Saturday, March 06, 1999
Architect's career touched many schools
Steed winds up 43 years with firm
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
HAMILTON — When Jim Steed drives by Miami University's Hamilton branch campus, he's in familiar territory. The same thing happens when he passes Hamilton High School, Stephen T. Badin High School or Monroe Elementary.
They are just a handful of the many Butler County buildings Mr. Steed designed during his 43-year career with architects Steed-Hammond-Paul Inc. The firm has been involved with dozens of school projects in the Tristate, and has done work for roughly a quarter of the 611 districts in the state.
“Not one single building stands out as my favorite,” said Mr. Steed, who retired earlier this year. He's still a quality control consultant to the firm.
“When I'm working on a project ... that project becomes the most enjoyable,” he said, whether it's designing a church, an addition to Fort Hamilton Hughes Hospital or Hamilton Tool.
“When we would have ceremonies when we turned the keys over to the owners, I always felt a little sad,” Mr. Steed said. “That part of me was going away. But when I pass a building our firm is working on, I still get a good feeling.”
Mr. Steed's influence is felt in the firm, says Mike Dingeldein, vice president.
“His real legacy to the firm is the dozens of buildings he's personally designed,” Mr. Dingeldein said. “He has checked every job, no matter who designed it. He has taught anyone who has worked here for the past 15 years. Everyone taps into his years of experi ence. It's sort of a rite of passage here.”
Mr. Steed has seen many changes in the industry and the firm, which he joined in 1956, after working nearly four years in Alabama. In the late 1950s the firm had fewer than 10 employees. Today, there are more than 80, at offices in Cincinnati, Columbus and Indianapolis.
“There's been so many
technological changes,” said Mr. Steed, a 1952 graduate of the University of Cincinnati and recipient of the school's medal from the American Institute of Architecture for his academic performance and excellence in design.
“I liked to draw. I always took a sketchpad in to work with me. Even before I was an architect I would look at buildings — not that there was much going on during the Depression.”
Mr. Steed still keeps a sketchbook handy when mulling over a design. Gone, though, are the tracing cloth and other early tools of the trade, in favor of computers.
In 1990 the firm developed its “School House of Quality,” a way of gathering information about what a building will be used for by those who will use it. Parents, teachers and community members are involved in the planning and design process. Mr. Steed said it is a refinement from the early days when architects consulted with far fewer individuals before beginning work.
Mr. Steed, 74, said he still enjoys work just as much today as he did when he began, after a stint in the Army during World War II. He credits his wife, Max, with much of his good fortune. In retirement, he plans to spend more time with his three sons and their families while consulting at the company that still bears his name.
“I have never minded going to work in the morning. I put my heart into every single (building). I'm not the greatest architect out there, but nobody loves it more.”
STEED CREDITS
,8.5 Steed-Hammond-Paul Architects Inc. was founded in 1901 in Hamilton. The firm also has offices in Cincinnati, Columbus and Indianapolis.
Buildings or projects the firm has been involved in recently include:
• The design of Fairfield, Lakota East, Lakota West, Batavia, North Adams County, Peebles, Seaman, Manchester and Little Miami high schools
• Fitton Center for Creative Arts
• The facilities master plan for Cincinnati Public Schools
• The 1992 architect team for the Ohio Department of Education that documented building conditions in Ohio's 611 school districts.
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