Wright Chat

Wrighter · Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 82 Location: St. Louis, MO

I saw a photo in the paper this morning of Charles City in Iowa. The Cedar River had flooded; a story on the disaster doesn't mention any casualties, thankfully, but over 500 homes were affected by the floodwaters. Anyone heard anything about the Miller house on the river's banks, and whether it was amongst the damaged homes?

Story link below:
http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2008/06/10/news/local/doc484e03db30d30529259945.txt

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 3661 Location: San Francisco

I'm wondering too. . .

SDR

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 3661 Location: San Francisco

Cedar Rapids

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/us/13flood.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

"In Eastern Iowa, the City That ‘Would Never Flood’ Goes 12 Feet Under"

Charles City (Miller house) is c. 75 mi NNW of Cedar Rapids. . .

SpringGreen · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 176

I have been trying to figure out if anything is going on with the Grant House in Cedar Rapids, but haven't found a map yet that shows the extent of the flooding to compare to where I found the location of the Grant House through Mapquest. The Grant House has an address of 3400 Adel Dr., S.E., if anyone has any more luck than me.

The Trier House is in Des Moines, which was going through voluntary evacuation as of yesterday, but I don't know how bad the flooding is there. The Trier House address is 6880 North West Beaver Dr.

And the Walter Residence is on the Wapsipinicon River. According to the WCR Courier newspaper, the river has "held steady". An earlier Courier news story stated that there had been a power outage in Quasqueton, but I don't know if there's been flooding.
_________________
"The building as architecture is born out of the heart of man, permanent consort to the ground, comrade to the trees, true reflection of man in the realm of his own spirit." FLLW, "Two Lectures in Architecture: in the Realm of Ideas".

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 3661 Location: San Francisco

The Walter residence has a safe position, I suppose; the River Pavilion would be the point of concern. . . ?

SDR

John · Joined: 25 Mar 2005 Posts: 42

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AKIZDKNm7wc

If you look at this video on You Tube, you will see a still photo at 3:42 that shows what I believe to be the Miller House under about 3 feet of water!

The Grant House in Cedar Rapids is high on a hill so I presume it is safe. Cedar Rock is similarly located high above the river, but the boathouse has flooded many times.

However, the Purcell and Elmslie Bank in Cedar Rapids downtown area is clearly under water. There is a photo on the Des Moines Register website that shows an arial view of the bank.

SpringGreen · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 176

Thanks for posting the link to that!
_________________
"The building as architecture is born out of the heart of man, permanent consort to the ground, comrade to the trees, true reflection of man in the realm of his own spirit." FLLW, "Two Lectures in Architecture: in the Realm of Ideas".

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 3661 Location: San Francisco

guanche · Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 37 Location: Málaga, Spain

the last pics are of one of my favorites wright houses, ... i hope the damage could be repaired

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 3661 Location: San Francisco

Wrightgeek · Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 675 Location: Westerville, Ohio

The news from the flooded areas of Iowa regarding the status of buildings by FLW and his contemporaries is a mixed bag. I spoke with people in several cities in Iowa today, and here is what I learned:

Mason City-I spoke with the MacNider Art Museum, which is affiliated with the Stockman House. The FLW bank and hotel on the square in downtown Mason City was not flooded or damaged, and the same can be said for the Stockman House. There was flooding of Willow Creek in the Rock Glen/Rock Crest area, and I will include a link to a You Tube video that shows the lower level one of the W.B. Griffin houses engulfed in flood waters. BTW, I also spoke with the wife of Dr. Bob McCoy, and she informed me that the tour of Rock Glen/Rock Crest planned for this Saturday will go on as scheduled, with minimal disruption to the days events.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YcVfllXD6nI&feature=related

Charles City-As seen in the video posted earlier in this thread, and the screen shot of the Alvin Miller house by FLW, the news here is not as good. I spoke with someone with family in Charles City, who said that the house was severely damaged, and she suggested that it may have even been destroyed, to use her words. This is certainly only second-hand information at best, so I cannot attest to the accuracy. Hopefully, it is not accurate, and the house has survived and can be restored, although its location at the edge of the Cedar River would continue to make it vulnerable to future catastrophes.

Cedar Rapids-I have no info on the status of FLW's Grant house, but have heard that it is on higher ground and therefore may have been spared. The Louis Sullivan bank in downtown Cedar Rapids was not so fortunate. I saw a few seconds of video of the interior of the bank, which is now a Wells Fargo branch, on the NBC evening news tonight. The interior of the bank was coated with mud and appeared to have suffered significant cosmetic damage at the least, caused by several feet of water that came into the bank.

Algona-I spoke with someone at the Sullivan bank building in Algona, and the news is good. The Algona area was apparently spared from significant flooding, and the bank itself is fine.

Grinnell-Again, more positive news, as both the Sullivan bank building and the Ricker house by W.B.Griffin are fine. I spoke with someone at Grinnell College, and the Grinnell area in general appears to have come through the past 10 days with relatively little damage.

Quasqueton-I spoke with someone at the FLW Walter House/Cedar Rock, and she said that the house was fine, that the river had crested several days ago, and that they were open for tours as usual. I wish I had inquired about the boat house/river pavilion, but I forget to ask. But since she did not mention any damage to the property, I'll just assume the best.

Oskaloosa-I spoke with someone at the Chamber of Commerce who said that because of its location on one of the higher points in southern Iowa, that the town of Oskaloosa and immediate area had been relatively untouched by the flooding. I assumed from this conversation that both of the FLW houses in this area could be considered to be safe.

Johnston-I spoke with someone in Des Moines from the state tourism department who was aware of the Trier house by FLW in Johnston, which is a suburb slightly north of Des Moines. He thought that the Trier house was located near a creek or river, and expressed concern that it might be susceptible to flooding. That was about all I could find out about that house's situation.

Monona-I have no inforamtion on the status of the Meier house in Monona by FLW.

Marshalltown-I also don't have any updates on the Sunday house by FLW in Marshalltown. I did not speak with anyone in this area, and do not know how the town fared. I believe that the Sunday house has a small stream running the property, but hopefully that did not create any problems.

Sorry this post rambled on so long, but once I started I thought I might as well see it through to the end. If anyone has any additional information about any of these properties, please let us all know. And if any of my info is incorrect, please do not hesitate to correct me.

Last but not least, if you are so inclined, please take a moment to say a prayer for all of those across the Midwest who have suffered the wrath of Nature this spring.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 3661 Location: San Francisco

You certainly needn't apologize for your dedicated effort to keep us informed. Thanks for all the info, and we hope for the best in every case.

SDR

SpringGreen · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 176

Thank you so much for your investigation. I'm going to print out your reply for other interested parties.

Really: great work that is highly appreciated.

Living in an area that is somewhat flooded, although not as bad as Iowa, I certainly have people in my thoughts.
_________________
"The building as architecture is born out of the heart of man, permanent consort to the ground, comrade to the trees, true reflection of man in the realm of his own spirit." FLLW, "Two Lectures in Architecture: in the Realm of Ideas".

Wrighter · Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 82 Location: St. Louis, MO

Many thanks for the effort and the information.

Wrightgeek · Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 675 Location: Westerville, Ohio

Here is an update on the flooding along the Cedar River in Iowa, specifically in Cedar Rapids.

I have attached a link below to a post on "The Skyline", Blair Kamen's architecture blog at the Chicago Tribune. It reports on the status of the Louis Sullivan bank in downtown Cedar Rapids, and the somewhat lesser known Sullivan church nearby.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2008/06/louis-sullivan.html

Thanks for the positive comments, and I encourage others to post updates here as they find them. This is obviously a subject of great interest and concern to all of us who frequent this forum.