More →]]> Known for its substantial collection of Asian and Egyptian art, The Cleveland Museum of Art is nestled into the east side of the city in the Wade Park District.

In 1913, three prominent Cleveland residents, Hinman Hurlbut, John Huntington and Horace Kelley, bestowed an endowment of $750 million dollars to build the museum, all with the intention of keeping admission to the public free.

The centerpiece in the middle of the 75-acre Wade Park was built at a cost of $1.25 million dollars and designed by Hubbell & Benes. The white, neoclassical-style Georgian marble building provides great contrast with the stunning green from the park.

Over the years the museum has had many renovations and additions. In 1971, it was expanded to hold another wing. Marcel Breuer used two-toned granite in his design to break away from the original neoclassical style. In 1983, a library was built to house nine new galleries for all the art.

But the most comprehensive expansion of all is the one of the future. In 2005, the museum’s “Building for the future” project became the most expensive cultural project in Ohio’s history at $350 million. The project brought new east and west wings to the museum property as well as an atrium courtyard under a glass canopy.

Today the Cleveland museum has landed a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. With the help of the Ohio Art Council, the museum is still able to operate under free admission for everyone.

Art is timeless, and as the operators said on the museum’s opening day in 1916, it’s “for the benefit of all people, forever.”

BirdMaster is proud to support the arts and we’re happy to protect the museum from damage as long as it stands!

More →]]> Each year, people flock to Bronx Park to see beautiful flowers in bloom at the New York Botanical Garden.

With over 50 different gardens and plant collections, spanning across 250 acres of land, the gardens bring in over 900,000 people a year.

What’s amazing about the gardens is that at its center, there are 50 acres of forest; it’s the largest original forest of NYC before European settlers inhabited it in the 17^th century.

But what you may not know is that hidden inside the grounds of the garden is a wonderful world of science.

In 2006, one of the garden’s most important architectural landmarks was built. At the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, scientists can be found researching just how genes function in the plants’ development.

E.E. Howell, of Obayashi USA, and Ennead Architects, designed the lab with a bit of modern elegance. Since then, the $23 million dollar building has been leading the world in the study of plant evolution. It’s one of the only buildings on the property with such new design; the rest of the acres are home to a green house and a library with designs all based on Italian Renaissance style.

The structure has floor to ceiling glass walls running down its length to blur the distinction of its interior and the exterior, making the scientists feel as if they are outside in the gardens at all times.

The modern landmark is preserved with the help of BirdMaster so that the birds can retreat to their habitats instead of damaging any national architecture!

More →]]> Jamaica Station that is!

When we think New York City, we think of it as the center of the United States. Easily one of the most populated cities in America, it’s the heart of our country, and with so many people in and out of the city everyday, it’s a wonder anyone can keep up at all!

Jamaica Station works around the clock to provide city dwellers and tourists alike with transportation to every inch of the city. Part of the Long Island Rail Road system, the station is one of the busiest in the country serving over 200,000 passengers daily.

Originally, the station was designed by Kenneth M. Murchison and it was expanded from 1912 through 1913 to accommodate more people.

The station was given a $387 million renovation in 2006, and the project had a passenger-oriented goal in mind to developed new platforms and a pedestrian bridge, also known as Westerly Bridge, to become a part of the AirTrain JFK service.

The AirTrain connects the big apple with the rest of us! Direct routes with the John F. Kennedy International Airport through the AirTrain JFK service allow passengers to board flights all over the world!

The entire station includes five platforms, with one island platform used as the AirTrain Station sectioned off by enclosed glass. Unique doors before the railways prevent passengers from accessing the train until sensors have detected its position on the track. This way, the train never has to have a driver- it operates automatically!

Last year, 6.5 million passengers used the service. And that’s likely to increase in the years to come!

With so many people occupying the terminals on a daily basis, its imperative that its architecture last a lifetime! BirdMaster prides itself on helping to preserve the foundation of what will become a national landmark and important piece of history!

More →]]> It’s the eighth largest church in the world, the largest Catholic church in the United States and the tallest habitable building in Washington D.C.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has been standing proud since it opened in 1959.

Believe it or not, the Basilica’s dome is only 7 feet, making it smaller than the dome of the United States Capital. But its size doesn’t take away from its beauty.

With medieval inspiration, the church was built heavily with masonry walls and columns instead of steel and concrete. The blueprints were designed in order to hold 6,000 people and include some modern amenities.

In all, there are 70 chapels. The Basilica uses art and sacred images on the sides of the church to achieve a Romanesque-Byzantine look. Each arch outside is lined with Pewabic Pottery tile and ceramic medallions on the ceiling, and sitting inside are 14 stations of the cross for the crypt.

Now, if that isn’t impressive!

Inside, the architecture features a Greek style with mosaics to decorate the domes. Some say, it even reminds them of the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice, Italy!

A church this elegant is sure to throw a fantastic party! Maybe you’ve even seen it?

Last year, they held a publicly televised Thanksgiving Mass!

BirdMaster loves a good celebration, so we’ll continue to preserve this landmark and keep it rockin’!

More →]]> On any given day in downtown Springfield, Ohio, there are more crows than people. And it’s becoming a growing concern.

In fact, according to city officials- they’re everywhere! And it doesn’t look like the crows want to leave anytime soon.

With fields surrounding the county, crows have always had a longtime home there. But Roger Sherrock, CEO of the Clark County Historical Society, said that crows have been roosting downtown by the thousands for the last three years.

He even said he estimates that 50,000 crows gather downtown at a time! Now, that’s a lot of birds!

Businesses are beginning to lose hope that something can be done about the roosting. Since bird guano is very acidic, it corrodes surfaces and it has been leaving damage to buildings across the city. Not to mention the amount of bacteria that gets left behind.

Officials have tried several inhumane bird deterrence methods from noise devices to laser pointers with little success.

It’s hard to guess why the birds have congregated there, but Federal Wildlife has said some possible reasons are that the birds are safe from predators in the city and that rural areas are warmer in the winter.

In order to resolve their roosting problem, officials will need to understand how these crows think! And who better than BirdMaster!?

More →]]> It all started with the Centennial Exhibition in 1876.  As America’s first World Fair, Memorial Hall was built for visitors to relish in art from around the globe.

Memorial Hall became a permanent fixture in Philadelphia and today it’s the main building on the campus of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The new museum featured a school of industrial art, which provided classes to train craftsmen in drawing, painting, designing and more.

It wasn’t long before donations started pouring in with collections of furniture, jewelry, glass, ceramics and more. With the growing collection, the museum was renovated and expanded in 1907.

As it stands today, completed in 1928, the columns on the front are made from Minnesota dolomite. The eight pediments on the building were supposed to be decorated with different sculpture groups, however the only one ever completed was by C. Paul Jennewein, Western Civilization. Greek deities and mythical figures were sculpted in polychrome into the structure.

The architecture also dons a series of bronze griffins, which has become the museum’s symbol over the years. Fans of the institution nicknamed the building, the Parthenon on the Parkway for all the way its reminiscent of Greek culture.

Aside from its noteworthy art collections and architecture, you might recognize the museum in the epic scene of Rocky- because those are the famous steps!

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has long held cultural history on its walls and each piece has been thoughtfully preserved. With BirdMaster, the museum’s architecture will be preserved for years to come!

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More →]]> Nestled in Silver Spring, Maryland sits a memorial honoring environmental advocate, Rachel Carson.

The Carson Memorial displays thick glass panels etched with the words of Carson’s most memorable writings.

Most famous for her 1963 book, Silent Spring, the advocate’s memorial is causing quite a stir. The book strongly detailed the affects, and her opinions, on pesticides and songbirds. But according to Steve Lapham, who works in the town, her very memorial is what’s damaging to the birds.

Lapham claims the memorial’s glass panels are taking the lives of birds that simply think they can fly right through. Donald Hague, the president of Home Properties who constructed the memorial, seems to think otherwise.

The American Bird Conservancy said that birds are more likely to avoid windows that have vertical stripes that are four inches apart, or horizontal stripes that are 2 inches apart or less. Something that Lapham doesn’t think the construction appealed to.

Each year, it’s estimated that 300 million to 1 billion birds die each year due to a bird striking glass on buildings or landmarks. Birds can’t process how reflection works, so seeing trees in the glass means a continuation of the landscape; essentially, glass is invisible to the bird’s eye.

The fall is when birds begin their migrations and bird strikes are very common during this season. Any architect should know the importance of protecting a memorial or other historical landmark, from wildlife such as pest birds.

BirdMaster knows just what to it takes to humanely protect architectural work from birds!

More →]]> After a devastating earthquake 25 years ago that ruined a section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the bridge has finally been restored. But it seems that the old bridge section, won’t be demolished anytime soon.

The old section is filled with 800 double-breasted cormorants that have nested there and have made it obvious they would rather not relocate. City officials have spent time with decoys, bird recordings and even built special manmade nests underneath the new bridge section to try to lure to the birds over.

But taxpayers are not happy about it. It’s estimated that they’ve already spent $33 million to try to relocate the birds- a very difficult feat, especially after they’ve settled!

It’s likely that the bridge will stay in place long past February as well, because demolition of the bridge section will be halted when the birds start laying eggs. Officials are planning to have the Bay Bridge finished by 2018 if they can relocate the birds.

The city is also thinking about installing bird control netting so the avian population doesn’t increase any more than it already has.

“If we don’t do this our penalties could far exceed the cost, so we’re in a balancing act,” said Leah Robinson, a spokesperson of the California Department of Transportation.

Since cities are developing fast, there is a constant problem with finding natural nesting sites, and transportation bridges are becoming a prime option for birds. They love bridges because it provides reliable food sources and protection from predators.

The San Francisco bridge is currently home to 533 nests and by demolishing the bridge, the nests would be destroyed too, leaving those protected birds without a home.

It is important that nesting on manmade structures, such as this, do not take place, so prevention is key! Birds are better suited in their natural habitats and time and money are needed to relocate the birds without harm.

BirdMaster safely protects architecture and bridges from pest birds and gives them a chance to remain in nature!

More →]]> Each year thousands of tourists pour into Yellowstone National Park to see some of the greatest wonders in the world. Their top destination? Old Faithful Geyser.

The famous geyser is the most predicable, erupting roughly every 91 minutes and shooting boiling water up to 185 feet in the air.

In August of 2010, the new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center opened with a way of telling those from across the world just how some of these hydrothermal wonders came to be. Through donations, foundations raised $15 million to build the new center, which was matched with $12 million dollars of federal funding for it. The building earned at Gold Level LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and the structure can withstand all of the seismic and geothermal activity in the park.

CTA Group Architects said they carefully studying the views of Old Faithful Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin and Geyser Hill for inspiration on the building’s design. Some of the design also draws from the Adirondack Camp and the historic Old Faithful Inn.

The design of the visitor center was to pay close attention to detail. The battered stone at the base of the building is supposed to protect the walls from snow accumulation.  The walls consist of double course cedar single siding complete with a diamond pattern accent, and are protected with roof overhangs that provide shelter from the elements as well as cozy seating areas for guests. The shingles and stainless steel roof panels are supposed to emulate nature’s expression of the geyser pools and mud pots on the roof.

Inside of the contemporary visitors center there are four exhibit areas with all the information on the parks and the geyser. The center even has a theater and a resources center, along with a gift shop of course!

 Our world is full of amazing sites, whether it is architecturally or in nature. It’s important that we preserve what the Earth has to offer. The Old Faithful Visitors Center is doing their part to build carefully with attention to protecting the geysers around it. Birdmaster is proud to help protect the center and it’s architecture for years to come!

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More →]]> The best part about preserving architecture is that it lasts well into the future. And with history you’re sure to get a few stories.

Every October, thousands of people take part in Halloween festivities. At the top of the list are haunted houses. Historic buildings especially those involved in the Salem Witch Trails, are filled with hair-raising activity- here are a few of our favorites!

The Witch House

Jonathan Corwin served as judge during the Salem Witch Trails in 1692 while living in this house. Its perfect 17^th century architecture closely resembles the Whitehall Building of England. A tour through the house brings to life the events of the trails and light into the lifestyle of Corwin at the time. In the 1940’s the house was restored to preserve its look from its century and the gambrel roof was altered. Now, the house is a museum operated by the city of Salem.

The House of Seven Gables

This 17^th century house, which has survived with many of its original features, was home to Susanna Ingersoll, the cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne. One of the first Georgian architectural houses of the time, it’s considered to be significant to American culture and history. Made famous by the novel, the house and its surrounding houses eventually landed on the National Historic Landmark District in 2007. A tour through the houses with theatrical performances will showcase the hauntings of those who lived before.

Joshua Ward House 

George Corwin, a sheriff who participated in the Salem Witch Trails, lived in this three story Federal style brick house in the 17^th century. The house, which now resides on the National Register of Historic Places, is actually home to businesses today. Of the 19 witches executed on the premises, most are said to haunt the grounds. Some have even claimed to feel Sheriff George Corwin choking them. 

Lizzie Borden House

Lizzie Borden had an axe. Gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one.

Anyone from Massachusetts probably knows the Lizzie Borden story. Charged with murder of her parents, Lizzie was never acquitted and the mystery remains unsolved- though the public overwhelming believed it was her to this day. The Victorian style house, now a historic bed and breakfast, is preserved exceptionally well. The architecture is reminiscent of the exact same house when it was built. Guests can channel what it was like to live there by staying in the room Lizzie slept in.

Hawthorne Hotel

Part of the Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Hawthorne Hotel was named after Nathaniel Hawthorne, made famous in pop culture through the television show, Bewitched. Stay in room 325 and feel hands touching you at night, hear the cries of child and grace the sixth floor looking for the woman that roams the halls. Built by 1925, the hotel was the first modern structure for the city of Salem at the time. Spending a night in the hotel is sure to give you a fright as long as the hotel is preserved in time!