Historic Preservation Projects

The principal and founder of Ruby Architects, Inc. has over ten years experience in the field of historic preservation. A thorough knowledge of historic materials such as brick and lime-based mortar, granite, limestone, terracotta, wood windows, slate, wood and clay tile roofs and more gives the firm a unique perspective on how well our historic buildings have served us. This experience serves to inform us on how well our new structures are designed and built today. It is our hope that the structures with which we are associated will become assets to future generations. A description of some historic preservation projects follows:

University of Arkansas Historic Preservation Master Plan - Fayetteville, Arkansas

Ruby Architects, Inc., along with consultants Lord Aeck & Sargent of Atlanta, GA and The Jaeger Company, a historic landscape architect of Gainsville, GA, were selected among several nationally recognized firms to complete a campus-wide preservation master plan. The final master plan will assist the University in documenting its historic properties, adds them to the National Register of Historic Places and provides recommendations towards the proper identification, assessment, care and maintenance of their historic properties and fixtures. Services also include the scheduling of hands-on training seminars for maintenance personnel in practicing restoration techniques. Some of the historic buildings included in the survey are shown in photographs below.

Resulting from recommendations in the master plan, the historic core of the University of Arkansas was listed as a National Historic District in September, 2009, making it the first publicly-funded university in Arkansas to be so designated.

Dyess Administration Building - Dyess, Arkansas

Best known as the small farming community where music legend Johnny Cash grew up, the central structure in this historic town in Northeast Arkansas is currently being rehabilitated so that it may function once again as the center of town government. Plans are also to include exhibit space on the history of Dyess and its most famous inhabitant. The photo on the left shows the building at the end of 2007. The photo on the right shows the recently completed first phase of the project's roof replacement. Wood shingles were found to be the original roofing material.

Pulaski County Courthouse - Little Rock, Arkansas

Ruby Architects, Inc. has assisted Pulaski County on several completed projects including the addition of a new jury box in an historic courtroom, repair & repainting of historic wood windows and slate roof replacement of the original 1880's courthouse. Other projects include skylight condition assessment and assistance with seeking grants from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

Clinton School of Public Service - Little Rock, Arkansas

Formerly known as the Choctaw Station, this beautiful 108-year old brick and terracotta building was rehabilitated soon after President Clinton left office in 2000 as part of the Clinton Presidential Center & Park. The building houses Clinton Foundation offices as well as the School. Aaron C. Ruby, AIA has assisted in determining a proper scope of work for brick masonry repair in 2006. Mr. Ruby was involved in the building's original rehabilitation while employed at WER Architects, Little Rock. The brick chimneys, seen in these photographs, were missing from the building since the 1950's, but reconstructed in 2000 after careful study of a 1910 postcard image. The chimneys not only help complete the appearance of the original structure, but also conceal modern uses. The north chimney serves as exhaust while the south chimney provides fresh-air intake for modern building systems.

Arkansas Studies Institute - Little Rock, Arkansas

Ruby Architects, Inc assisted Polk Stanley Wilcox in determining the proper scope of work on this project that involves the historic Budget Office Building and the Geyer & Adams building in the River Market District in downtown Little Rock. Issues include cleaning and re-pointing of historic brick, terracotta, and wood window repair. The project was completed in 2009 for the Central Arkansas Library System.

Various Condition Assessments

Through a competitive qualifications-based process, Ruby Architects, Inc. was retained by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program to provide various condition assessments on historic buildings throughout the state of Arkansas. Among them are Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Brinkley; Imboden Methodist Church, Imboden, Arkansas; Boone-Murphy House in Pine Bluff; Norman Public Library in Norman, Arkansas and Mt. Moriah Freemason's Lodge #18 in the community of Lisbon, Arkansas. Mt. Moriah, constructed originally in the 1850's, may very well be the oldest structure in the State of Arkansas, still owned by its original owner and still used for its original purpose.