by Abbey Roy

No worries — it’s not for good, and local builders and historians will be working diligently in the next few months to build it up with whatever materials necessary.

The historic post-Civil War cast-iron and wrought-iron bridge, also known as Bridge 411, will be moved today from its position over Rocky Fork Creek near Camp Falling Rock for repairs.

Once the work is complete, the bridge will be moved to a location about 300 yards down the creek — not far from a historic covered bridge of a similar vintage.

The bridge is one of three surviving cast-iron post truss bridges in the United States, said Dave Fryman, an active Camp Falling Rock volunteer and member of the camp’s properties committee who will be involved in the project.

“Since it’s historic, we’re rescuing it and restoring it,” Fryman said.

The bridge was built in 1872 and stood in Perry Township before being moved to Hebron and, in 1931, to Licking County, where it was placed along the road that at the time served as the entrance to Camp Falling Rock.

Over time, the stretch of road was abandoned and the creek washed out the bridge’s abutments. The structure became rusted in places and needs a number of repairs, Fryman said, which will be assessed and administered as necessary after the bridge is moved to solid ground today.

Dingey Movers, a Zanesville company with experience moving bridges much larger than this — it weighs in at between 20 and 30 tons, Fryman estimated — on Monday had begun preparing for the move.

The bridge has been raised with hydraulic jacks to steady it as it moves off the creek onto steel plates that will prevent it from sinking, Fryman said. After the move, the bridge will be examined to determine what portions of it will need to be repaired and which can be replaced.

“We just need to get it to where we can see everything and what’s the best way to go about it,” said Fryman, who specializes in lumber for historical projects. “(We want to) try to replace as little as possible and try to repair everything we can.”

The Rock Foundation, which supports activities at Camp Falling Rock, is funding the project and has consulted with historians from the Ohio Historical Society and a bridge restoration expert from Michigan in preparation for the move and restoration.

After repairs are completed and preparations are made at the bridge’s future home — pouring of concrete pads and some excavation of dirt, Fryman said — the bridge will be re-situated and used once more.

Though Fryman was uncertain about the timeline because of weather conditions and yet-to-be determined repairs, he conservatively estimated April or May.

The foundation also is considering adding to the property another similar-vintage bridge in Hanover, one with two lanes and that is slightly longer, Fryman said.

from newarkadvocate.com

by mike olson

Enter through the stately wrought-iron gate and you’re in a massive hallway that’s 17 feet wide with 12-foot ceilings. The size and scope of this neo-Renaissance brick structure recall its industrial heritage, when the building housed confectionary, paper box, and glassware companies, among many others. It’s like traveling back in time—yet a 24-hour concierge desk, which stands sentry in front of a two-level window wall looking onto a 61-foot indoor pool, offers an unmistakable reminder that it’s no longer 1906.

250 West Street is a new luxury development on the western edge of Tribeca and the latest to meld the historic with the contemporary by turning a weathered landmark building into a cutting-edge living space. El-Ad Group, the developer behind this transformation, recognized the building’s potential the moment the 11-story warehouse hit the market in July 2011 after a month-long renovation. “We were looking for a building of this type on the water for a long time,” explains executive vice president of sales and marketing Thomas Elliott. “It just has that sense of gravity that New Yorkers are drawn to. It resonates on a gut level, and that’s something that’s missing in new construction.”

In a way, turning this relic of industrial New York into high-end luxury condominiums is an example of the neighborhood coming full circle. According to historian Oliver E. Allen, the author of Tales of Old Tribeca and a longtime columnist for the Tribeca Trib newspaper, the Tribeca of the early 19th century was a residential area brimming with brick Federal-style homes and the well-to-do clamoring to live along Hudson Square.

Decades later, industry finally caught wind of this strategic location just off the Hudson River, and although its takeover caused the residential population to dwindle to as low as 2,000, it also helps explain the beautiful buildings like 250 West Street. “These were not built like a factory out in the middle of nowhere,” says Allen. “Because they were in the middle of the city, the businesses wanted to put up a good-looking building. They were very ambitious and proud.”

Of course, economic considerations and the difficult nature of navigating the streets of Tribeca eventually put an end to industrial New York—and put stately structures like 250 West Street in limbo until a developer like El-Ad could come along to repurpose them. But turning a gritty urban building into high-end apartments is a challenge in a historic district where just replacing the shutters requires a considerable amount of paperwork. “The landmark rules say you can’t do anything to the outside of the buildings,” notes Allen. “It has to stay exactly how it is. But you should see what they have inside!”

Elliott and his team maintained the building’s massive dimensions, keeping the 20-inch-thick brick walls while filling the structure with 21st-century amenities. And since the giant warehouse takes up a full block, El-Ad had an uncommon amount of space to create unparalleled common areas, plus features such as a state-of-theart fitness center, yoga studio, private library lounge, children’s play area, and enormous roof deck.

El-Ad is also adding a new open courtyard in the middle of the building. “It obviously cost us floor area,” says Elliott. “We can’t recoup that, but it makes the existing space better.”

El-Ad worked with the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) through every step of planning for the conversion, restoring classic arched windows and entryways, installing period gates, and best of all, replacing an aluminum band ringing the top of the building with a historic cornice.

While it’s difficult to rehabilitate any building to such exacting standards, Mark Silberman, general counsel at the LPC, can attest to the effectiveness of the process. “In terms of architectural features, the end result is a highly restored building that will be maintained to the highest standards perpetually,” he explains.

Thanks to the refurbishment of landmark buildings like 250 West Street, Tribeca has followed in the footsteps of the West Village (and its new constructions, like the Perry Street Towers and Superior Ink) by luring buyers from uptown. Although these upscale buyers are drawn to the romance of loft living, they’re not looking to play starving artist. In today’s luxury market, drafty windows have given way to Bosch appliances, six-foot Catalina soaking tubs, and home automation systems that draw the blinds with the push of a button.

With work on the building’s 106 units nearly complete, El-Ad Group will have to find a new historic structure to save—no easy task since these diamonds in the rough are dwindling in number. “I’m out looking at buildings all day and all night, and there are just not that many left,” says Elliott. “It’s getting harder and harder. I know it sounds like a cliché, but you just can’t build it like that anymore.”

from gotham-magazine.com

By Pablo Chaterji

Of all the places for a car museum to exist, a dairy farm is probably the last one that you would think of – although the museum in the pilgrimage town of Dharmasthala, close to Mangalore, might come a close second. Still, when you drive into a near-400 hectare piece of farmland, passing by rows of cattle sheds and barns with farm equipment strewn all over, the last thing you expect to see when you pull into the parking lot is a museum dedicated to all things Maserati. Yet there it is, in a lovely old building with steel arches and wrought-iron balconies inside it, and some eclectic pieces of sculpture near the entrance – the Museo Panini.

Situated a few miles outside Modena, Italy, the home of Maserati, the museum is privately owned. It was set up by Umberto Panini, a passionate Maserati man and a former employee of the company. After school, Panini joined the motorcycle division of the company (yes, Maserati used to make motorcycles too), eventually becoming chief test rider. He then went off to Venezuela, where he worked as a mechanic on racing bikes, and when he returned to Italy, he joined the family’s business making collectible stickers. In 1990, the business was sold and the family bought the farm, getting into the cheese-making business – today, they make some of the best cheese in Italy. In between, Panini had been collecting all manner of motorcycles, and in 1997, at an auction, he purchased a collection of vintage Maserati cars that had been rebuilt using left over and reengineered parts, at the behest of former owner Alejandro de Tomaso. The Museo Panini collection had been kick-started.

And what a collection it is! Cars, motorcycles, scooters, tractors – the Museo Panini has the lot, and almost every car here is in full working order. You’ll see the tractors outside the building, including ones made by Lamborghini and Fiat, and when you step through the shiny doors into the main building, your jaw will drop. The first car your eyes will irresistibly be drawn to is the stunning Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta Pinifarina, of which only four examples were ever made. The collection is a little haphazard, to be honest, but it’s terrific nonetheless, with almost all the Maserati models in attendance – the legendary 5000GT, the 3500GT (a car that still attends races), the Khamsin, the Bora, the Merak, the Ghibli (an SS as well as a Spyder), the Mistral and the only examples of the Simun, which was the car that was passed over in favour of what became the Indy, the Merak Turbo, which never made it into production and the Tipo 124, built on the Indy platform and unofficially called the Medici.

Maserati’s glorious racing heritage also has representation (no, the 250F isn’t here, sadly) – the equally special ‘Birdcage’ racing cars, one front and the other rear-engined, are both here, as is the only Tipo 420M/58 ever built, the ‘El Dorado’ (after the ice cream company that sponsored it) that was raced by Sir Stirling Moss. You’ll also find a full-sized static prototype of the Chubasco, a road-going, mid-engined GT that was considered for production in the 1990s. Additionally, you’ll see some mouth-watering non-Maseratis, such as a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing and some classic American iron from the 1930s and ‘40s.

Motorcycle lovers needn’t feel left out, either, because Panini built up a huge collection of bikes – largely Italian, but with some Brit and American machines thrown in. Rare bikes from Moto Guzzi, Ducati, Maserati, Gilera, MV Agusta, Moto Morini, as well as lesser known names like Moto CM and Rubinelli, are displayed on the museum’s first floor. They sit alongside Harley-Davidsons, Nortons, Triumphs and several other marques from the golden era of motorcycling, making the museum a true delight for anyone remotely interested in classic and vintage cars and bikes.

And what of the farm itself? Well, I can tell you that the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese that they make, in massive 36 kg roundels that sell for 500 euros each, is sensationally tasty – and their fruit preserves, pasta sauces, wines and cuts of meat aren’t half bad either. The combination is, therefore, heady – a fabulous car and bike museum, rounded off by some great cheese, wine and cold cuts!

The Museo Panini isn’t open to the public, in the sense that you have to make a reservation with them in advance for a guided tour.

from bsmotoring.com

And the options have grown in recent years, from wood to maintenance-free vinyl or no-rust aluminum versions with gates that close automatically. New colors are available, and the fences are made to look like wood or wrought iron. Homeowners are taking notice.

“It’s still kind of pricey,” said Chris Litchfield, president of Siena Fence Co. of Clifton Park, “but slowly it’s gaining ground.”

Here are some of the trends:

Around pools, people are choosing maintenance-free aluminum fencing that resembles wrought iron. The self-latching hardware is used for safety.

For privacy, maintenance-free vinyl is a top choice, with white being the most popular color. Each style of fence has a matching gate.

Wood, which is more affordable, is still a popular option.

Seating walls, pillars and columns are among the newer trends in wall designs, said Jerome Edmunds, partner/owner of Greenspire Landscaping in Ballston Spa.

Rather than a railing on a deck, a portion may instead include a seating wall in combination with plantings.

Materials for walls still involve pre-cast concrete blocks, but Edmunds said the colors and textures have changed. More earth tone colors are used.

“Textured or tumbled block looks more like Mother Nature created it, like it may have been around for a couple hundred years,” he said.

from timesunion.com

By Diana Henderson

A BEAUTIFUL pair of wrought iron gates have been painstakingly restored at a traditional Dorset forge and replaced in time for Armistice Day.

Unusually, the gates, which stand in Upton Country Park, Poole commemorate two soldiers who survived the carnage of the First World War.

Made in 1919 they were originally erected by William Llewellin, owner of Upton House until 1957, in gratitude at the return of both of his sons from the Great War.

An inscription on a small metal plaque fixed to the gate reads: “In thankfulness to God for the safe return from the Great War of his sons William Wigan Capt. 4th Battn. Dorset Regt. from India and Mesopotamia and John Jestyn M.C. Major 52nd Siege Battery from France. These Gates were erected by William Llewellin, Sheriff of Dorset. August 1919.”

Major Llewellin won his MC in 1917, became MP for Uxbridge in 1929 and was a Minister in Winston Churchill’s Second World War government before becoming Baron Llewellin in 1945.

The ornate scrolled gates stand at the north-west corner of the walled garden and took five weeks skilled work to restore.

“We stripped them back to the bare metal, coated them to prevent them rusting, completely redecorated and hung them,” said Giles. “I had to replace one or two of the scrolls.”

These are the oldest gates on the estate and he is also renovating some of the others. “I have done a few memorial benches, including one for the Rifle Brigade at Chepstow, at Verwood and Winton. They are commemorating the loss of someone,” he said.

“It’s quite nice to see something written where they survived.”

from bournemouthecho.co.uk

York Street business owners are getting the decorative fence along the commercial block’s green space they had petitioned for.

Stratford’s manager of parks and forestry Quin Malott said the fence, 42 inches high and made of a black heavy-duty aluminum – not wrought iron as the merchants had wanted – will be installed along the north edge of the green space that divides the street and parking lot sometime in November.

The push for the fence was led by former York Street business owner Susan Murar, who first suggested the idea to the city in the mid ’80s and then again in 2009, when she made a presentation to the city’s parks board.

At that time, Malott said the request was referred to city staff for review for future budgets, and that “it was just a matter of time before we had basically saved up enough money that we could honour the request.”

In addition to its aesthetic value, Murar and the more than 30 merchants who signed the petition this past summer, including some on Ontario Street, believe the fence addresses a serious safety hazard. She noted several of the owners have witnessed people almost falling off the north side of the space on more than one occasion.

Malott agreed the drop off on the green space could pose a problem.

“The three and a half foot drop at the back of the green space does warrant us to put a physical barrier there to (stop) anyone from falling.”

Murar said she has informed the merchants the fence is coming and they are all thrilled and believe their action, namely the petition, was the key factor in the fence getting approved.

“Everybody feels a real strong part of (the project). We definitely made it happen.”

Along with the fence, the work will also include rehabilitation of the west end of the green space, including levelling the ground and installing a small retaining wall. Total cost of the project is approximately $8,000.

from stratfordgazette.com

As dusk quickly turns to night, Celeste Toups is running around New Basin Canal Park with her boyfriend, but she says if he couldn’t have made it, she wouldn’t have come either.

“Getting off of school after work, I have to run home, see if I can get a quick run before it gets dark because the lighting’s really bad, and it’s just not safe running by yourself,” she said.

But that may not be a problem down the road, as the Friends of Lakeview organization hopes to put wrought-iron lights around and inside the park.

If you’re not familiar with the name “New Basin Canal Park,” you likely are familiar with the area. It’s the huge neutral ground space between West End Boulevard and Pontchartrain Boulevard, with Veterans and Robert E. Lee marking the top and bottom.

The $450,000 to $500,000 Light up Lakeview design is the first capital project for the non-profit, and all money will be raised privately to pay for it.

“It can be a beacon, to use that comparison,” said Glenn Stoudt, chairman of Friends of Lakeview. “I think it’s important. The reason it came to the top is because even though it’s in Lakeview, it can be used by people from all around the metro area, actually.”

After Hurricane Katrina, this park housed a pile of debris five stories high. Over the last three years the Friends of Lakeview have planted 500 trees here, and now it hope the lights will be the next stage in this parks symbolic turnaround.

“With the future plans we’ve got, we’ll transform what was a one-time symbol of devastation into a totally brand new park for our neighborhood,” said Al Petrie, president of Friends of Lakeview.

And one that highlights safety as well. “I think more people would want to walk later at night than now,” said Brittany James. “It would help a lot.” The lights, like the funding, will likely come in stages.

This Saturday there will be the first fundraiser for the light and lampposts. It will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Vicksburg Street.

from wwltv.com

There actually are two historic homes and museums on the park’s south side, both of which led to creation of the park, and this guide already has visited the Oslo City Museum (Bymuseet) and Frogner Hovedgård. Now visitors are welcome once again at the Vigeland Museum across the street, after a major if somewhat unnoticeable renovation. It included installation of a new roof and restoration of plumbing and electrical systems that mostly dated back to the building’s construction in the early 1920s. The need for basic refurbishment was acute.

“Sometimes we had to have buckets standing on the floors of the exhibition rooms, because the roof was leaking,” museum conservator Guri Skuggen told newspaper Aftenposten earlier this year. Now the roof’s new copper gleams in the late autumn sunshine, and the exhibition areas are shined up as well, without any jarring, major changes.

“We actually tried to make the changes as unnoticeable as possible,” Skuggen said. That’s in part because the building itself is in the process of becoming fredet (preserved and protected), so major change was decidedly not on the agenda. The priority was instead to keep the building and its inventory, considered a prime example of Norwegian neo-classicism from the 1920s, as intact as possible.

It was built to be a new studio and home for Gustav Vigeland, who already had a contract to create the fountain that’s a highlight of the Vigeland Park within the Frogner Park. Vigeland, whose production was enormous, had outgrown another city-owned property where he’d been living and working. The city offered him new accommodation and reimbursement for all his materials, and Vigeland moved into his large new quarters in 1924, next to the site of the sculpture park that kept growing in size and scope.

On Sunday, museum officials hosted they called a “great activity day,” opening up Vigeland’s living quarters as well as exhibition rooms and even a place where children could make Christmas cards and ornaments. The residential portion is otherwise only open by special appointment. More about it in a later story, with photos.

The museum itself, with its permanent collections and changing exhibitions, documents Vigeland’s life and work processes and offers insight into the enormity of his project. Plaster models of his famous statues also place them in a whole new light, allowing closer inspection especially of Vigeland’s famous Monolith, arguably the highlight of the Frogner Park. It was carved from one single piece of granite (hence its name) and contains 120 figures, created over a 14-year period from 1929 to 1944. Vigeland, who died in 1943, didn’t live to see its completion.

His models for it, divided into three separate plaster entities inside the museum, offer a different perspective on the Monolith and allow closer inspection at eye-level without having to battle the elements of bad weather or glaring sunshine. While it’s great to see the Monolith outdoors in the park, a look at its models inside the museum is highly recommended. Printed brochures in both Norwegian and English also explain how the massive sculpture was made.

Models of many of the granite groups placed around the Monolith are also on exhibit, along with the model of the fountain and many other works in the park, including his bronze, marble and wrought iron statues, fences, gates and light fixtures.

The museum also contains many works not connected to the park, including sculptures of famous and not-so-famous Norwegians of his time, from his housemaid to Frithjof Nansen. Vigeland also made woodcuts and drawings.

A special exhibit featuring the works of 29 scuptors is also running at the museum through February 5. It’s a cooperation between Norway’s national scultors’ association (Norsk Billedhoggerforening) and the museum, and aims to portray various industrial and artistic processes.

In the summer the museum hosts classical concerts in its large atrium. At this time of year, it provides an excellent way to explore the life and work of one of Norway’s most famous artists, while staying warm and dry.

from newsinenglish.no

Ind.i.a is a company as solid as steel, the kind of steel which proclaims history, passion, difficulties, and progression at the same time. It is made up of a group of companies which all started and began 40 years ago.

Back in 1971, Arch. Bruno Gonzato started the company, Ind.i.a, to produce amphibian means of transport. Ind.i.a, with the initial letters coming from the Italian name Industria Italiana Anfibi, later was changed to Arteferro.

To sponsor this business he first started producing wrought iron scrolls, which is a very common item throughout the Vicenza area.

Within a very short period, Bruno Gonzato realized that his business is much more fascinating that he could have ever imagined, and decided to start investing in this market. Following his instinct, the art and passion of wrought iron was able to transmit.

Ind.i.a has grown through much experience and magnitude to become a group of 22 subsidiaries worldwide, all producing and distributing components, forgings, and finished products of wrought iron and stainless steel through three different name brands: IND.I.A, II Grande Fabbro, and Arteferro Inox.

The expansion has not undermined the love for tradition which marks out this ancient art. To this day Arch. Bruno Gonzato still considers himself a craftsman rather than a major manufacturer, always running his company looking for innovation and design.

He is helped by his wife Stefania, whom is also an architect and designer, as well as his daughter Francesca and sons Matteo, Davide, Dario, and son-in-law Andrea. Through the will of letting second generation grow in managing the industry, it sets a solid base for the future and grants continuity of the company’s philosophy and quality of the brand Ind.i.a.

By Ashley Meeks

The Anthony, N.M., Welcome Center was closed most of Thursday after vandals covered it in apparent gang graffiti and attempted to set fires in some of the structures, according to law enforcement.

A Doña Ana sheriff’s deputy discovered the damage to the Interstate 10 rest stop just after 9 p.m. Wednesday, noting the suspects kicked in a wrought-iron gate, broke an interior door, threw travel pamphlets into a fountain and tagged a gang moniker on trash cans, walls, doors and hallways.

“That’s a significant deal of damage,” said Capt. Rich Libicer, of the New Mexico State Police, the agency tasked with patrolling highways. “There weren’t any facilities that weren’t damaged in some way. The damage was so extensive, and the vandalism was so extensive, that they had to shut it down to make minimal repairs and cleanup so that people could get services.”

The New Mexico Department of Transportation did not return a call for comment on the damages Thursday.

Gang members are assumed to be behind the destruction, and anyone with any information on the damage or other criminal activity in the area is urged to come forward to law enforcement, said Sheriff Todd Garrison.

“We’re trying to work on those issues down there, but we can’t be everywhere, see everything,” Garrison said. “I’m sure people in that area really are tired of the tagging and just – the criminal damage to the property that’s occurring down there. Give us an opportunity to follow up; give us the opportunity to hold these people accountable and make it stop.”

The state police Street Crimes Unit will also start looking into it and will do “anything we can,” Libicer added. “That’s a significant amount of property damage, plus the man hours and equipment and paint (it will take to fix it) … If people have information and they’re not willing to come to us, their tax dollars are just going to keep going to these kids of repairs.”

Callers can remain anonymous.

“It’s unfortunate,” Libicer said of the damage, “but we’re looking into it. We’re taking it seriously. It’s a huge amount of property damage. Unfortunately, taxpayers in New Mexico are going to have to pay for it, but we’d like to find who’s responsible. If we do, they’ll be charged.

from lcsun-news.com