The Roanoke Times

File 1896 The original Norfolk and Western headquarters at Norfolk and Jefferson streets was destroyed in a fire on Jan. 4, 1896. It was replaced by new structures on the same site completed in 1896 and 1907 (today the 8 Jefferson Place apartments) and nearby in 1931 (today the Roanoke Higher Education Center). The destruction of corporate records in the fire inspired the extreme sturdiness of the 1931 building.

Norfolk and Western Railway's annual report for 1931 reported, "At Roanoke, Va., the new fire-proof, eight-story office building, adjoining the present General Office Building, was completed and occupied in May 1931."

Today, the 150,000-square-foot art deco building houses the Roanoke Higher Education Center, which this month will begin celebrating its 10th anniversary.

About 13 years ago, Norfolk Southern donated the building that once served as Norfolk and Western's corporate headquarters to the Roanoke Foundation for Downtown. A $19 million renovation project transformed the building but retained its original structure and character, as required for eligibility for historic tax credits.

The May 1931 issue of the Norfolk and Western Magazine described the steel-framed building's fortress-like features: "It is absolutely fire-proof, strongly built and stands on a foundation of solid rock. Some of the steel foundation columns are sunk to a depth of 10 feet below the surface of the [72-foot-deep] basement."

The Norfolk and Western Historical Society provided a copy of the magazine article.

Original construction included about 1 million bricks, 2 million pounds of structural steel and 5,000 cubic yards of concrete, the article reported. Architect Paul Hayes of what was then Hayes, Seay, Mattern and Mattern in Roanoke designed the building, which he later described as his best work.

The emphasis on fireproofing stemmed in part from a fire in January 1896 that destroyed a former N&W office building and consumed important papers. The 1931 magazine article noted that all of the important records of each office "will be stored in two large vaults located on each floor."

Renovation

Roanoke-based Spectrum Design -- where Mark McConnel was an architect and David Bandy the firm's director of design -- handled the building's design and architectural oversight.

McConnel, now managing principal of Summit Studio in Roanoke, became deeply involved as project architect and project manager.

Both he and Bandy said the building's steel framing and concrete construction presented challenges. For one thing, the building had no air conditioning. Its windows opened and still do.

Bandy said installing a modern heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system was especially difficult.

McConnel described some of the work.

"The concrete floor and almost every concrete-encased steel beam in the building needed to have holes drilled in them several times," McConnel said. "Most beams had four holes each so that the piping could pass above the ceilings."

He said the building's floors "are solid concrete with an additional 4-inch layer of 'fireproof' concrete on top of the regular concrete."

Many observers agree that the building's soaring aluminum piece added above a once secondary entrance during renovation provides a dramatic and compelling flourish. The design incorporated many of the building's original details.

"It is meant to work on two levels -- as a kind of 'highway sign' visible from Second Street and a more detailed, make-no-mistake-about-it [statement that] this is the front door as you walk up," McConnel said.

'Water intrusion'

Today, the building, like any older structure, needs work -- about $6.3 million worth, according to estimates, spread over two phases.

Water has been creeping in, said Tom McKeon, the higher education center's executive director.

"It kind of comes with having the skin of the building as old as it is," he said.

A forensic engineering firm assessed the problems and detailed the necessary repairs.

"Basically, what needs to be done is the brick needs to be repointed and the windows need to be replaced and some significant work done on the parapets around the building," he said.

The building features a bunch of brick and more than 600 windows. Historic tax credits required that the original windows remain for at least five years, McKeon said.

The higher education center, owned by the Roanoke Higher Education Authority, relies on state funding for about half of its budget.

And McKeon said the center will ask the General Assembly to help pay for the work, which will also draw money from the center's reserve fund.

"These are things that need to be done to keep the building going," he said.

News researcher Belinda Harris contributed to this report.