Renovation Projects

MissPres News Roundup 6-25-2010

By ELMalvaney on June 25, 2010 • ( 0 )

It’s the last Friday of a hot and steamy Mississippi June, which means it’s time for another news roundup. Things have been hopping out there, so let’s get started. An update on the ongoing renovations of the “Lil’ Red Schoolhouse”… Read More ›

What’s going on at the Naval Reserve Center?

By ELMalvaney on June 24, 2010 • ( 17 )

Well, I’ve been in denial about the Naval Reserve Center and the tales of partial demolition for an MDAH records center. For one thing, the project made no sense from an economic perspective: why would you spend $4 million to… Read More ›

Checking in on Ocean Springs

By ELMalvaney on June 17, 2010 • ( 4 )

This post is a bit of catch-up from a quick trip I took to Ocean Springs right before my trip to France–I forgot that I hadn’t posted the pictures I took that day of three important repair and rehab projects… Read More ›

Whistling Past Eaton School

By ELMalvaney on May 28, 2010 • ( 5 )

I know I owe y’all a News Roundup, but that’s going to have to wait until Monday due to my house being invaded by all sorts of relatives; friendly relatives, but still not conducive to blog posting. Instead, can we… Read More ›

St. Peter’s scaffolding comes down

By ELMalvaney on May 25, 2010 • ( 2 )

If you’ve been in downtown Jackson in the last 6 months or so, you’ve probably noticed that the steeple and tower of the Cathedral of St. Peter’s have been encased in scaffolding.The steeple was damaged by the high winds of… Read More ›

Interesting federal projects a-doing in DC

By ELMalvaney on May 24, 2010 • ( 9 )

I just got back from a quick trip to the Vernacular Architecture Forum annual meeting in Washington DC (when I left MS it was kind of coolish; I returned to full-fledged summer). This year’s meeting included an optional all-day tour… Read More ›

Avoid Druggie Plumbers and Other Renovation Lessons

By ELMalvaney on May 7, 2010 • ( 6 )

I know today is typically a News Roundup day, but instead I’m taking a minute to sit back and review a house renovation project I’ve been working on since May 2006–four years! It all started in March 2006 when my… Read More ›

MissPres News Roundup 3-26-2010

By W. White on March 26, 2010 • ( 5 )

Good Morning MissPres community, I am back in Mississippi. I will start off the post with some scheduling information. This will be the last News Roundup posted by me on a Friday. Due to my schedule (and when the MSU… Read More ›

W.S. Hull’s Governor’s Mansion Report: Original Downtown Booster

By ELMalvaney on March 16, 2010 • ( 0 )

Today we continue with our friend W.S. Hull’s 1909 report on the Governor’s Mansion. Yesterday, we learned a little bit about William S. Hull, one of Mississippi’s early native architects and brother of contractor Francis Blair Hull. In 1909, the… Read More ›

From the Archives: W.S. Hull’s Report on the Governor’s Mansion

By ELMalvaney on March 15, 2010 • ( 21 )

I stumbled on this report about the Governor’s Mansion recently and thought that it would be an interesting series for the MissPres readership. Prepared in 1909 by Jackson architect W.S. Hull, it apparently provided the basis for a decision by… Read More ›

MissPres News Roundup 3-12-2010

By W. White on March 12, 2010 • ( 19 )

MissPres readers, greetings from Alabama (the current location of yours truly). And here is the news. The Calhoun County Journal reports in the February 25 paper that Calhoun City is beginning a clean up effort of the Calhoun City Town… Read More ›

The Old Benwalt Hotel Blows Its Top

By ELMalvaney on March 9, 2010 • ( 10 )

I have a bit of fondness for architectural oddities, and the Benwalt Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, with its impressive Quonset Hut roof, was a definite Oddity when I took these pictures in 2006. Beneath that rather awkward veneer is a… Read More ›

MissPres News Roundup 2-26-2010

By ELMalvaney on February 26, 2010 • ( 7 )

I can’t believe it’s the end of February! I keep thinking Spring should be in the air, but so far, other than the birds that have come back to make their nest under my window awning, I can’t see the… Read More ›

Still No Roof on Eaton School

By ELMalvaney on February 22, 2010 • ( 4 )

Note: This post has been heavily modified to remove strong language. Driving past Hattiesburg yesterday under a brooding sky, I decided to swing by Eaton School, which I supposed must have a new roof by now, given that the Hattiesburg… Read More ›

Reflections On A Success Story

By Tom Barnes on February 19, 2010 • ( 0 )

As I swung open the doors at 235 West Capitol Street on the 4th of January, 2010, I could barely contain myself. The once rotten shell of the King Edward had become a shining beacon of light and warmth. As… Read More ›

Pigeons to Pearls…The King Edward Flies Again

By Tom Barnes on February 18, 2010 • ( 9 )

Thursday, the 17th of December, 2009, was an important day for downtown Jackson. Developer David Watkins snipped a scarlet ribbon and the King Edward was back in business after forty-three years of solitude. Arduous as the task was, Watkins and… Read More ›

MissPres News Roundup 2-12-2010

By ELMalvaney on February 12, 2010 • ( 6 )

Can we hope for a snowy Friday? Or better yet, a snowed-in Friday when I can rise from my bed, take a peek out the window to assess the state of the streets, and decide that the wisest course of… Read More ›

Patience, Grasshopper

By ELMalvaney on January 12, 2010 • ( 2 )

I’ve thought alot about the King Edward lately, as much about the preservation story of the last 40 years than about the recent grand re-opening. I realize that it’s dangerous to use the King Edward story as a model for… Read More ›

MissPres News Roundup 1-4-2010

By ELMalvaney on January 4, 2010 • ( 2 )

While y’all were celebrating the holidays, some even basking in the sun of Trinidad (*cough* Carunzel *cough*), I’ve been diligently scanning the newspapers and other media for stories that might interest MissPres readers. I’ve also been watching with a small… Read More ›

King Edward Hotel Open Again

By ELMalvaney on December 18, 2009 • ( 8 )

Forty-four years after closing its doors, after suffering decades of neglect, vacancy, vandalism, and deterioration, Jackson’s landmark King Edward Hotel, the standard for glamorous 1920s hotels, re-opened for business yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. As every speaker said, this was… Read More ›

Get Ready for King Ed!

By ELMalvaney on December 14, 2009 • ( 4 )

I hope y’all can make it to the ribbon cutting for the new King Edward Hotel on Thursday morning at 10 AM. I’ve only been waiting for this for 13 years, but I know many of you out there have… Read More ›

MDAH Announces CHP Grants

By ELMalvaney on December 7, 2009 • ( 3 )

Besides our blizzard, the other exciting thing that happened Friday was the Mississippi Department of Archives and History announced the recipients of the latest round of Community Heritage Preservation Grants after a special meeting of the MDAH Board of Trustees…. Read More ›

Overly Loved Historic Buildings

By ELMalvaney on November 30, 2009 • ( 2 )

I had a chance to go through lots of photos I’ve taken on my recent jaunts around the state, and I thought now might be a good time to bring up the topic of good intentions and how they pave the road to . . . well, to be blunt, Hades. I refer particularly to the state of being “loved to death” and how this sometimes happens to our beloved historic buildings around the state.