Smith’s Flower Store by Alden B. Dow
Alden B. Dow began the design of a large standalone building for Smith’s Flowers in September 1954. The shop had been in its original location in the nearby Ashman Circle business district in Midland, Michigan for seven years. The new store would be situated just off the Circle on Ashman Street about a block away […]
Bay City Jewish Center by Alden B. Dow
Just a year after completing the design of Messiah Lutheran Church in Bay City, Alden B. Dow began developing the first of a number of schemes for the Bay City Jewish Center in 1955. The first drawings showed a floorplan that followed the outlines of the six-pointed Star of David, the primary symbol of the […]
The Peters “Pat” Oppermann Residence by Alden B. Dow
Alden B. Dow began the drawings for a house for his lifelong friend, Peters “Pat” Oppermann, in 1957. Mr. Oppermann was a business leader in Saginaw and owner of Radio Center, an early radio shop that grew with the times into a full-service television and audio equipment business. The Oppermann and Dow families owned cottages […]
Alden B. Dow Projects on Display at Creative Michigan Exhibition
The Creative Michigan: Making the Mitten Modern exhibition takes place February 25-April 29, 2023 at the Lorenzo Cultural Center on the center campus of Macomb Community College in Clinton Township. The exhibit explores the period 1945-1969 and the advancements that took place during one of the largest periods of creativity and growth in Michigan history. […]
The Preservation of the Movies of Alden B. Dow
Alden B. Dow loved to make movies. Whether it was showing the construction of the Midland Center for the Arts, capturing the changing seasons around his Home and Studio, documenting his time as a Taliesin Fellow, or recording his children growing up and having children of their own, he always seemed to have his movie […]
IN THE ARCHIVES: Dow Gardens Greenhouse in Midland, Michigan by Alden B. Dow
In the later years of his career, Alden B. Dow turned his attention to designing a number of structures to enhance the enjoyment of and upgrade the facilities of Dow Gardens. Throughout the 1970s he developed a Master Plan for the Gardens and added new bridges, a Greenhouse, and its first Visitors Center since opening […]
Midland Fire Station No. 1 by Alden B. Dow
Midland Fire Station No. 1 is one of the 39 civic structures designed by Alden B. Dow during his career. He completed the working drawings on April 23, 1955, and in June the construction contract was awarded to the Charles Engelhardt Construction Company of Bay City. The final cost of the station was $140,216. The […]
Midland Hospital by Alden B. Dow
Alden B. Dow’s initial presentation drawing for a proposed Midland Hospital was dated August 1938, a full two years before the Midland Hospital Association was established. The Association organized the fund raising campaign to build the city’s first hospital in 1940, eventually securing pledges of $275,000 from 5,200 community members. A Federal Works Administration grant […]
Alden B. Dow’s Houses for Ingersoll Village in Kalamazoo, Michigan
As World War II drew to a close, Alden B. Dow actively participated in the design of badly-needed, low-cost housing. Seeking an efficient and economical way to build homes, the Ingersoll Steel and Disc Division of the Borg-Warner Corporation of Kalamazoo produced a prefabricated, all-in-one utility unit that could be manufactured off site and rolled […]
Alden B. Dow’s Houses for the Ethyl-Dow Chemical Company in Cape Fear, North Carolina
In the early 1930s, the Dow Chemical Company partnered with the Ethyl Gasoline Company to build a plant to extract bromine from seawater off the coast of North Carolina. Although bromine had a number of industrial uses at the time, its primary use then was in the manufacture of ethylene dibromide, an additive that reduced […]