May
Philadelphia, PA (May 2006) - Keast & Hood Co. is pleased to announce the West Chester Public Library received a 2006 Grand Jury Award in the 13th Annual Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia's Preservation Achievement Awards. The award honored The Borough of West Chester (Client); Frens and Frens, LLC (Restoration Architect); Bruce E. Brooks & Associates (MEP Engineer); and Keast & Hood Co. (Structural Engineer) for the sensitive expansion and restoration of the 1888 building. On April 26, Keast & Hood Co. Associate and Director of Historic Structures, Suzanne M. Pentz, presented the story of "Structural Failure at the Academy of Music" at a regional conference of Cigna real estate managers and corporate facility directors. The theme of the presentation was how to manage client relations under circumstances of extreme financial risk and potential human peril. In 1989 while surveying for a new elevator shaft at the Academy, Keast & Hood Co. uncovered failed timber roof trusses, resulting in an evacuation and emergency stabilization effort. The firm congratulates Keast & Hood Co. Principal, Constantine G. Doukakis, PE, who was selected to join the Drexel University Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Advisory Board.

April
Philadelphia, PA (April 2006) - Keast & Hood Co. Associate Jonathan Price, PE, has been selected as one of the 2006 recipients of Philadelphia University s Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Award. The award is given in recognition of exemplary teaching and a commitment to the university s mission. Price has been an Adjunct Professor of Structures at Philadelphia University since 2000. Two Keast & Hood Co. projects are among the finalists in the Eastern Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter American Concrete Institute annual awards competition. The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library in Washington, DC, is a finalist in the cast-in-place concrete frame outside chapter boundaries category. The University of Pennsylvania Museum MEP Upgrade is a finalist in the cast-in-place concrete frame within chapter boundaries category. Awards will be announced and presented at a dinner on April 26th.

March
Philadelphia, PA (March 2006) - Keast & Hood Co. Senior Consultant Carl Baumert, PE, will be speaking at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Philadelphia Section April Dinner Meeting on Thursday, 20 April. The presentation, "The Rehabilitation Program for City Hall" will be given by Baumert along with Hyman Myers and Nan Gutterman, both of Vitetta. In May, Philadelphia's City Hall will be designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by ASCE.

February
Philadelphia, PA (February 2006) - Keast &  Hood Co., in conjunction with Hurley-Franks Architects and 1:1:6 Technologies, Inc. was awarded the stabilization and adaptive reuse project for The Sterling House in Delaware City, DE. Constructed c. 1830s-40s, the historically-significant wood and brick building is located along the Delaware Canal on the main thoroughfare near Fort Delaware. The project will commence in February with completion anticipated for 2008. Keast &  Hood Co. Principal Constantine (Dean) Doukakis, PE, was elected President of the Carpenters Company of the City and County of Philadelphia. The oldest extant guild in the United States, the 300-year-old Carpenters Company is comprised of prominent structural engineers, architects, and building contractors. Keast &  Hood Co. Associate Suzanne Pentz led the workshop Maintaining Structural Stability for Quaker Meetinghouses and Other Historic Buildings during the Living Witnesses III Workshop sponsored by PYM-HABS Working Group on February 4th. The program provided information about property maintenance, repair, and adaptive reuse for meetinghouses and other historic buildings.

January
Philadelphia, PA (January2006) - Keast & Hood Co. has relocated - our new office is in the Curtis Center at 601 Walnut Street, Suite 450W, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Keast &  Hood Co. is pleased to announce the promotions of several staff members. Patrick Fair, CDT, PE, and Jonathan Price, CDT, PE, have been promoted to Associate. Fair has more than 15 years of structural engineering experience, including the last six years with Keast & Hood Co. He has worked on high-profile projects including the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia and the new Dumbarton Oaks Research Library in Georgetown. Price joined the firm in 2003 and has nearly 30 years of professional experience. His recent projects have included the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the Smeal School of Business Administration at the Pennsylvania State University. Also promoted were John Davis, PE, and Brian Wentz, PE, to Project Manager.

November
Philadelphia (November 2005) - Keast &  Hood Co. has been engaged by the National Park Service to provide an Historic Structure Report for Independence Hall Tower. The tower, designed by William Strickland as part of the building's 1828 renovation, rises to 175 feet above ground. In the past, tower exterior conditions were assessed from scaffolding placed around the structure. For the first time, the assessment will be performed without scaffolding. Instead, teams from Vertical Access will rappel down the tower, gathering data for evaluation by Keast &  Hood Co. The project team includes Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype, Inc. of Boston.

In October, the NJ Historic Trust announced winners of the 2005 Historic Site Management grants for historic preservation. Keast &  Hood Co. is leading projects for three of the grant recipients: The Trenton Friends Meeting House; the Mount Holly First Presbyterian Church; and Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Bridgeton.

Keast &  Hood Co. was proud to have been part of the new East Conservatory at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. Recently reopened, the Conservatory underwent a roof replacement. The new, gabled greenhouse design is comprised of exposed stainless steel members.