904 Rhode Island

In the summer of 2018 LPA purchased the vacant Thomas & Hannah Collier House at 904 Rhode Island. At the time of purchase, LPA no longer owned the Turnhalle, its next door neighbor to the north. Turnhalle’s future was up in the air, and LPA wanted to help provide stability for it by securing a stable preservation outcome for the house.

904 RI was structurally sound but definitely needed a refresh. LPA was able to purchase it from members of the Ernst family, the same family who sold the Turnhalle to LPA in 2012. An interesting note is that from 1908 to 1938, the Collier House was owned by the Lawrence Turnverein, the German-American group that had built Turnhalle as a Cultural Center.

LPA cleaned up the property, listed it on the Lawrence Register of Historic Places (it already was listed on the state and national registers), and crafted protective covenants  protecting significant architectural elements and directing size and placement for potential construction of a one-story addition and detached two car garage in the future. LPA then sold 904 Rhode Island to Angie Blair, who has done a masterful job of rehabilitating it to preservation standards.