Last week, I started to write a bit about changing patterns of urbanism and suburbanizationin Grand Forks, North Dakota. This is part of a larger study of mid-century urbanism in Grand Forks that Im working on with my wife, Susan Caraher. This summer, were preparing an inventory over 3,500 mid-century homes construction between 1945 and 1970.

As part of that work, Ive started to write some basic descriptions of the development ofGrand Forks during the period. This is a pretty rough draft, but its starting to take some shape. Needless to say, Ill be revising, filling in gaps, and tightening up the entire thing, but its a start:

Suburbanization is generally understood to be a trend that took place around the core of established cities. Spurred by improvements in transportation, the economic boost of the GI Bill and the post-war economy, and, in many cases, racial and ethnic fears, new rings of housing emerged around large and mid-sized cities across the US from the 1940s to the 1970s (Jackson 1985; Hayden 2003). The communities amplified new ideals of domesticity, intensified interwar consumer culture, refashioned longstanding religious landscapes, and shaped American political life. Modern suburbs both served as a backdrop for mid and late-20th culture and instilled values which would become distinct to characterization of the American way of life. The apartment dwelling Honeymooners (1955-1956), with Ralph Cramdens persistent threats of domestic violence, gave way to rationalized domesticity of the Brady Brunch (1969-1974). The popular music of the garage band came to challenge the urban sounds of the jazz club, urban concert hall, and Maxwell Street busker. The New Topographics (1975) challenged the views of the American frontier pioneered by Ansel Adams by replacing scenic vistas with the orderly sprawl of suburban homes and the Crabgrass Frontier of Kenneth T. Jackson (1985).

Small cities like Grand Forks experienced suburbanization as well, but in a slightly different form than more established cities with dense urban cores, and recent scholarship has sought to survey and understand the range of different responses to the proliferation of the post-war suburban ideal (McManus and Ethington 2007, 318). In many areas, the ideal post-war suburb conformed to certain elements of Garden City planning with access to green spaces, gently curving streets and limited access in accordance with a series of influential FHA standards published between 1936 and 1941 (Ames and McClelland 2002). In smaller cities like Grand Forks, earlier standards for urban expansion held greater sway owing as much to the limited resources on the part of developers and the community, the smaller size of subdivisions, and even the absence of topographic features that encouraged development designed to accentuate the landscapes. As a result, the plan of Grand Forks expansion, particularly to the south of the city showed greater affinities to the style developed by J.C. Nichols for the Country Club District in Kansas City (Ames and McClelland 2002, 37) where city blocks with occasional curving roads formed the basic unit of development. This innovation, most visible south of 15 avenue in Grand Forks, followed the arguments proposed by urban planners such as Clarence Perry in the 1920s and 1930s. Perrys neighborhood unit plan with its emphasis on hierarchically organized roads and arterial routes assigned to the perimeters of neighborhoods, the central place of the school and the peripheral location of shopping and commercial spaces, and reserving space for parks and open spaces had significant influence in practice throughout the development of Grand Forks (Perry 1929). These and similar ways of reimagining the organization of the neighborhood had a profound influence on the shape of the new suburb and an emerging post-war ideal. The relationship between the physical structure and the mid-century community appears most famously William H. Whyte in his widely read, The Organization Man (1956), attempted to show how attention the arrangement of suburban developments shaped social relationships between neighbors. More recently, works like D.J. Waldies Holy Land: A Suburban Memoire (1996) have explored the intermingling of personal narrative, economic motivations, and spiritual experiences in the space of post-war suburban landscapes. In contrast to the self-contained, expansive, and carefully planned suburban spaces considered by Whyte and Waldie, the post-war expansion of Grand Forks remains a hybrid of new suburban influences and established urban patterns. The curved streets with idyllic names remain backed by alleyways even as urban planners during the interwar period recommended against them for aesthetic, cost, and functional reasons.

More broadly, the expansion of the city from 1945-1970 largely followed the existing urban grid and extended along established arteries. Only after the 1970s did development prompt the addition of new arterial roads in the city with the 32nd Avenue and Columbia Road becoming major thoroughfares in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Development of any scale south of 32nd Avenue commences only in the early 21st century.

The 1940s

The earliest post-war housing was largely infilling in established residential areas.

The Riverside neighborhood expanded to the north with the Baukols Subdivision which saw construction as early as 1946. Several of these homes (301 Park Ave. (32GF3427) and 302 Park Ave (32GF3428) are listed as a contributing property to the Riverside Historic neighborhood as are two nearby homes on 3rd Street which is part of the Skidmore Addition (1705 (32GF3295) and 1715 (32GF1396); a modified bungalow and a plain residential home respectively). The homes of the Baukol subdivision show considerably continuity with development in this area in 1920s. The founding of Riverside Park in the early 20th century undoubted drew early residents to this neighborhood as the construction of the Riverside Pool by WPA in 1941 attracted families in the post-war period.

A similar form of development which largely followed interwar patterns of urban expansion also occurred between downtown and the University of North Dakota especially along 1st and 2nd avenue in the Decotah Place and Budge and Eshelmans 3rd Addition subdivisions.

South of town likewise saw infilling particularly to the west of Cherry Street and south of 10th Avenue North. The growth of this area contributed to the construction of Lewis and Clarke Elementary School in 1953 and sometime in the late 1950s, Calvary Luthern Church at the intersection of Cherry and 15th avenue. One of the most significant subdivision of the 1940s in this area and Letnes Subdivision is interesting for the shape of the evocatively named Sunset Drive which curves to the north and divides leaving a small, leaf-shaped island of grass in the middle fo the two roads. Curiously this area of the city lacked alleyways suggesting that the neighborhood followed more progressive design standards that were not seen in Grand Forks until the 1960s.

The 1950s

Throughout the 1950s, Grand Forks continues to expand to the west and south.

To the west, housing continued to fill in the neighborhoods between theuniversityand downtown,with the much of the neighborhoods between Washington Street and the University, south of Gateway Drive (US Route 2) being filled in by mid 1950s. Thispromptedthe construction first, in 1949, of West Elementary and then in the mid-1950s Valley Junior High. The neighborhoods in this area, the Swangler, Westacott, Westwood, University Place, and three Kelsey Subdivisons surrounding University Park, largely follow the urban grid and lack curved roads or other features associated with suburban trends elsewhere in the city. They also maintained the presence of north-south running alley ways.

A similar tendency to follow the urban grid occurred in the earliest subdivisions established to the west of Washington Street and south of Demers. The names of several of the subdivisions in this area, however, evoke bucolic images of suburban idyl and the concept of the Garden City: Westward Acres and the Garden Home Addition. These developments extend along the developing commercial corridor of Washington Street which experienced the construction of several retail establishments, restaurants, and businesses including the towns first shopping centers. These new commercial building were set back from Washington Street and were fronted by large parking lots designed to accommodate customers who used the new arterial roads of Washington Street and Demers to move from their homes to work, shopping, school, and other activities throughout the city.

South of 15th Avenue several new subdivisions appeared which continued to follow the urban grid of Grand Forks, but incorporate curving streets continuing a trend initiated by the Letnes Subdivision in the 1940s. Chestnut Street swoops south of 15th and provides access to a group of homes set into the center of the block. The contemporary Robertson Subdivision developed throughout the mid-1950s features a gently curving road and a cul-de-sac, which emerged as perhaps the quintessential form of suburban planning. The sinuous shape of Campbell Drive that connects Cherry Street and Chestnut between the 17th and Park Avenue in the Hvidston Subdivision even allowed for three, open, fanshaped lots on the outside of a curve that served as a baseball field for nearly a decade before being filled in with homes in the mid-1960s.

To the west of Cherry, the urban grid remained largely intact and the area developed with slightly smaller homes and smaller lots through the 1950s. East of Cherry, few new homes stood south of 24th by 1959. In contrast, Belmont Avenue with its larger lots and homes was nearly all developed up until 32nd Avenue. Most of the development north of 24th avenue in the 1950s continued to feature alleys even when developers incorporated more curved roads into the suburban plan.

The 1960s

The 1960s witnessed more adventurous development.

Olsons subdivisioneast of Belmont featured large lots set along curving roads that suggested the shape of the Red River. Park land near the river offered opportunities for recreation and mitigated, to some extent, the risk of flooding which after the 1997 flood required the installation of the flood wall and the removal of some homes.

To the east of Belmont the White Clover subdivision and Sunset Acres Subdivisions with curving roads that complicated the urban grid with bucolically named roads like Olive and Clover Drive. On 32nd Avenue between Cherry St. and Washington, Schroeder Junior High opened in 1961 in anticipation of Grand Forks southern growth and, next door, Kelly Elementary opened in 1966 to serve these communities. On the northeastern corner of the block, the new building of the local Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints opened its doors in 1966. Unlike Schroeder, designed by Wells Denbrook, this modern church followed the Adams 1 (AD 61-577) plan developed my the central Mormon Church committee which was thoroughly modern in form and could be easily expanded to accommodate a growing congregation.

To the west of Washington Street, the second level of development occurred south of west of 17th street and south of 11th avenue with the large Burkes Home Addition anchored to the north by Ben Franklin Elementary which was opened in 1960 and Red River High School in 1967. The most significant mid-century addition to this area, however, was North Dakotas first indoor shopping mall, South Forks Plaza (now Grand Cities Mall) in 1964. Designed by the firm of DeRemer, Harrie and Kennedy, which also designed Ben Franklin Elementary, Holy Family Church and School (1961) just east of Washington, and Lewis and Clarke Elementary (1952/3) several blocks to the north, it included a K-Mart and a Sears store and a modular design that allowed the Kmart to open before the mall was even complete. To the west of the mall, the Valley Park subdivision, built slightly before the mall, consisted of two u-shaped roads, Willow and Dress, that were not through streets. The subdivision included walking paths connecting it to the mall and the burgeoning Washington Street commercial and retail corridor. The balance between the design which limited through traffic and the convenience of walking paths to retail shops embodied many of the key design elements of mid-century suburban design.

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Settlement in Grand Forks 1945-1970: A Draft - stopthefud

Ness Bank Church starts a lunch club.Picture: Gary Anthony. Image No.020220.

A city project which has provided vital food supplies for hundreds of vulnerable people since the start of the coronavirus crisis is appealing for donations of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Inverness Foodstuff has closed its drop-in caf at Ness Bank Church, but still operates a takeaway and delivery service for those facing hard times.

Since the start of the crisis it has delivered more than 500 free meals with the help of people from catering and delivery backgrounds who have found themselves with time to help.

The church and community-led project was set up in 2014 with the aim of tackling food poverty and loneliness.

Operations manager June MacLeod said: The 100 or so folk who relied on the service weekly are a mix of people in temporary homeless accommodation with limited cooking facilities, vulnerable tenants and occasionally someone rough sleeping.

Over the past weeks weve been turning around what was simply a caf to now deliver meals to people in a variety of settings. Thats supported social distancing and we have been able to identify people sofa surfing and reach out to help where possible.

Iver Forsyth, a board member and principal housing officer at Highland Council, said the group had faced challenges.

In common with so many other voluntary groups, our biggest need at the project is the PPE thats recommended to manage this safely, he said. If there are businesses in the Inverness area, whether construction, hairdressing, or oil and gas, that can spare FFP3 masks or other PPE, please get in touch, either through me or Ness Bank Church.

To find out more or to donate click here

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In these testing times, your support is more important than ever. Thank you.

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Inverness caf project based at Ness Bank Church issues appeal for PPE donations during Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic - Inverness Courier

For about a month, Seattle residents have been isolating in their homes to combat the coronavirus. It can be hard during this time to feel connected or maintain a sense of normalcy.

One local immigrant family has been living a similar version of this reality for a year.

T

heres a few ways Jaime Rubio Sulficio deals with being alone.

First, he reads a lot of books.

His last read was The Book of Joy, by Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. It discusses how to achieve happiness even in times of deep grief.

Sulficio also has two purring companions. Toto, the cat with white socks and her sister Keira, who keep him company.

And lastly, he cooks really cooks, as an art and as a mindful practice.

"I used to be so busy that I never really have a time to pause and really focus on one thing at a time," Sulficio says over FaceTime.

Recently, he made a vegan tortilla soup from scratch. His wife Keiko Maruyama said her favorite is his baked chicken, complete with fresh rosemary and a special sauce.

When we talk, Sulficio is a little nervous and fidgets with his hands.

He shares that he has been in sanctuary at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle for a little over a year.

Sulficio is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. He was ordered to leave the U.S. last spring. But that would mean leaving his wife and 7-year-old son behind. While his immigration case is pending, he took refuge at the church, living there with his family.

"I still have friends communicate and they asked me, 'So how do you do it?'" he says with a laugh. "Because I've been in quarantine for almost a year so I'm kind of a pro already!"

ICE officials avoid "sensitive locations" like churches or hospitals for the most part, so this is a way for the family to buy themselves time.

Sulficio admits it was difficult choice. He had to walk away from his construction business. His family left behind their home in Shoreline and they had to figure out child care and finances.

"Being in sanctuary was pretty challenging mentally because I had to adjust that I can no longer be part of the exterior world. The first three months that was really like a battle," he says.

Sulficio used to step outside. But not anymore.

Maruyama is on the video call with us and mostly keeps her eyes on her husband as we talk.

This time has been tough on her, too. She became the main breadwinner, and luckily still has a job with a local jewelry store, despite the coronavirus outbreak. But she knows that could change.

While Maruyama and Sulficio are in a more unique situation than many who are quarantining across the U.S., they also have a special insight into adapting to major, heartbreaking sacrifice.

Talking to Sulficio, hes the first to point out the positives.

"I learned to be a better partner you know, a better parent better Dad," he says.

He talks about learning to connect with friends online, staying busy with reading, and cooking. He also does his best to volunteer inside the church with construction projects. But he acknowledges that despite his bright attitude, its not always easy to be hopeful.

"I think this is part of human feeling," Sulficio says. "You have to experience that sadness, the desperation. I have it too, you know. I get depressed, and I feel that I cannot handle it anymore. So its okay to not be okay. Its gonna pass. This will not last forever."

O

n a Palm Sunday, its partially sunny. Inside, Saint Mark's, the choir fills the cathedral with song.

Somewhere in the church, Sulficio, Maruyama, their son, and their two cats are hearing this music too.

For this family, the pandemic is not what first changed their lives. But it is something that's forced them to think about how to live a fulfilling life when its limited in other ways.

For his part, Sulficio explains, "Freedom doesn't come from ... just being able to go places. It's about a state of mind. For me, I'd be able to see my wife and I'd be able to see my kid. From time to time, I connect with friends. That's what gives me freedom."

Weeks or months from now, when most of us are finally able to leave our homes after this outbreak, Sulficio will likely remain indoors. He'll be waiting hopefully for a day when his immigration case wraps up, his sanctuary ends, and he is able to join the world outside.

And until then, we wait together.

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Lessons on surviving a pandemic from an immigrant in sanctuary - KUOW News and Information

People still have to eat. The soup kitchen at the Church of the Holy Apostles, the largest in the city, still feeds lunch to many of the hungriest among us, as it has done every weekday, including holidays, for thirty-eight years. A major fire in the church in 1990 didnt stop it, nor did September 11th or Superstorm Sandy. It has never missed a day. Lately, the serving station has been moved outdoors, to the churchs front gate, on Ninth Avenue, near West Twenty-eighth Street. The menu still offers a hot meal but packaged in a to-go sack with recyclable dishes, which are the biggest expense at the moment.

In non-pandemic times, the servers and other helpers include fifty or sixty volunteers. Many of these are retirees, and to keep them safe the soup kitchen has told most not to come in. Now all the preparation, serving, cleanup, and security is done by a core group of about fourteen soup-kitchen staff and select volunteers, who wear gloves, wash their hands a lot, and practice physical distancing. The Reverend Dr. Anna Pearson, the churchs rector and head of the soup kitchen, told a visitor, We dont call it social distancing, because what we offer here is not only food, its a human connection, even when we must stay physically farther apart.

Early on a recent morning, the sun came down the citys canyons, hitting the white blooms of the pear trees behind the church. Construction workers walked west from the subway stops and kept going, to the under-construction buildings bordering the Hudson River, and soon the cranes started swinging against the blue sky and the elevators on tracks outside the buildings steel frameworks were going up and down. By eight oclock, most of the staff had shown up, and some were preparing that days entrebaked ham with sweet potato. Seagulls shrieked as they swirled overhead toward the river. First in line, by the church gate, a man in two hooded coats sat with his back against the fence, knees up, reading the News. White vans and box trucks pulled to the curb on Ninth Avenue and unloaded crates of broccoli and olive oil. Christopher Molinari, the head chef and culinary manager, said, When all the restaurants started closing, some sent us their leftover supplies, and were still improvising menus from what we got. The food-service situation in the city changed so fast, some of the potatoes they sent us were already peeled.

By ten-fifteen, the line stretched to Twenty-eighth Street, around the corner, and down the long block between Ninth Avenue and Eighth. A soup-kitchen employee in a jacket of high-visibility green was walking along the line and urging those waiting to maintain spaces of six feet between one another. They complied, reluctantly, but somehow the line kept re-compressing itself. A strange, almost taxicab-less version of traffic went by on Ninthdelivery trucks, police tow trucks, police cars, home-health-care-worker vans, almost empty buses. Now and then a dog-walker, masked or swathed in a scarf, passed. The dogs, unconcerned, were enjoying the sunny day. At ten-thirty, lunch service started. The guests (as the soup kitchen refers to them) were admitted to the serving station one at a time, like travellers in airport security. Opening their lunch sacks, they began to eat standing on the sidewalk or leaning against the Citi Bike stands, or they crossed to the courtyard of a public building across the street and sat on benches by a statue of a soldier in the First World War.

Michael Ottley, the soup kitchens C.O.O., stood watching. Were doing about eight hundred meals a day right now, he said. We may have to increase that as more people lose their jobs. At any time, were ready to go to a thousand a day, or higher. Christopher Molinari stepped outside to join him, along with Ginger Pierce, a volunteer, who was the executive chef at Jams, a farm-to-table restaurant on Fifty-eighth Street, until it recently shut down. Reverend Pearson is concerned that in a bad economy donors might get nervous and the soup kitchens funding might go dry. But we, the staff, are in it to stay, Molinari said. This is a great place. As other soup kitchens have closed, Holy Apostles is the last light still on. Without us, a lot of our guests would probably fall by the wayside. Were not going to let that happen. On the avenue, masked and gloved delivery people from upscale grocery stores went pedalling by, towing trailers piled with green-and-yellow plastic bins.

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The Soup Kitchen That the Coronavirus Couldnt Stop - The New Yorker

St. George Orthodox Christian Churchs iconography is in good hands.

Those hands belong to George Kordis, who has been an iconographer for 45 years.

Most of my life is dedicated to this,Kordis said.

The Fishers Greek Orthodox church received a visit from Kordis and his team of iconographers from Greece March 11 to finish the final phase of painting icons, paintings of Jesus and other holy figures, at the church. Unfortunately, before the final phase could be completed, the team was forced to return to Greece March 25 to avoid becoming stranded in the U.S. due to the coronavirus pandemic. They will return when the travel situation returns to normal.

A Greek team of iconographers visited St. George Orthodox Christian Church to complete the fourth phase of the churchs iconography.

The iconography is a very important part of our worship; its not just decoration, St. George Pastor Nabil Hanna said. Iconography has been an essential part of the Christian faith from the very, very beginning, so I always point to the evidence we have in the catacombs in Rome when Christians were worshipping underground when it was illegal to be Christian back in the first century. Those catacombs, they painted with iconography all the walls and ceilings.

Its the sense we have when we come into worship, we are joining in what is happening in heaven and as a witness of that fact, its surrounding us. Its a theology in color.

Hanna, known as Father Nabil by his congregation, said some of the first icons were painted by St. Luke, who was an artist and author of the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles.

From the very beginning, the iconography has been a staple throughout the Orthodox world.

Whenever its feasible to the greatest extent possible, we have icons, because its a witness we are in the midst of the angels, the saints with Christ in the heavenly worship, Hanna said. We Christians understand thats where we belong.

Hanna said icons are referred to as windows into heaven.

When I look out this window, I dont think about the glass Im looking beyond the surface, Hanna said. Im not looking at the wall and the paint. My focus is on the subject behind it.

Construction of St. George, previously located in Indianapolis, started at 10748 E. 116th St. in 2012 and moved in late 2013.

Most churches in America use local iconographers, Hanna said. This group we became acquainted with and we became the first handful of churches that they did in America.

Kordis painted the icons at Holy Trinity in Carmel before St. George.

The reason we picked them is we saw their work. As we were deciding on which iconographers, we took field trips to see the work of the finalists, Hanna said. When we saw their work in Valley Forge,we were convinced. What makes them different from the vast number of iconographers, not only in America but around the world, is they paint directly on the wall the old-fashioned way. I would say 99 percent want to paint in their studio on canvas and then come affix to the wall and just do background. Its easier for them and they dont have to stretch their arm or stand on scaffolding. It might even be easier to do more detailed work, but it ends up looking more disjoined as separate scenes rather the flow of being surrounded by heaven.

This was St. Georges fourth phase of iconography. The first phase was completed while the church was under construction, starting in the altar area and continuing to the top of the dome.

Kordis has a master of divinity degree from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and earned his Ph.D. in theology and Byzantine Aesthetics from the University of Athens.

We keep the tradition and preserve as much as possible, Kordis said. Everything depends on the architecture of the church. There are standard themes but each church is different.

George Kordis stands on scaffolding to reach parts of the wall. (Photos by Anna Skinner)

Deacon Joseph Olas, a St. George pastoral assistant, has a special connection to St. George.

Its the parish he grew up in as his father, Rev. Joseph Olas, was the pastor.

His father was pastor for 13 years before retiring due to ill health in 1995. He died two years later. Hanna has been pastor since 1995.

I can tell you right now my dad would be very happy with what is being done here, Olas said.

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Key to worship: St. George nears final phase of iconography - Current in Carmel

More than a year has passed since Parisians watched in horror and sadness as Notre Dame Cathedral, a symbol of national pride since its construction in the 12th Century, was partially destroyed by fire.

First, melted scaffolding needs to be removed from the charred and broken Notre Dame before any architectural restoration begins in earnest. The scaffolding was in place for a $6.8 million restoration that was nearly completed when the fire struck. A team leading the post-fire reconstruction effort intends to remove the scaffolding in March before beginning the painstakingly careful repair work out of fear the buildings vaults could collapse. The French government, which leads the team, wants to ensure every restored artifact aligns with tradition and the expectations of future generations.

Notre Dame Cathedral isnt the first and wont be the last historic building to be restored after falling into disrepair or being destroyed by natural disaster or war. French restorationists will undoubtedly make decisions that are informed by the spirit of the structure, but they also can seek guidance from the rebuilding of other acclaimed historic buildings and new technologies.

Contemporary U.S. presidents dont actually stay in the same White House that George Washington lived in when he was in office. For one, it was then called the Presidents House, and until John Adams presidency it was in Philadelphia. But more exactly, the building that became the White House was lost to a fire set by British troops that stormed Washington, D.C., in 1814, two years into the War of 1812. Although it took 10 years to construct the first White House, its architect, James Hoban, returned to the wreckage to reconstruct a new one in less than three years.

Hoban was able to reuse stone walls, significantly hastening the rebuild, but he also saved time by altering the structural scheme of the building by using timber instead of brick, according to the White House Historical Association. Although resourceful and successfully working off memory, Hobans expediency led to a weaker structure that ultimately led to a demolition and rebuilding of the White House 130 years later.

White House reconstruction efforts pale in comparison with the many rebuilds of St. Pauls Cathedral in London. The cathedral dates to 604 A.D., but it has had several incarnations after burning in several fires over the centuries. Viking raiders also destroyed it.

The Great Fire of London in 1666 claimed St. Pauls yet again, leading a scientist, Christopher Wren, to lead an architectural restoration effort that illustrates the many demands on a project of public significance. After having designs rejected as too modest or too radical, Wren struck the perfect note with a plan to have the larger rebuilt church surrounded by dozens of smaller new churches. The beloved cathedral stood strong during the London Blitz, a German bombardment of the city in World War II, sustaining only minor damage and acting as a symbol of Britains resilience.

Modern technology now helps architects rebuild and preserve historic structures and determine how to create a restored artifact with the care and precision that restorationists and the public often expect.

Infrared thermography measures the radiation emitted by different materials to create a multi-layered look inside the walls of a building. This view can show preservationists where things are buried, whether a support beam has cracked and if anything lies beneath the surface. Ground-penetrating radar also helps detect structural defects in masonry and stone, and if any archeological remains are buried in the surrounding grounds.

Laser scanning could someday help bring Notre Dame Cathedral back to life. This process has emerged as a nearly fail-safe way to record the dimensions of structures should those many details be needed later. The digital photos can be used as point clouds, essentially detailed 3D models that can serve as blueprints for reconstructing buildings hurt by time, fire and natural disaster.

Because of the widespread affection for Notre Dame Cathedral, many recorded its internal workings before the 2019 fire. Vassar College professor Andrew Tallon led a 3D laser scan of the entire cathedral before his death in 2018. His continuous mapping of the church created a 3D image that Tallon said was accurate to within five millimeters and is considered a near-realistic image of the space that can guide the eventual reconstruction.

Of course, the materials used to build and repair Notre Dame over the centuries including the timber that made the roof and the stone that shaped the vaults isnt readily available today. Still, Tallons scanned images will give the eventual saviors of Notre Dame a meticulous view of how the cathedral used to stand and how it can again stretch into the Paris sky.

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Slovakian archeologists have uncovered a trove of 500 silver coins dating as far back as 1702 hidden underneath a church floor. The significant historical find was made after construction workers discovered the ruins of a Renaissance-era church underneath the 19th-century church they were renovating.

The archeological company Triglav came in to investigate after the construction workers stumbled upon the old foundationsat the church of St. Martina in Obiovce, near the eastern Slovakian city of Koice.The experts made the unprecedented discovery of the valuable hoard in February. The coins were hidden in a nondescript ceramic jug that had been concealed underneath a small flagstone in the original church floor. The jug was also sealed with a stone.

Most of the coins were minted by local mining companies, and the earliest one is stamped 1702, when Slovakia was ruled by Hungary as part of the Habsburg Empire. Some had come from Poland.The silver coins were individually wrapped in linen, and were likely collected as donations from pilgrims.

The archeologist Peter imk, who worked on the team, was unable to estimate the value of the hoard to local press, but said that its historical value was immense. The mining stamps were a low-value local currency traded for basic goods, but imk explained that miners also often used them as charity. When they dropped them into the bag, they clinked like normal coins, and no one could tell what they put in it,imk said.

The group of archeologists explain on their Facebook page that they decided to name the treasure the Mono-ocular Treasure after a partially blind priest they believe hid the coins.Historical sources from the time relate that a new Catholic priest,who was Polish and blind in one eye, came to the church in around 1687.It is believed that this priest stashed the treasure to keep it safe amid a slew of uprisings against the Habsburgs during that period.

Reports indicate that the church was indeed raided and left to ruin in 1705 but the hidden trove went unnoticed. It was reconstructed in the mid-19th century and the hoard still wasnt discovered until this year.

The treasure has been handed over to the state as required by Slovakian law when professional archeologists make a find.

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Archeologists Have Discovered a Trove of 300-Year-Old Silver Coins Hidden Beneath the Floor of a Renaissance Church in Slovakia - artnet News

Dominium, one of the nations largest affordable housing development and management companies,recently closed on the property they have named Heritage at Church Ranch. The property is located at thecorner of Church Ranch Road and Wadsworth Boulevard in Westminster. The $62 milliondevelopment will provide 205 units of high quality affordable senior housing and will expand Dominiumsportfolio in Colorado in excess of 1,000 homes.

In addition to the affordable homes created, this developmentwill preserve the historically significant barn, which is over 150 years old and will serve as a community spaceand the gateway to the Dry Creek trail system for their future residents.

Bryan Construction, Inc. (BCI)has been selected as the general contractor and other development partners include theCity of Westminster and PWN Architects. The entire Heritage at Church Ranch construction team is committedto providing affordable housing and a long-lasting partnership with Dominium.

Bryan Construction has a large portfolio of multifamily projects including affordable and tax-credit housing.

We have been in partnership with Dominium overthe past year helping to bring this project to fruition. We are proud to be a part of this project team and thegrowing needs this project will fill in the affordable housing market, said Doug Woody, vice president of Bryan Construction.

Construction is scheduled to begin inMay 2020.

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Affordable Housing Project to Break Ground in Westminster - milehighcre.com

Two Christian men were shot in the head and one was attacked with an axe on 2 February, during a church building construction dispute between the Masih family and some Muslim neighbours, in Sahiwal, Punjab province.

The Muslim attackers shot both Azeem and Sajjadin the head, and injured Razaq with an axe. All three men were admitted to the Civil Hospital Sahiwal, where Azeem was put into intensive care.

Azeem was released from the hospital three weeks later, on 24 February. His younger brother stated, He is unable to communicate and is paralysed from the right shoulder down. One of my cousins is recovering from the wound of a bullet that slightly hit his skull. My uncle was also injured with an axe.

The Masih family wanted to provide a building for the local Christian community, numbering at least 120 in the Muslim-majority area. There is no church in our village. We gather in the house of a local pastor for weekly prayers. We wanted to facilitate the women and elderly who couldnt travel each Sunday to the nearby city, they said.

Christians are often met with opposition when building churches in certain parts of Pakistan, especially rural areas. Local Muslims in Muzaffarabad stole building materials and cut off Christians water supply to halt the construction of a church, despite permission granted by local authorities.

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Two Pakistani Christians shot and one attacked with axe over church construction dispute - Barnabas Fund

ST. PETERSBURG As millions of dollars in downtown development pushed west, Christ United Methodist Church, struggling financially, decided to capitalize on the voracious appetite for land.

The radical move to sell the congregations parking lot once considered for an urban garden has netted a multimillion-dollar fund to put the church on a path to stability. Church leaders hope to use the money for ministries, upgrade their sprawling campus to bring in operating revenue and invest for the future.

Were coming down from the mountain and the real hard work begins in pulling this together, said the Rev. Jacqueline JonesSmith in the wake of the euphoria that came from the sale. We have to keep pushing. ... The sale was not the panacea. We dont want to become victims of sudden wealth syndrome."

The congregation, at 467 First Ave. N, next to City Hall, celebrated the December sale two Sundays ago. The service also marked the culmination of the churchs 128th anniversary. Bishop Ken Carter, head of the Florida United Methodist Conference, accepted an invitation to attend. A bishop had not visited the church in years.

The DeNunzio Group, based in Palm Harbor and Cambridge, Mass., paid $5.3 million for the churchs .65-acre parking lot at First Avenue N and Fifth Street. The firms president, Dustin DeNunzio, said he is pursuing an aggressive permitting timeline for a 24- to 28-story tower that will include ground-level retail, offices, a hotel, residential rental units and parking. The church will get up to 120 free parking spaces on Sundays and a few permanent spaces they can use all of the time.

Beyond that, we are committed to working with the church to ensure that they have the availability of parking for special events, DeNunzio wrote via email. Our goal is to help them become as successful as possible, and a lot of that will come from having adequate parking when they host special events.

Until construction begins, the church will continue to use the lot on Sundays, he said.

JonesSmith arrived at Christ United Methodist in 2016 and quickly appointed a business development group as part of an urgent strategy to revive the church. The former lawyer, who served as chairman and commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1989 to 1994, is the congregations first African-American pastor.

The business development group included Bob Stewart, a former Pinellas County Commissioner and St. Petersburg City Council member, and Jones-Smiths husband, Joshua I. Smith, a businessman who served on boards that included FedEx Corp., Caterpillar, Allstate Insurance and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

She put together the most unique ad hoc group you can imagine, said another member of the group, the Rev. Tom Gregory, a CPA and pastor emeritus of Christ Church.

My original charge was to look for ways that we could leverage our assets, Jones-Smith said. This was a group that could think outside the box.

The group suggested selling the parking lot, and it will work with others in the congregation to tackle challenges like upgrading technology and communications at the sprawling Christ Church campus and finding ways to enhance the building for the broader community. Jones-Smith envisions livestreaming, podcasts and online Bible studies as a way of reaching beyond the 1,200-seat sanctuary, where only about 175 to 180 people worship on Sundays. She also would like to see the sanctuary rented as a small performance venue, for meetings and conferences, and unused rooms on the church property transformed into offices.

The opportunity with the money is that when the present sanctuary was built in the late 50s, the Americans with Disabilities Act had not been thought of," said Gregory, 82, a former chairman of the board of trustees at St. Petersburg College. "There were no such things as handicapped restrooms. Hopefully, it would be used to provide facilities to meet the needs of all folks.

Christ Churchs pastor said the congregation will use some of its windfall to create new ministries and expand and restore old ones such as its laundry ministry, which gives quarters and offers prayers and other assistance at coin laundries. Jones-Smith added that she also plans to restart the churchs afterschool arts program, JAM, or Jesus, the Arts and Me. She would like her downtown congregation to work with the Rev. Jana Hall-Perkins of McCabe United Methodist Church, 2800 26th Ave. S, to take the program to areas where it is needed.

McCabe and Christ Church have a sister church" relationship and have been worshiping together once a year during Black History Month. This year, McCabe traveled downtown to Christ Church.

Christ Church is one of two Methodist congregations within blocks of each other in St. Petersburgs downtown. Gregory, who was baptized at Christ Church and whose parents married there, said he had been retired for five years when the district superintendent asked him to lead the declining congregation. It was an unpaid position. He recalls welcoming Jones-Smith when she and her husband walked through the doors to worship while visiting from Maryland. He felt God sent them to Christ Church.

I feel we are on our way, Jones-Smith said this week. God has really had a hand in this."

Its a new beginning rather than arriving, her husband said.

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From tiny downtown parking lot, St. Pete church blessed with millions - Tampa Bay Times