Architecture and Design Network presents:
THE ED CROMWELL LEGACY
A panel discussion focusing on the late architect’s career and his impact on Little Rock and its surrounds
Date: May 19 2015
Time: 6:00 p.m., preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.
Place: Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall
CE: 1LU
The panelists are:
Charles Penix, Chief Operating Officer, Cromwell Architects and Engineers
Bill Worthen, Director, Historic Arkansas Museum
Don Evans, architect and associate of the late Ed Cromwell
Chris East is the program’s moderator
After working at various jobs during the early years of the Depression, Ed Cromwell, who graduated from Princeton in 1931 with a degree in architecture, moved to Little Rock in 1935 to take a position with the Resettlement Administration. After a year with the agency, he left to devote full time to the practice of architecture, a career which spanned forty-eight years, from 1936 to1984. Cromwell, who remained active in the community after his retirement, died in 2001, leaving a legacy that continues to impact people’s lives.There would be no Maumelle if it hadn’t been for Cromwell’s vision of a planned community on the 5,000 acres of land owned by Jess P. Odum, an Arkansas businessman and insurance executive. The Capital Hotel might have been taken out by the wrecker’s ball if it hadn’t been for his determination to save the historic structure. An advocate for the city’s riverfront development, he understood its importance long before others did. He championed historic preservation and chaired the commission of the Arkansas Territorial Restoration (now the Historic Arkansas Museum). Cromwell Architects and Engineers, the firm he founded, has to its credit the design of many public buildings and facilities throughout the state and beyond.The three panelists will explore Cromwell’s legacy as a creative architect, a visionary planner and a champion of historic preservation.
All Architecture and Design Network lectures are free and open to the public. For additional information contact ardenetwork@icloud.com. Supporters of ADN include the Central Section of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, UA’s Fay Jones School of Architecture, the Arkansas Arts Center and friends in the community.
Reminder: You need to pay your Central Section dues to get credit for attending our Eat and Educates and ADN lectures.
