Architecture Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Architectural Firm To Help W.Va. Community Facilities

The Mills Group is awarding free design plans to Morgantown’s Clinton District Public Library, the Wheeling Catholic Central High School gym and Jefferson County Community Ministries’ new community service center in Ranson.

Three public facilities in northern West Virginia were awarded free architectural services Thursday by the Morgantown-based firm Mills Group.

The firm is awarding free design plans to Morgantown’s Clinton District Public Library, the Wheeling Catholic Central High School gym and Jefferson County Community Ministries’ new community service center in Ranson.

Managing Principal Michael Mills says it’s a way for the company to use its services to give back locally.

“We, as architects, as designers, have the ability to change how folks interact within a community, we help build community, we help reinforce the good in the community,” Mills said. “So I think that’s what gets me out of bed every morning.”

The annual initiative was relaunched for its 3rd year last June. The award involves helping nonprofits that have had trouble getting projects off the ground with pro-bono design and rendering work.

Previously, the Mills Group has been known for architectural preservation projects across West Virginia like the Met Theater in Morgantown, the Tygart Hotel in Elkins and the Parkersburg Children’s Museum.

Recipients of this award in years past include a welcome center for the West Virginia Botanic Garden in Morgantown, a parks and rec indoor facility in New Martinsville and a toll house in Wheeling that had been struck by a tornado.

Architectural Firm Looks To Help Build W.Va. Communities

An architecture firm is looking to help public entities and nonprofits building communities in the state.

In celebration of West Virginia’s 159th birthday this year, the Morgantown-based Mills Group will provide pro-bono conceptual architectural services to three organizations.

The company will select one project from each of the following regions: Mountaineer Country, Northern Panhandle and Eastern Panhandle.

Projects can either be an adaptation of an existing building or new construction, but should provide a benefit to the community.

The Mills Group has been involved with architectural preservation projects across West Virginia, including the Met Theater in Morgantown, the Tygart Hotel and the Parkersburg Children’s Museum.

Applicants are asked to provide a brief description and vision of the project, as well as a scope of how the Mills Group can consult.

The deadline for applications is Friday, July 22 at 5 p.m. Applications can be submitted here.

October 9, 1954: Architect Elmer F. Jacobs Dies at 79

Architect Elmer Forrest Jacobs died in Morgantown on October 9, 1945, at age 79.

The Preston County native attended West Virginia University and the Carnegie Institute of Technology before he began designing fire-resistant factories in Pittsburgh. In 1894, Jacobs set up his architectural practice in Morgantown.

Jacobs designed homes, factories, banks, mills, churches, post offices, and schools in northern West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In particular, his work can be seen in downtown Morgantown, including two wings of WVU’s historic Woodburn Hall. He also redesigned the Seneca Glass building on Beechurst Avenue after a fire, and designed the nearby Union Stopper Company building, later known as Beaumont Glass.

Jacobs’s career coincided with Morgantown’s growth in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the city increased in population from 2,000 to 10,000, thanks largely to the expansion of WVU, the development of the glass industry and other industries, and the arrival of European immigrants. As a result, the demand for housing, education buildings, and commercial structures was critical.

Most of Elmer Jacobs’s buildings that still stand in Morgantown are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.