In August, Ziti ran in her first AKC agility trial since her back surgery in January 2024. She was entered in four events each day and was able to qualify in two on each day! Not bad for being out of practice. Her next two-day agility trial took place in Iowa at the National Beagle Specialty, where she earned four 1st place ribbons. She then successfully ran in two days of FastCAT events in Iowa. Ziti also had a great time hiking around in Iowa’s state parks.
Left: Ziti powers through the weave poles with Charissa urging her on. Right: Ziti poses with two of her ribbons.
This photo by Dean Lake of Ziti at the FastCAT event in Iowa just shows how happy she is to be running!
Luis Andujar earned an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Miami University in Ohio and spent the next 25 years working on higher education, retail, medical, and multi-family projects for public and private clients. When Luis decided to change jobs, a former coworker of his who is also a former employee at HDC recommended that he send his resume here. We decided to hire him and he started at the end of July, just in time to take over projects when our intern Clara Reed left for graduate school at the University of Virginia – Alexandria in August. Luis will also take over come construction administration duties as we currently have a bunch of projects under construction!
In early August, the office took a field trip to visit the Cedarville Opera House and Clifton Opera House and eat a farewell lunch for Clara and a welcome lunch for Luis at the Clifton Inn.
Left: HDC examining the incredible attic structure at the Cedarville Opera House. Right: Jennifer, Clara, Vivian, and Luis at the gazebo with the Clifton School in the background.
It’s been too hot and humid in June and July for gardening outside. On July 4, we took Ziti to Prairie Oaks Metro Park and made her swim in the river for therapy and to cool off. The next weekend, Ziti ran all the events over two days in air conditioned comfort at a CPE Speedway trial. There are no weave poles or contacts she has to hit in Speedway, she just gets to run fast! A larger super fast border collie named Zing picked up most of the first-place ribbons in their size category, but Ziti managed to hold her own!
L: Ziti and Charissa cool off in a rock in Big Darby Creek at Prairie Oaks Metro Park on July 4. R: Ziti poses with all the ribbons she won over at the CPE Speedway trial at ARF.
Ziti happily going over a jump at a recent CPE trial (left) and posing calmly on a sunny day in the park (right).
Ziti has been recovering so well and racing around the yard and parks like crazy that she has started attending agility trials again to dissipate that energy. We started her off in late summer 2024 with just one weekend day and a few events, moving to two weekend days with a few events each day, and finally moving in March 2025 to running all 9 or 10 events on both Saturday and Sunday. After such a weekend, Ziti goes in for some massage therapy and acupuncture. As the weather gets warmer she will be back on a FastCAT run as well! But sometimes, Ziti loves nothing better than just going to the park to run around (or pose) in the sun. Agility photograph by Deanna Norwood Photography.
HDC is working with the City of New Albany to document the Chicken House at Taylor Farm since the building sits in the flood plain and may have to be moved or reconstructed at another location. The design for this half-monitor chicken house was invented by the University of Illinois Extension and became quite popular on rural properties in the Midwest throughout the 1920s. Since these buildings typically did not have electricity, the south-facing windows let in plenty of light to warm the nesting boxes used by the hens along the north wall in the winter. The high windows in the monitor draws hot air up and out for ventilating to keep the hens cool during the summer. The steep north roof causes cold north winds to blow over the building and there are no windows on the north wall. This building sits on a concrete foundation that features three square openings under the south-facing windows that allowed the chickens free access into the yard. The interior would have been divided into three individual rooms with removable walls for easy cleaning.
At left is an archival photograph of the southeast corner by Jeff Bates and at right is a cast iron corner brace at the screen door.
HDC first worked with Kramer Engineers at Hocking College in 2013 on a feasibility study to renovate a former bookstore building for the School of Music. The team is currently working on a new storage building for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in Fernwood State Forest. In the intervening years, major projects together include the Scioto Southland Recreation Center, Devon Pool Bath House and Mechanical Building, administration buildings in Clark County, and the John Bryan State Park Day Lodge. The relationship has also worked in both directions with HDC working as Kramer’s consultant on their projects for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and Department of Developmental Disabilities.
At left, the Hocking College Bookstore, which the team concluded was originally a modular building, and therefore not acoustically suited for a music school and at right, the interior of the John Bryan State Park day lodge, with built-in devices in the ceiling to lift the one-piece solid wood table.
At left, the new Devon Pool Mechanical Building designed to match the Bath House and at right, the Scioto Southland Recreation Center with the renovated gymnasium left of the new entry and addition.
Hardlines Design Company was named an Outstanding Diversity Organization by Columbus Business First. The eight organizations and 10 individuals will be honored at a happy hour reception on Thursday, April 6, at the Columbus Museum of Art and will be featured in Columbus Business First in their April 7, 2023, issue.
The historic preservation community was shocked to hear of the sudden passing of Cathie Senter on February 27, 2023, of a heart attack. Cathie started her career in Canton, Ohio, where her passion for historic preservation earned her multiple awards, including Stark County Citizen of the Year. Cathie first interviewed for a job at HDC in 2007 but ultimately decided to go back to school. Before she started school, she worked at HDC over the summer on the window package for the Woodward Opera House and helping to finishing the HAER drawings for Monongahela River Locks and Dam project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District. After getting a degree from Belmont Technical College, she stayed to become a beloved instructor of the preservation trades, including doors and windows, model and mold making, plaster, roofing and flooring, and all types of historic masonry. Cathie came back to work for HDC in 2017 and endeared herself to preservation clients, who appreciated her knowledge and willingness to explain proposed solutions. She conducted assessments and prepared reports for the St. Louis Arsenal, caretaker lodges and chapels at national Veterans cemeteries, and was working to complete the final phase of the rehabilitation of the Historic Gardner Homestead. Her attention to details and desire to take care of her clients often led to extended schedules, but her premature passing is one deadline we gladly would have postponed.
Cathie (Chris) at work at HDC.
At left, a 2007 drawing from the Monongahela Lock and Dam documentation project and at right, the restored windows at the Woodward Opera House in Mount Vernon.
HDC President Charissa W. Durst was recently highlighted as a “Member of the Moment” by the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO). Charissa was invited to join the WPO Columbus Chapter II in 2014 and she has continued to be an active member. WPO was founded in 1997 by Dr. Marsha Firestone as the ultimate affiliation for successful women entrepreneurs worldwide. Its mission is to accelerate business growth, enhance competitiveness, and promote economic security for women-led companies through confidential and collaborative peer-learning groups.
This photo by Dean Lake of Ziti at the FastCAT event in Iowa just shows how happy she is to be running!
At left is an archival photograph of the southeast corner by Jeff Bates and at right is a cast iron corner brace at the screen door.
At left, the new Devon Pool Mechanical Building designed to match the Bath House and at right, the Scioto Southland Recreation Center with the renovated gymnasium left of the new entry and addition.
Cathie (Chris) at work at HDC.
