Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

An architectural theme for the NIC and one possible modern re-use of the IAB

Here is a thought that came from PAL's March 9 Brown Bag by Steve Kelly and Dan Worth. One possible re-use might be as a hotel (consistent with NIC plans). And that might have some added merit as the NIC would have a third building (to join the 4-H Bldg. and the Armory) to set an architectural theme for the NIC.

See the picture of this possible re-use.

Here is a story from the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, March 15, 2010 9:35 am "Rendering shows redesigned Industrial Arts building" By KEVIN ABOUREZK

A Lincoln architectural firm has created a rendering of a proposed renovation of the Industrial Arts Building at the former state fairgrounds. The rendering created by architects with Bahr Vermeer Haecker in Lincoln shows the 97-year-old building's large arches left intact but windows and doors replacing boarded-up and bricked spaces within the arches. The building is slated for demolition unless the University of Nebraska-Lincoln can find a suitable developer to remove or renovate it.

"This is but one vision and represents what we preservationists refer to as adaptive reuse," said J.L. Schmidt, executive director of Heritage Nebraska. He said the design keeps the building intact and still represents its historical features while modernizing it to be compatible with more contemporary architecture.

The university has issued a nationwide request for proposals from developers with ideas for using the building. Any plans would need to be submitted before July 1. The university hopes to get rid of the building - and more than a dozen others - to make room for its new Innovation Campus. However, supporters of the Industrial Arts Building say it is too historically valuable to destroy.

Schmidt sent the Industrial Arts Building rendering to university officials in hope of sparking ideas about renovating the building. "I want you to study this image and see if it fits in with the vision that you may have for the Nebraska Innovation Campus," he wrote in an e-mail to UNL and University of Nebraska officials. He also criticized the university for not reaching out further in its efforts to seek a developer for the building. "Although it is not our job, we have sent the RFP to more than 20 developers since Monday," he said last week.

UNL spokeswoman Kelly Bartling thanked Heritage Nebraska for helping seek out developers and defended the university's efforts, saying UNL sent the RFP to developers across the country, national publications and other media. As for the architectural rendering, Bartling said it wasn't appropriate for the university to comment on any proposal until the process is completed.

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