Samuel Crawford, the third governor of Kansas, built this building in 1888 as part of his publishing business, the Weekly Breeze.  After over one hundred years of useful life, this Romanesque office building suffered a partial collapse of the south exterior wall.  Its prominence in the Topeka community encouraged local preservationists to save it from demolition.

CP&Associates worked with the new building’s owners and prepared a preservation plan for the building’s rehabilitation and adaptive reuse.  In addition, CP&A prepared a master plan to connect the Crawford Building with similar vintage one-story commercial structures in the same block, creating a unique and historic “Governor’s Place” arcade of mixed-use development in downtown Topeka.

The Crawford Building rehabilitation for  multi-tenant occupancy included structural stabilization and repairs to the failed south wall; exterior masonry restoration including repointing the brick and stone mortar; exterior window repairs including new insulated glazing and paint finish; new roof membrane; new second fire stair addition; new elevator from basement to the fourth floor; new HVAC, plumbing and electrical equipment and systems; new interior finishes; repaired historic interior finishes including wood wainscot, door and window trim.

Although the Crawford Building was successfully rehabilitated for new occupancy, the adjacent mixed-use development as originally conceived by CP&A was never realized.