Haskell Avenue. But Dennis and Judy may not have realized this in 1984 when, while searching for a house closer to the KU campus, they happened to see a tiny homemade “for sale” sign in the yard as they passed by.

Having both experienced farm (Judy) and small town (Dennis) life growing up in Minnesota, the Daileys were beckoned by the stately Colonial Foursquare on five urban acres as they first turned into the drive. “This is it!” Judy remembers thinking as they knocked on the door. Minutes later they were talking with owner Dorothy Eller, who had just had the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was asking them questions that seemed designed to determine if they could be appropriate owners of the house.

Dennis & Judy Dailey

Discovering the property’s connection to the Underground Railroad early on (the Millers had been very successful farmers in South Carolina but moved from the state because of their anti-slavery views) and its significance to Quantrill’s Raid (Quantrill visited the house on his way into town but spared it) the Daileys were determined to learn as much as they could about the Millers. Spencer Research Library proved to be a great start, but when they connected with Miller’s great-great-granddaughter, Carol Manley, and met with her in Des Moines, they found a treasure trove of family photo albums and files that filled in the blanks. In fact, Dennis has written about this history in Dennis Domer’s book Embattled Lawrence Vol. 2, soon to be available to the public.

All the while, there was still this house and small farm to run and family life to live. Dennis remembers taking a couple dozen round hay bales every year from the south pasture. The Daileys rebuilt the cupola on the barn (1910 and listed on the National Register), and even found an appropriate motor and fan for the windmill. The big project came in 2006: rebuilding a failed brick wall system on the west wall and making other structural repairs. State tax credits and a Kansas Heritage Trust Fund grant helped defray considerable expense as the Daileys lived for a year in a construction zone.

Miller Barn

When a teacher friend asked if they could bring their class out on a field trip, Dennis showed the students around, sharing with them the rich history and purpose of each outbuilding. A tradition was born: two or three classes each year, typically third graders, coming out by bus to visit and learn. Students most enjoyed trying to wrap their heads around the idea of the hand-dug well and the outhouse.

A few years ago, the interior stairs and outdoor chores began to hint to Dennis and Judy that their time of caretaking this historic property was coming to an end. Longtime collectors, they had been working with a trusted family friend to find new owners for some of those precious belongings. The Daileys approached their friend about the property itself and suggested a purchase price that was accepted. This friend, as an interim owner, is now entrusted with finding the next owner who will cherish the history, commit to continued agricultural use of the pasture, and care for the house and outbuildings. It’s preservation in progress.

While the Daileys now live in an apartment on the west side of town, their thoughts are never far from the Miller place. But someone else will have to be the next person to respond to a knock on the door to see a stranger, car parked behind, saying hello and—true story—asking, “What time is the museum open?”

Thanks for a great run, Dennis and Judy!
 

Structure and Story: The Robert H. Miller House

Friday, August 19
9:00-10:30 am

Tickets are available here to attend a great conversation about the Miller House with Dennis Domer, editor of the Embattled Lawrence book series, and Dennis Dailey. During this early- morning event we will hear history, stories and insights about this fascinating and significant urban farmstead, followed by a guided walk around the grounds. This is a not-to-miss event sponsored by Lawrence Preservation Alliance and the Watkins Community Museum of History.