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Wright's 1905 boathouse design finally comes to life

By Times Wires
Published September 29, 2007

BUFFALO, N.Y.   

A boathouse designed by Frank Lloyd Wright opened to the public Friday on the city's waterfront, more than 100 years after it was conceived and nearly 50 years after the architect's death.

Wright designed the rowing boathouse for the University of Wisconsin at the informal request of a student friend, but the university passed on it. Some Buffalo oarsmen made building it their mission after coming across the plans during a conference of Wright scholars 10 years ago.

"This is such a spectacular design, and it always amazes me that it was designed in 1905," said Ted Marks, an oarsman who helped form Frank Lloyd Wright's Rowing Boathouse Corp. to raise money and oversee the project.

The two-story structure has quarter-sawn red oak doors and trim and second-floor diamond-paned windows beneath a cantilevered roof. Wright, who died in 1959, redrew his plan in 1930 to change the original stucco exterior to concrete. Other Wright works in the city include the Darwin Martin House, Graycliff Estate and Blue-Sky Mausoleum.

WASHINGTON

Decaying Smithsonianneeds $2.5B, GAO says

Deteriorating Smithsonian facilities have damaged historic airplanes, threatened collections and resulted in the leakage of tens of millions of gallons of water, while cuts in security staff have exposed artifacts in the 18 museums to vandalism and theft, the Government Accountability Office reported Friday.

A backlog of construction and maintenance projects at the Smithsonian has ballooned to $2.5-billion, the GAO said, in part because Smithsonian officials insist that most repairs and upgrades be paid for through federal, not private, money. The problems have forced a museum director to occasionally shut down galleries and left staff at an art gallery scrambling each day to find new drips, while underground leaks at the National Zoo's sea lion and seal pools are causing 110,000 gallons of water a day to flow into storm drains.

Mexico storm kills 3; others pose low threat

A depression formed in the eastern Atlantic Friday, hours after Hurricane Lorenzo hit Mexico's Gulf Coast, causing a landslide that killed three. The new system was expected to become Tropical Storm Melissa but stay far from land. Also in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Karen moved erratically and lost power.

MONTGOMERY, ALA.

Drought threatens drinking water supply

A severe drought in eastern Alabama and western Georgia brought sweeping bans on outdoor watering as officials scrambled to secure drinking water to more than 50,000 people. Divers went into Lake Martin, the only source of water for the Alexander City system, to try to increase the depth around intake pipes. "The water is so low the pumps are shutting down," said Eugene Mahan, water superintendent.

Elsewhere

SCHOOL SHOOTING: A student fired shots inside an Oroville, Calif., high school and held three students hostage for more than an hour before he was taken into custody. No one was injured.

REPRIEVE FOR BEARDS: A federal judge struck down a requirement that firefighters in the District of Columbia be clean-shaven.

BALLOT EFFORT STUMBLES: A campaign to change the way electoral votes are apportioned in California, intended to benefit the GOP presidential nominee in 2008, was in turmoil after its leader, Thomas Hiltachk, quit in a dispute over a large contribution made by a new group, Take Initiative America, in Missouri. He said the group refused to reveal the source of the money.

GIRL SAFE: A young girl who was seen being sexually assaulted in a homemade videotape has been found and is safe, an investigator said in Las Vegas Friday.

[Last modified September 29, 2007, 01:17:51]