COOLEY HOUSE FOUNDATION LECTURE SERIES
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 AT 6 PM
MONROE GRAND PLAZA AUDITORIUM • 501 SOUTH GRAND STREET
REMINDER
Award-winning Louisiana architect Michael Holly will speak on successful downtown revitalization in the latest installment of the free lecture series sponsored by the Cooley House Foundation, dedicated to restoring the historic home designed in the Prairie School style in 1908 by Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin for Capt. G.B. Cooley.
Holly's lecture will begin at 6pm next Wednesday, November 6, at the Monroe Grand Plaza auditorium, 501 South Grand Street, followed by a reception. The lecture and reception arefree and open to the public.
Holly's firm, Holly & Smith Architects, has helped with over 30 projects to revitalize downtown Hammond, including the restoration of that city's landmark Columbia Theater. The firm was instrumental in forming Hammond's Downtown Development District in 1986 and representatives from its staff have served on the board ever since.
A 1977 graduate of what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Holly has received numerous awards in architecture and for leadership achievements, but is most proud of the more than 45 awards Holly & Smith has earned for design excellence during his years as president of the firm that has offices in New Orleans and Hammond.
The Cooley House Lecture Series is sponsored by the Cooley House Foundation as part of its mission to provide expert insight on architectural topics and, more specifically, the Prairie School of design that is the hallmark of the Cooley House.
Cooley House
The Cooley House is a division of the City of Monroe’s Department of Community Affairs. Preservation of the building is being orchestrated through the Cooley House Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Major support for the Cooley House has been provided by the Division of Historic Preservation, Office of Cultural Development, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior; and by the Twin City Art Foundation. Additional support comes from the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as other corporate sponsors and private individuals. For additional information, please visit our website at www.cooleyhouse.org.
The Cooley House Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Cooley House, located on the corner of South Grand Street and Texas Avenue. The Cooley House was designed and built for entrepreneur G.B. Cooley of Monroe by internationally acclaimed architect Walter Burley Griffin. The home is Griffin's last structure to be completed in the United States, and it is among the last surviving examples of Prairie School residential architecture in the South. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places at a level of state importance in 1986 and a level of national importance in 2010. In 2006, it was added to the list of Top 10 Most Endangered Sites by the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation. The Cooley House Foundation is working to restore the home and open it to the public as a historic home and museum.
For more information on the Cooley House, please visit www.cooleyhouse.org. To contribute to the restoration of Cooley House, please do so here.
