Salina, Kan., Theatre Wins Restoration Award

(Mar 15, 11:30 PM)

By Darrin Stineman, The Salina Journal, Kan.

Mar. 15--For the second time in three years, a Salina restoration project has been awarded the Kansas Preservation Alliance's Award of Excellence.

The Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts -- a $2.8 million restoration of the former Fox Theatre at 151 S. Santa Fe -- received the award in 2004.

The 2006 winner is the Pioneer Presidents' Place senior housing complex in the 200 block of West Mulberry.

"It's a tremendous honor to get that kind of award from a statewide association," said Rick Kready, vice-president of operations for the Pioneer Group, Topeka, which did the project. "They pay attention to every historic building throughout the state of Kansas. It's just a fabulous honor."

The Topeka-based Kansas Preservation Alliance, founded in 1979, is a nonprofit group dedicated to advancing historic preservation. A plaque will be presented to the Pioneer Group May 4 at the Statewide Preservation Conference in Lawrence.

The $8 million Pioneer Presidents' Place project involved renovations to the former Roosevelt and Lincoln school buildings which, in their final use as schools, were connected by a long brick corridor and called Roosevelt-Lincoln Middle School.

Removing the corridor created room for an open green space between the buildings and uncovered parts of the buildings that hadn't been seen in years.

"That made it an open space so one could really see and enjoy the architecture of those buildings -- some of the beautiful stone work, particularly on the Lincoln Building," Kready said. "We also went back to the original architectural drawings to restore the tower on the Lincoln Building."

Kready said general contractor J.E. Dunn Construction, Topeka, and project architect Treanor Architects, Lawrence, deserve a lot of credit.

Treanor is architect for the ongoing Kansas State Capitol renovation, Kready said.

"They really have a tremendous reputation throughout the country," he said, "and they're the premier historic-preservation architect for this part of the country."

Janine Joslin, executive director of the Kansas Preservation Alliance, said the awards committee was pleased to see such good use made of the buildings. The Salina School District closed Roosevelt-Lincoln at the end of the 2002-2003 school year.

"They've done it the right way," Joslin said. "The architectural elements of the buildings themselves are pretty outstanding. I think it was probably very good for Salina to have Pioneer step in right away."

There was an unusually low number of nominations for the excellence award this year, Joslin said. Pioneer Presidents' Place had to beat out just one other nominee, she said, but the quality of the project is on par with past winners.

The Pioneer Group first got word of the award on Friday, said Ross Freeman, the company's president.

"I just thought that was a super recognition of a good project that seems to be a winner all the way around," Freeman said. "You spend so much time putting these things together, and you have to overcome so many obstacles, sometimes you wonder if it's worth the aggravation.

When you get to the end and it turns out this way, you feel good about it."

The first resident moved into Pioneer Presidents' Place on Feb. 24, Freeman said. Fifteen of the 61 units are occupied, and the rest are spoken for.

In addition to the preservation award, Pioneer Presidents' Place should receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification in the next few weeks, Freeman said. The U.S. Green Building Council awards LEED certification to projects that meet specifications for being environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Salina Journal, Kan.

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