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McKissick Associates is a family-owned firm providing architectural and design services with specialization in educational facility design & planning, historic preservation and sustainable "green" design.
McKissick Associates
Simonton Mansion
317 North Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101
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tel: (717) 238-6810
fax: (717) 238-6830
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Paula Mann, Marketing Coordinator
pmann@mckissickassociates.com
McKissick Associates
Piedmont Leaf Lofts
401 East 4th Street, Suite 203
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
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tel: (336) 722-6152
fax: (336) 722-6192
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David Watkins, Office Manager
dwatkins@mckissickassociates.com
Of the 14 awards Preservation PA is bestowing in September, three are awarded to McKissick Associates for work on the following:
A collection of storefronts in an old general store dated in the mid to late 1800's (1870-1890) is being expanded to include more retail space for this small summer resort town in central Sullivan County, in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The project involved the purchase, renovation and expansion of a major parcel and associated outbuildings in the Borough of Eagles Mere, for the purpose of creating a sustainable downtown center for retail, art galleries, and community use facilities. The former 1867 "General Store" forms an anchor in the historic downtown business district. Providing for expansion of the available retail space with the creation of appropriately sized sales venues, as well as a permanent home for the Borough museum with exhibits illustrating the communities past and present as well as its lost architectural heritage.
The entire town rallied around the renovation - forming the Historic Eagles Mere Village Inc. - in an effort to continue with plans to renovate other buildings in the community.
McKissick Associates worked to create a building in harmony with the architectural heritage of this lakeside resort and yet improve the building by implementing sustainable "Green" design and addressing those aspects of the building required to correct building code deficiencies. The grand opening of the Museum, currently still preparing their displays and memorabilia, will be occurring within the next year.
Millersburg was one Pennsylvania town to have the railroad as a part of its history and cultural fabric. In the late 19th century, the townspeople asked the Northern Central Railway Company officials for a beautifully designed building to welcome these travelers. By 1898, a new train station was built for Millersburg in the Queen Anne architectural style of the day.
The two-story brick and wood siding structure served as the town's passenger station until 1960. In 1982, the Historical Society of Millersburg and Upper Paxton Township acquired the property in hopes of restoring it to some of its past luster, and preserving an important piece of its town's architecture.
McKissick Associates was hired by the Society to perform an exterior rehabilitation plan on the station. The proposed rehabilitation adheres to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Properties. It was recommended that the building's exterior be returned to the historic characteristics of its early details from 1898-1920; including rebuilding the historic slate roof and Yankee gutter system. Its contemporary use will be as a showcase for the Society's train station memorabilia.
The town of Hazleton grew because of the coal industry, with the first school being built in 1837 by the Hazleton Coal Company. The decline of this industry had a direct impact upon the stagnation of the region. Hazleton today is experiencing renewed growth because of the development of Interstates 81 and 80. The region, known as the cross roads of tomorrow, is conveniently situated two hours west of New York City, and an hour and a half north of both Philadelphia and Harrisburg. New industry has located here and the population has swelled with the availability of new jobs.
In 1926, Hazleton Senior High School was built at a cost of $1,114,378.77, the first school to exceed the million-dollar mark in the State of Pennsylvania. The school became known as the Castle on the Hill. Tragically, Hazleton High School eventually succumbed to a diminished economy, increased cost of repair, and the mindset that a new building was needed to revive the school district. The doors were closed in the early 1990s, and an auction was held to remove anything deemed valuable, before the building was to be demolished. Thankfully, a grassroots effort was launched by the local historical society to save the building and reclaim many of the auctioned items. A swell of community support, as many graduates of the former high school still reside in the region, coupled with the need for additional facilities to accommodate the population increase, has brought the high school back into the spotlight for inclusion in the district.
In 2003, McKissick Associates was retained by the district to provide a comprehensive facilities evaluation. In the study, the former high school was identified as cost effective rehabilitation to provide much needed space for the District, and would easily reconfigure into a school for grades three through eight. Equally important, the study also identified the architectural significance of the old high school, and the sense of pride associated with it by many residents. As a result, a fund was established by the District to receive donations for the rehabilitation of the Castle with great success.
The nearby Arthur Street School, built in 1917, and recently rehabilitated, will serve the community's Kindergarten through Second Grades students. The former high school will be internally subdivided to create two schools within a school, one serving grades three through five, and the second serving grades sixth through eight.
Demolition for the series of annexes constructed onto the rear of the Castle allowed for completion of the original 1926 floor plan. This in turn created space for off street parking, and allowed the "side yards" to function as secure play areas, and the front yard to maintain the grace of the Castle on the hill. A 12,000 square foot addition will be built onto the Castle to house mechanically intensive functions such as science, kitchen and central mechanical room. The workscope encompases replacing the roof, window upgrades, masonry work, and demolition of the former annex at the rear of the building leaving 126,500 SF of the orginial building.
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