Armed with the goal of “immersing the students into the rich history of Buchanan in order to inspire meaningful design concepts” for the city, Andrews University students on an urban design mission in that city recently toured the historic downtown sector with members of the Buchanan Preservation Society.
Professor Andrew von Maur of Andrews University said on Wednesday, “It’s really great to meet with these scholars of Buchanan who can share the fascinating history that is so relevant to our project.”
Alan Robandt, Peter Lysy, and Bill Cameron of the Buchanan Preservation Society led the tour of Downtown Buchanan including visits to the beloved Mill Alley, Pears Mill, the Ross-Sanders House and the Zinc Collar Pad Factory. Alan Robandt says, “Each historic building tells a story and is so important to the overall history of Buchanan. When you lose one building you lose that part of the history forever.”
For this semester, Buchanan is the focus of the Andrews Urban Design Studio for the 5th year architecture graduate student class. The project is now in full gear with a robust outreach to residents and stakeholder groups. The public is encouraged to follow the project on the City of Buchanan’s Facebook page, through regular media releases, and at open houses that will be scheduled throughout the project.
The project will result in a final illustrative report to be available to the public in May. Buchanan Community Development Director, Rich Murphy says of the project, “There is a special focus on Historic Preservation in the Andrews University Buchanan project. The residents of Buchanan that we’ve talked to both young and old love their history. You have no choice but to address it head on it as it is really the essence of Buchanan.”
In the photo at the top of the page Bill Cameron is shown with Andrews University students at Pears Mill. The second photo, inside the story shows the full Andrews University Team with the Buchanan Preservationists at Pears Mill. The photos are courtesy of Richard Murphy, Community Development Director for the City of Buchanan.
