Like most of the professional world, the onset of a pandemic induced work stoppage and quarantine presented opportunity where it was once otherwise lost – time for some serious professional development hours and continuing education. Personally, the accumulated dust on the piano keys, table saw, and Dutch oven was a welcomed indicator that there was…
On March 11, 2020 I was in South Bend, Indiana with co-worker Patrick Capruso and colleagues Casey Williams and Mary Donlon of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger. Just as novel coronavirus was starting to dominate the news headlines around that time, a lot of our dinner talk during the two days on site centered on the…
Vertical Access spent the last two weeks at the Nebraska State Capitol assisting Dan Worth and Julie Cawby at BVH Architects and Stephen J. Kelley, Preservation Consultant, with investigations at the dome and other portions of the 400′ tower. We were retained to assist with a periodic inspection of the masonry following a multi-phased restoration project…
(Hint: It’s not all about rope access!) In 2017 Vertical Access was retained by the City of Ithaca to perform a condition assessment of twelve hillside burial vaults located within the Ithaca City Cemetery in Ithaca, New York. Early this year the City of Ithaca voted to bond money toward the repair some of the…
Abandoned hospitals and asylums may be a horror film cliche, but the statistics on vacant, threatened, and demolished institutional complexes are all too real. Search “abandoned asylum” and the first hit is an article on the popular website Atlas Obscura: “18 Abandoned Psychiatric Hospitals, and Why They Were Left Behind.” Of the hundreds of asylums…
View the latest video in the series, Tourist in Your Own Town, made by the New York Landmark Conservancy, all about the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument. During the Revolutionary War, the British held thousands of prisoners on ships anchored in the East River. These prisoners represented all thirteen colonies and at least thirteen different nationalities.…
View the latest video in the series, Tourist in Your Own Town, made by the New York Landmark Conservancy, all about the New York Botanical Garden. We’ve had the pleasure of working at the Botanical Garden in the past and are currently assisting with maintenance and access fall protection design. (We love our “hero shots’”!) [addtoany]…
In the course of its storied architectural history, Chicago has come to rue the demolition of buildings like Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange. They were torn down for the usual reasons. Owners claimed they were outdated. Politicians refused to stand in the way of “progress.” Activists protested, but not enough ordinary…
We recently added up historic buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places that we’ve helped to preserve since 1992 (wow, more than 182!). Take a tour with your mouse through our Historic Preservation Brochure and celebrate #PreservationMonth with us! [addtoany]
Vertical Access has had the privilege of making several trips to Boston’s Trinity Church over the years in order to assist with the investigation of interior and exterior conditions. Consecrated in 1877 and situated on a prominent public square in Boston’s Back Bay, Trinity Church is considered the masterpiece of architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Today,…
