The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 7, February 18, 2007, Article 11

WINDOW SNAFU HAUNTS B. MAX MEHL BUILDING RENOVATION

The Fort Worth, TX building constructed and occupied by numismatic
promoter extraordinaire B. Max Mehl was in the news this week as a
result of a controversy over newly installed windows:

"Ray Boothe figured the situation was as clear as, well, glass. The
Fort Worth architect and real estate developer, who specializes in
renovating historic structures, was restoring the Mehl Building on
the Near South Side. Needing new windows, he found some that looked
like the old ones, got approval from the appropriate city departments
and commissions, installed them as a last part of the $2.4 million
project, and was moving with his partners to start marketing the
historic property to tenants.

"The cause of all the furor? Boothe's windows are made of solid wood
and look similar to those installed 80 years ago, but they have an
aluminum veneer. It was that thin aluminum covering that Fort Worth
historic preservation officer Julie Lawless got an anonymous tip about
last fall. She oversees renovations and compliance of buildings within
historic districts.

"Technically, aluminum-clad windows don't fit the guidelines of that
historic district, as set by the neighborhood in 1990. They state that
exteriors must be “wood and masonry” and “typical of the style and period
of the structure and adjacent structures.”

"The thin coat of aluminum is holding up the re-use of one of Fort
Worth's more significant buildings. It was constructed for famed
numismatist, B. Max Mehl, America's most famous coin dealer in the
first half of the 20th century, whose clients included Winston Churchill
and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The three-story building is also an early
work of famed Fort Worth architect Wiley G. Clarkson, who designed the
downtown federal courthouse, Trinity Episcopal Church, Sanger Brothers
Department store, and numerous residences in Ryan Place and Rivercrest."

To read the complete article. see Full Story

[So who among our readers has actually been in the Mehl Building
- anyone?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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