An enterprising group of businessmen first began discussing plans to establish the Midland National Bank, a locally owned banking institution, in 1945. Following federal approval of their application the following year, they proceeded to acquire the Chemical City...
Alden B. Dow Associates converted an existing building in downtown Midland into offices for Church and Guisewite Advertising in 1966. Working drawings and specifications were completed in January, and Branson Builders of Midland was selected as general contractor....
Alden B. Dow enjoyed exploring the design possibilities of plastics and other new products the Dow Chemical Company was on the forefront of developing in the 1930s. His 1937 drawing entitled “1940 House” illustrated the potential use of Dow’s Ethocel in forming...
On January 29, 1961, the Nease Memorial Church of the Nazarene was organized with 40 charter members. The congregation chose a flat, barren 4.5 acre site on the western edge of Midland, Michigan for its first church and purchased the land for the sum of $10,850....
The first discussion about the design of a structure to cover farmers selling their produce in the open parking lot at the foot of Ashman Street took place in March 1973. Those meeting notes describe a simple roof structure, 160 feet long by 30 feet wide, to be...
As early as 1965, the long-range plan for the Center called for a building with a museum, library, auditorium, classroom, workshop and related facilities. In 1970, three years after the completion of the Nature Observatory, Mr. Dow prepared a preliminary sketch...
The Nature Observatory (Nature Study Building) The inspiration to establish a place for the study of the natural environment in the Midland area first came to the members of the Midland Nature Club in 1963. Their search for a building and sanctuary site led them in...
Alden B. Dow began the design of a large standalone building for Smith’s Flowers in September 1954. The shop had been in its original location in the nearby Ashman Circle business district in Midland, Michigan for seven years. The new store would be situated just...
Just a year after completing the design of Messiah Lutheran Church in Bay City, Alden B. Dow began developing the first of a number of schemes for the Bay City Jewish Center in 1955. The first drawings showed a floorplan that followed the outlines of the...
Alden B. Dow began the drawings for a house for his lifelong friend, Peters “Pat” Oppermann, in 1957. Mr. Oppermann was a business leader in Saginaw and owner of Radio Center, an early radio shop that grew with the times into a full-service television and audio...
The Creative Michigan: Making the Mitten Modern exhibition takes place February 25-April 29, 2023 at the Lorenzo Cultural Center on the center campus of Macomb Community College in Clinton Township. The exhibit explores the period 1945-1969 and the advancements...
Alden B. Dow loved to make movies. Whether it was showing the construction of the Midland Center for the Arts, capturing the changing seasons around his Home and Studio, documenting his time as a Taliesin Fellow, or recording his children growing up and having...