KEYNOTE SPEAKER : Steve Thomas, Preservation Nation / This Old House, Television Host
TOPIC(s) : "What Does It Mean to Rehab Green?"
ABOUT : Emmy Award winning Steve Thomas will be the keynote speaker for Vintage Red Oak on September 18th, 2010. Steve celebrated his final year as host of television’s most popular home improvement series, This Old House, during the 2002/2003 television series. Over the course of his 14 years as host, Steve became known as the “ultimate home enthusiast” and helped catapult This Old House to the top of PBS’s list of most-watched ongoing series of all time. He also contributed to the successful debut of Ask This Old House, the all-new series in which viewer questions are addressed on-air, as host during its first year. A much in demand speaker as well as a serial renovator, Steve also consults on residential building and renovation for clients all over the United States. Steve was honored with a 1997-1998 Daytime Emmy Award and a total of nine nominations for “Outstanding Service Show Host”. An “expert in demand” on television shows such as Oprah!, Today, CNN, Entertainment Tonight, and the CBS Early Show, Steve describes This Old House as “one of the best adventures of my life.” He has contributed to the Homeowner’s Manual, published by This Old House Books in 2000, and has authored the bestselling books This Old House Kitchens and This Old House Bathrooms, published by Little, Brown and Company in 1992 and 1993. His column for This Old House magazine, House Calls with Steve was tremendously popular with readers. Steve hosted and coproduced the Save Our History series on The History Channel, and is the current host of Renovation Nation on Planet Green.
GUEST SPEAKER : Jack Porter, State Historical Society, Preservation Architect
TOPIC(s) : Financial Incentives and Funding Options, and Interpreting the Secretary of Interior Standards
ABOUT : Jack Porter has served as a Preservation Consultant for the State Historical Society of Iowa, Dept. of Cultural Affairs since August 2001. He is responsible for reviewing federal historic tax credit projects and providing technical assistance on a wide range of issues related to the preservation of historic structures. Prior to joining the Dept. of Cultural Affairs, he served as a Program Coordinator for the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service, Iowa Dept. of Economic Development, where he provided technical assistance, evaluation, and monitoring to all AmeriCorps programs in the State of Iowa. Jack attended Iowa State University and received his Master in Architecture in 1975 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture in 1969. He has served on numerous committees, councils, and boards throughout his life – the Des Moines City Council, Salisbury House Foundation, Terrace Hill Society, Sesquicentennial Commission, and Des Moines Art Center Board of Trustees, just to name a few. He was the Executive Director of the Sherman Hill Association, Des Moines' first National Register Historic District and oldest neighborhood organization, from August 1987 - February 1995. For ten years, he served as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 50.
GUEST SPEAKER : George Morrissey, PE, Morrissey Engineering, Principal
TOPIC(s) : Energy Efficiency for Your Historic Property
ABOUT : George Morrissey is Principal at Morrissey Engineering in Omaha, Nebraska. George is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in 20 states and LEED accredited. He is a member of USGBC Flatwater Chapter, IEEE, IES and NCEES. He has served for the past 8 years on the State of Nebraska Electrical Board and is on the University of Nebraska Project Review Board.
GUEST SPEAKER : Ralph Christian, State Historical Society, Historian
TOPIC(s) : Architects of Iowa
ABOUT : Ralph Christian currently serves as historian for the State Historical Society of Iowa’s historic preservation office, where he has worked in virtually every aspect of the program for over 28 years. Prior to moving to Iowa, he worked as a historian for the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) conducting National Historic Landmark theme studies under contract to the National Park Service, eventually preparing over 100 NHL nominations in twenty-eight states. He is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Civil War Preservation Trust. He is the co-author of Nashville: A Pictorial History and has published articles in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, the North Carolina Historical Review and book reviews in Agricultural History and History News. An active member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), he has made numerous presentations on various aspects of Iowa’s fascinating baseball history at national, state, and local conferences and meetings. The spring 2006 issue of Iowa Heritage Illustrated features his articles on Bud Fowler, the first African American professional baseball player and J.L Wilkinson, the only white team owner in the Negro National League and a recent inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ralph and his wife Victoria live in a 123-year-old house in the “Oaklands,” a National Register listed district in Des Moines’ River Bend Neighborhood.
GUEST SPEAKER : Steve Jensen RLA, AICP, Steven Jensen Consulting
TOPIC(s) : Form Based Guidelines for Historic Districts
ABOUT : Steve is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS in Landscape Architecture. As the Omaha City Planning Director from June of 2005 until his retirement in August of 2009, Mr. Jensen managed a department with a staff of 116 people and an annual budget of $12 million. In his position as Director Mr. Jensen was responsible for administering the City’s long-range planning, current planning, annexation, capital improvement, housing and community development, economic development, code enforcement, permitting and inspection activities. In his 34+ years with the Omaha Planning Department Mr. Jensen also held a number of other positions including 14 years as Assistant Director for Urban Planning and two stints as Acting Planning Director. His accomplishments, among other things, have included guiding the most comprehensive update of the City’s Master Plan in Omaha’s history, the administration of the City’s highly rated growth management program, and the plan for the annexation of the City of Elkhorn. He also helped guide the development of the City’s widely recognized and award winning Urban Design Master Plan and Urban Design Code. Other projects of note include the creation of the award winning 2010 Downtown Omaha Master Plan and the related Downtown / Mid-Town Streetcar Feasibility Study. Mr. Jensen also served as the Chairman of the College World Series Stadium Design Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors for the Omaha Hilton Hotel until his retirement. He continues to serve on the Omaha By Design Advisory Board and as Co-Chairman of the Environment Omaha - Environmental Master Plan committee for the City of Omaha. Now in private practice, Mr. Jensen is currently providing planning and urban design consulting services to a variety of private and public clients.
GUEST SPEAKER : David Arbogast
TOPIC(s) : Masonry Repair
ABOUT : Calling Davenport, IA home, David offers experience from his long career with the National Park Service (NPS), both as a Historical Architect and as an authority on mortar issues. Now an independent consultant, he works extensively on contracts with the NPS on private projects across the nation. He brings together a historical approach to the development of mortar and his knowledge of modern analytical tools for the replication of specific historic formulas and applications. David’s presentations cover historic masonry, preservation and repair, as well as mortar, and case studies of historic masonry buildings.
GUEST SPEAKER : Jennifer Honebrink, AIA, LEED AP, Alley Poyner Macchietto, Architect
TOPIC(s) : Making Historic Properties Accessible, and Rehabilitating Historic Storefronts
ABOUT : Jennifer has a bachelors degree in Architecture and Environmental Design from North Dakota State University. She has a MS in Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She joined Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture to further explore her interest in the preservation and revitalization of historic buildings and neighborhoods. She has become an expert in the arduous task of writing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, a key element in funding these projects. Jen's appreciation gained through the study of these structures, allows her to design sensitively to the intentions of the original structure. Her LEED accreditation and knowledge also allows for the pursuit of environmentally sensitive solutions often ignored in renovation projects.
GUEST SPEAKER : Martin Kluck, NCIDQ, AIA Alley Poyner Macchietto, Architect
TOPIC(s) : Making Historic Properties Accessible, and Rehabilitating Historic Storefronts
ABOUT : Martin has a Bachelors in Architecture from the University of Texas and over 18 years of experience in architecture and interior design. He has had multiple responsibilities on a wide range of projects, focusing his skills on the renovation and adaptive reuse of many of the most significant historic buildings in Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, IA. As nationally certified interior designer, he also brings design that is sensitive to the architecture of century-old structures to the 21st century living and working spaces.
GUEST SPEAKER : David Lawrence, Lawrence Restoration, Preservationist / Craftsman
TOPIC(s) : Plaster Repair, and Repairing and Painting Exterior Woodwork
ABOUT : David has spent many years rehabilitating historic properties and enjoys sharing the challenges and adventures of discovering, purchasing, and restoring a collection of commercial buildings that are now helping to revitalize a small Iowa community. David will discuss the causes of deterioration of wood, methods for repair of exterior wood, and the best ways to preserve and restore painted wood exterior elements. David will also discuss methods to repair historic plasterwork, describing how to salvage loose and cracked plaster and how to prepare plaster walls for painting.
GUEST SPEAKER : Steve Stimmel, AIA, LEED AP, Brooks Borg Skiles Architecture Engineering
TOPIC(s) : Architects of Iowa
ABOUT : Steve has both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Architecture degree from Iowa State University. He has been an Iowan all his life; lived and worked in Burlington for 10 years and past 25 in Des Moines. Currently, an Architect and Partner at Brooks Borg Skiles since 1997, the successor firm to Proudfoot and Bird, established in Des Moines in 1895. Steve has a strong interest in historic preservation, and is a member of State National Register Nominating Committee. Steve is from Des Moines Beaverdale neighborhood, and is a LEED Accredited Professional. Steve’s architectural project experience includes University of Northern Iowa Sabin Hall Renovation, Grinnell College Goodnow Hall Restoration/Renovation, ISU Beardshear Hall Renovation/Restoration, and Starr's Cave Nature Center in Burlington.
GUEST SPEAKER : Steve Wilke-Shapiro
TOPIC(s) : Why Old Buildings Matter and Lead Basics
ABOUT : Steve Wilke-Shapiro is a design professional with 10 years of experience in residential renovation and adaptive reuse with a focus on historic preservation. He has designed and prepared construction drawings for renovation projects that range in size from a small bathroom through a multi-million dollar warehouse-to-loft conversion. Steve is owner of reNew Design Studio. With masters degrees in Architecture and Social Work, his underlying philosophy is that a good designer's roles include both helping define the client's vision and creatively translating that vision into drawings that accurately describe the project to the contractors. Steve's passion for renovation and preservation lead him to organize an advocacy group called the Des Moines Rehabbers Club. The Des Moines Rehabbers Club mission is to promote neighborhood revitalization and restoration of Des Moines' unique building stock by informing, educating, inspiring, and supporting each other in all phases of renovation and maintenance.
GUEST SPEAKER : Daric O'Neal Assoc. AIA, Alley Poyner Macchietto, Project Manager
TOPIC(s) : History and Feasibility Study of the Thos. D. Murphy Company Building, and Preservation Progress Downtown Red Oak
ABOUT : Daric has a Bachelors of Science in Design, Minor in Landscape Architecture, and Masters in Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Daric has 10 years of adaptive reuse and historic rehabilitation experience including work on historic Federal Buildings in Grand Island, NE and Sioux City, IA, Generals Row at Offutt Air Force Base, the Thos. D. Murphy Factory and Power Plant, and Multiple Buildings in Downtown Red Oak. Having grown up in Red Oak, Daric’s passion for historic architecture is related to the small, mid-western town, and the many buildings that are virtually untouched from the early 1900’s. He is turning that passion into a reality while rehabilitating his own historic house built in 1880, and will be managing Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture’s Iowa office opening in the summer of 2011 in Red Oak, IA.
