Western Room, Ver 2.0
Great colletion of Western themed furniture and collectables. Also mixed in are some National Parks and WPA collectables. Great conversation room.
February 7, 2009
January 1, 2009
Charlie Graham Neon - Coming Down
At 8:00 on Monday, December 8th, the Charlie Graham classic neon sign that has become a landmark in Omaha will be removed in order to be restored by Neon Products of Omaha. The sign will be completely disassembled by Neon Products, sandblasted and repainted by hand before being reinstalled in early January. This notice is being released to assure the public that the sign will be back and better than ever in early January. Please contact Jim Champion if you have any questions at 677-4007.
June 25, 2008
Happy Chef
My hometown of Columbus had a Happy Chef. As kids we would go up and press th button on the bottom of the base that the Chef stood on. He would mumble something (I don’t remember). As kids we also believed that from time to time his arm would swing down and swip you with his big wooden spoon, so we would always push the speaker button and run for out lives. This remaining Happy Chef is righ along highway 169 in Mankato, MN.
March 16, 2008
Selby Apartments -Concrete Prairie Style
A Landmarked Omaha building! Constructed in 1942 and designed by Omaha architect Rheinholdt Henning, the concrete block apartment buildings represent a late example of the Prairie style of architecture. Each building is two stories in height with a low pitched hipped roof and wide over-hanging eaves. The central entrances feature and enclosed vestibule on the first floor with narrow band windows. The second floor features open glass vestibles with multi-paned windows in simple geometric forms. An integral planter is loacted on the left side of the entrance on each building . The strong horizontal lines of yhe buildings is reinforced with a second floor belt course projecting overhang above the main entrances and casement windows.
The Selby Apartment are significant at the local level under National Register Criteria A for their association with Social History. The buildings were constructed with restriction imposed by the World War II Production Board, which nation-wide, monitored and regulated building construction according to necessity or contribution to the war effort. War workers or military personnel were given preferential status as renters when the buildings were completed in 1942. Appropriate to its period of construction, the Marcy Street unit contains a former air raid shelter in the basement.
March 8, 2008
Keller Fountain Park
Example of another downtown park of Brutalist design like Omaha’s "central park mall".
History
Even before remodeling of the Civic Auditorium began in the early 1960s, plans to create an open space across the street were being proposed. The proposal submitted by Lawrence Halprin, the well-known San Franciscan architect who had designed the Lovejoy Fountain a few years earlier, was unanimously approved in 1968. Designed by Angela Danadjieva, the Forecourt Fountain was completed in 1970. 13,000 gallons of water per minute cascade through its terraces and platforms, suggesting the Northwest’s abundant waterfalls. The concrete fountain became an instant city landmark and an internationally acclaimed open space.
In 1978, the fountain was renamed after Ira C. Keller (1899-1978), civic leader and first chairman of the Portland Development Commission (1958-72). Keller pushed through the renewal plan for the South Auditorium area of downtown which included the construction of the Forecourt Fountain. It has been said that "it was Keller’s enormous energy that made urban renewal work in Portland." (City of Portland website)
