By James V. Banta, Technical Preservation Specialist/Project Manager
Chambers, Murphy & Burge Historical Architecture

First National Bank, Youngstown, OH

Last year, Chambers, Murphy & Burge (CMB) performed a Conditions Assessment of the First National Bank building in Youngstown, Ohio. The 1929 building is among a group of seven early 20^th-century office buildings in downtown Youngstown listed in the National Register of Historic Places. First National Bank was designed by Youngstown Architect Morris W. Scheibel and was originally known as the Metropolitan Savings and Loan Co. Building or Central Tower. This 18-story, art deco skyscraper has a high degree of historic integrity and typical of its time, was constructed with structural steel framing that supports its exterior masonry.

West facade showing returns at center window bays

The west elevation includes four major exterior corners due to the north- and south-facing return walls at the center window bays. CMB utilized TPAS® to identify corners with serious vertical crack systems caused by corrosion of underlying steel columns and cyclical thermal expansion and contraction. During the course of the investigation, CMB noted that brick cracks previously treated superficially with sealant have failed because the underlying conditions and mechanisms of deterioration had not been addressed. Using TPAS CMB was able to clearly illustrate to the owner the extent of such deterioration and make recommendations for long-term repairs.

Annotated elevation drawing showing location and extent of conditions

By James V. Banta, Technical Preservation Specialist/Project Manager
Chambers, Murphy & Burge Historical Architecture

John Brown House in Akron, Ohio

For this recent Conditions Assessment and Preservation Master Plan project at the John Brown House in Akron, Ohio, Chambers, Murphy & Burge (CMB) used TPAS® to identify exterior conditions for the purpose of evaluating the building envelope and generating a prioritized list of repair items. After preparing photo elevations, our TPAS assessment was conducted efficiently in the course of one day. The John Brown House in Akron was originally a 1.5-story Greek Revival Cottage that has undergone significant additions and modifications altering its appearance and creating challenges for cyclical maintenance as well as interpretation and presentation. With TPAS CMB documented observed conditions based on severity, extent, location, and priority.

Photo elevation with TPAS annotations

John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut. In 1805, he moved with his family to Hudson, Ohio. In 1844, Brown moved his family to Akron where they lived in a two room cottage that came to be known as the John Brown House. Brown rented the House from Colonel Simon Perkins with whom he was in business at the time. John Brown infamously went on to lead attacks against pro-slavery forces in Kansas in 1856 and to stage a raid on the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in 1859. For his actions, Brown and some of his followers were hanged for treason. The John Brown House remained in the Perkins family until 1942 when it was bequeathed to The Summit County Historical Society who remains its steward today.