In Fort Worth, Texas, the former Masonic Widows and Orphans home is a 20-acre historic campus of red brick buildings that is up for redevelopment. Architect Lee Hill talks about their plans for the site.
Hill's goal was to save as much of the original buildings as possible, but with an eye to the practical.
Hill writes, "Early on, our design team realized that our preservation challenge would be to honor the legacy of what the masons created, while reprogramming the buildings to serve a new generation of children and families. Orphanages are a thing of the past, and the goal today is to provide social services, while focusing on keeping kids and families together. Times have changed, and the buildings are changing as well."
The Mighty Mites were a Masonic football team that regularly played on the campus.
FULL STORY: Preserving Fort Worth’s past while building our future
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Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
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