Difference between revisions of "John & Alan McDonald, Architects"

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John McDonald, Omaha, Nebraska

Alan McDonald, Omaha, Nebraska

John & Alan McDonald was an architectural firm that was in business for nearly thirty years. They designed a wide range of buildings.

This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.

Joslyn Art Museum, 1931 (Lynn Meyer)

Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings

Omaha, Nebraska, 1918, 1921-1925, 1926-1947

Other Associations

1929-1948: employed Robert Christian Robinson.

Buildings & Projects

Dated

Benson High School (1913), 5148 Maple, Omaha.[3:143][5] (DO09:0447-001)

Franklin Carnegie Library (1915-1916), 1401 L, Franklin, Nebraska.[1] (FR03-046)

Old People’s Home (later The Fontenelle Home, and later again, the Leo Vaughn Home) (1917), 3325 Fontenelle Blvd., Omaha.[4][5][9:56] (DO09:0338-003) National Register narrative

Ware Block (1918), 15th & Farnam, Omaha, Nebraska.[7]

Nebraska Capital Competition (1919), Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][9:18]

Walter Anderson House (1919), 1014 S 36th St, Omaha, Nebraska.[3:98][5] (DO09:0315-011)

The Hill Hotel (1919), 501 S. 16th St, Omaha, Nebraska.[3:49][4][5][9:66 (DO09:0121-011) National Register narrative

Commercial Building (1919), 2409 Farnam St., Omaha. (DO09:0209-043)

Standard Oil Co. Building (1919-1922), 500 S. 18th, Omaha, Nebraska.[4][5][9:64] (DO09:0122-001) National Register narrative

Medical Arts Building (1920), 105 S 17th, Omaha, Nebraska.[3:50][8][a]

Duplex (1921), 134-36 N. 38th St., Omaha, Nebraska.[5] (DO09:0321-041)

Standard Oil Red Crown Service Station (1922), 220 N Spruce, Ogallala, Nebraska. (KH04-053) National Register narrative

Elks Club Lodge (1923), 108 S 18th St, Omaha, Nebraska.[3:50][9:65] (DO09:0124-026)

Fairmont Foods (1923), 705 S. 12th, Omaha, Nebraska.[4] (DO09:0121-083)

Dundee Theater (1925), 4952 Dodge, Omaha, Nebraska.[3:115][5] (DO09:0433-002)

Benson High School (1926), Omaha, Nebraska. [purportedly]

Peterson Baking Company Building (1927), 1120 Jones, Omaha, Nebraska.[4] (DO09:0121-077)

Society of Liberal Arts Bldg (1928), 2218 Dodge, Omaha, Nebraska.[3:114]

Dr. J.F. Langdon House (1928), 503 N. 38th St., Omaha, Nebraska.[5][8:42] (DO09:0323-015)

Dormatories (1930), Nebraska State Normal School, 26th & 9th Ave, Kearney, Nebraska.[6]

Joslyn Memorial Art Museum (1931), 2201 Dodge St., Omaha, Nebraska. (DO09:0126-007)

The University of Omaha 1st classroom facility (1931), 24th & Pratt St., Omaha, Nebraska.[9:58]

Beth-El Synagogue (1940), 210 S 49th St, Omaha.[3:101][5] (DO09:0431-001)

Undated

Standard Oil gas stations (n.d.), 18th & Howard (behind Company building), 50th & Dodge, 52nd & Military, and Country Club Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska.[12:64]

Conant Hotel, Omaha, Nebraska. [purportedly]

First Baptist Church, Omaha, Nebraska. [purportedly]

First Christian Church. [purportedly]

Faidley Building, Omaha, Nebraska. [purportedly]

Notes

a. The 1920 design was in association with Thomas Rogers Kimball, Architect; see [8].

References

1. Hadley Chalmers, “Franklin, Nebraska-Public Library,” Library Buildings ALA. (1924).

2. American Architect 118:2327 (July 28, 1920). (File LC13:08-1)

3. Landmarks, Inc., An Inventory of Historic Omaha Buildings (Omaha: City of Omaha and Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, 1980).

4. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

5. City of Omaha Planning Department, Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, Database, Query on Architects, May 20, 2002; courtesy of Lynn Meyer, Preservation Planner.

6. Tom Kaspar, comp. Inventory of architectural records in the archives of Davis Fenton Stange Darling, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska. 1996. Nebraska State Historical Society, RG3748, Box 16.

7. The American Contractor (March 23, 1918), 60. (This is a fireproof building of brick, terracotta, and concrete; four storeys with a basement, measuring 89 by 139 feet.) Accessed January 12, 2012, through Google Books http://books.google.com/books?id=UCJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA64&lpg=RA10-PA64&dq=f+w+clarke,+architect,+york+hotel,+nebraska&source=bl&ots=-QV--qNAlx&sig=yQZ--Gvu9ph8VGJ7unfHB-6P9QU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=whYPT97eOov9iQLF9M3fDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=f%20w%20clarke%2C%20architect%2C%20york%20hotel%2C%20nebraska&f=false

8. Omaha's Medical Arts Building was initiated in the early 1920s by doctors and dentists to provide medical offices. Thomas R. Kimball and McDonald & Son were the original architects of the 17-story, U-shaped tower at 17th & Dodge Streets. Construction halted after the steel frame was erected, which stood rusting for three years. After a sheriff's sale and additional litigation, Selden-Breck Construction Co., the original builders, completed the structure in 1925 and 1926. The east wing was reduced to four stories, producing an L-shaped structure. According to an front-page story in Omaha World-Herald of August 27, 1925, "Architects for the completed building are William Spencer Crosby, Chicago, and J. G. McArthur, Omaha." See also "Architects to appeal Medical Arts Decision," Omaha World-Herald (May 28, 1925), 1; and "Excavating for Medical Arts," Omaha World-Herald (January 25, 1920), 16.

9. Joan M. Fogarty, Building Omaha: The Architectural Legacy of John and Alan McDonald (Omaha: Elman Printing Company, 2013).

Page Citation

D. Murphy, “John & Alan McDonald, Architects,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, February 26, 2015. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 24, 2024.

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