| Erhart & Eichenbaum GHN Architects & Engineers | |
| Partners: | Frank J. Erhart ; Howard S. Eichenbaum ; John A. Rauch ; Noland Blass Jr. ; Lugean L. Chilcote ; Gulley Carter ; Richard L. Lanford ; Jerry C. Wilcox ; William J. Gaskin ; Henry D. Bogart ; Joe C. Norcross ; Charles C. Hill Jr. |
| Founders: | Erhart and Eichenbaum |
| City: | Little Rock, Arkansas Springfield, Missouri |
| Founded: | 1930 |
Erhart & Eichenbaum, now known as GHN Architects & Engineers, is an American architectural firm. It was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1930 by architects Frank J. Erhart and Howard S. Eichenbaum. The partnership was later expanded to include architects Noland Blass Jr., Lugean L. Chilcote, Jerry C. Wilcox and others. The firm was incorporated in 1980 and established a second office in Springfield, Missouri in 1981. In 2003 the two offices became independent, and only the Springfield office is still active. The firm was historically responsible for major works in and around Arkansas and is best known for the work completed by the founders and by Blass.
Erhart and Eichenbaum both began their architectural careers in 1920 as drafters in the office of Mann & Stern, the Little Rock architecture firm of George R. Mann and Eugene J. Stern. In 1927 Stern bought out Mann, and Erhart and Eichenbaum continued with him. They later proposed to buy shares of the firm, which was refused by Stern, and in 1930 they left to establish the partnership of Erhart & Eichenbaum.[1] Depression-era projects included three county courthouses and a major expansion of the Arkansas Tuberculosis Sanatorium. During World War II the firm was involved in government work, and was part of a coalition of four firms which designed Camp Como (1943) in Mississippi, a POW camp for Germans and Italians.[2]
Architect John A. Rauch became a partner in 1945, and the firm was renamed Erhart, Eichenbaum & Rauch.[3] In 1955 Noland Blass Jr., an associate since 1946, was also made a partner, and the firm was renamed Erhart, Eichenbaum, Rauch & Blass.[4] Blass spent his entire architectural career with the firm, and was responsible for setting the firm's high design standards. Blass' major projects for the firm include the former Veterans Administration Hospital (1950), the UAMS Medical Center (1956), the Justice Building (1957) and Bank of America Plaza (1969) in Little Rock and the George Howard Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse (1967) in Pine Bluff.
Erhart and Rauch had retired by 1970, and new partners by that time included engineer Edgar K. Riddick Jr. and architect Lugean L. Chilcote.[5] In 1973, with Eichenbaum's death, the firm was reorganized as Erhart, Eichenbaum, Rauch, Blass & Chilcote. At this time Blass took over as senior partner, delegating more design responsibility to his younger partners. In 1976 the firm was renamed Blass, Riddick, Chilcote and the partnership was expanded to include engineers Gulley Carter and Richard L. Lanford and architect Jerry C. Wilcox.[6] Riddick withdrew in 1978 and in 1980 the firm was incorporated as Blass, Chilcote, Carter, Lanford & Wilcox.[7]
In 1981 the firm acquired Harold A. Casey & Associates of Springfield, Missouri, which became a subsidiary of the firm under the name BCCLW/Casey. This was changed to BCCW/Casey in 1985, to Casey/Hill in 1988 and to Hill & Bixler in 1992. The local partner, after the retirements of Harold and Allen Casey, was Charles C. Hill Jr.[8] [9]
Lanford and Wilcox withdrew in 1985 and 1988, respectively, and the firm was renamed first to Blass, Chilcote, Carter & Wilcox and second to Blass, Chilcote, Carter, Gaskin, Bogart & Norcross.[10] Blass retired in 1990,[11] followed by Chilcote in 1999.[12] In the meantime, in 1998, the firm was renamed Gaskin Hill Norcross, with the two offices bearing the same name for the first time. At the time the senior principals were William J. Gaskin, Hill and Joe C. Norcross. In 2003 Hill and other associates bought the Missouri corporation from the Arkansas one, and both began operating independently.[8] It operated under the Gaskin Hill Norcross name until 2005, when it was renamed GHN Architects & Engineers.[13] The Arkansas firm was dissolved after the death of then-president Gaskin in 2007, leaving GHN of Springfield as the successors to the Erhart & Eichenbaum legacy.[8]
Francis James "Frank" Erhart (March 9, 1889 – January 14, 1979) was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was educated at Regis College, now Regis University, in Denver, and at the University of Pennsylvania, though he did not earn a degree.[14] [1]
He was married in 1915 and had two children.[14] He died in Little Rock at the age of 89.[1]
Howard Samuel Eichenbaum (April 25, 1904 – February 13, 1973) was born in Little Rock. He was educated in the Little Rock public schools and at Washington University in St. Louis, from which he graduated in 1924 with a BArch. He had worked summers for Mann & Stern in Little Rock and joined them full time after his graduation.[15] [1]
Eichenbaum was a prime mover behind the establishment of an Arkansas chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the enactment of an architectural registration law in Arkansas. He served as AIA chapter president and was the first Arkansan to be elected a director, a vice president and a Fellow of the AIA. He also served as president of the Arkansas State Board of Architects, which the registration law established in 1941, and on the planning commissions for Little Rock and North Little Rock and for Metroplan.[1]
Eichenbaum was married in 1929 and had three children.[15] He was Jewish and was a vice president of his congregation, B’nai Israel. He died in Little Rock at the age of 68.[1]
John Alexander Rauch (October 11, 1891 – July 8, 1990) was born in St. James, Missouri. Like Eichenbaum he was educated at Washington University. He worked for Mann & Stern from 1917 until 1920, when he opened an independent office. He joined Erhart & Eichenbaum in 1941.[3]
Rauch was married in 1924 and had four children.[3] He died in Little Rock at the age of 98.
Noland Blass Jr. (May 20, 1920 – July 21, 1998) was born in Little Rock. He was the grandson of Gustave Blass, who founded the Gus Blass Department Store in 1871. He was educated at Cornell University, graduating in 1941 with a BArch, and served in the army corps of engineers during World War II. After the war he joined Erhart, Eichenbaum & Rauch and was made an associate in 1946.[4] [11]
Blass was married in 1947 to Elizabeth Weitzenhoffer and had two children, both daughters.[11] He died in Little Rock at the age of 78.[16]
Lugean Lester Chilcote (January 14, 1929 – September 21, 2015) was born in Oklahoma City and was raised in Little Rock. He was educated at the University of Arkansas, graduating in 1951 with a BArch. He worked for Little Rock architects Ken Cole Jr. and Swaim & Allen until 1958, when he joined Erhart, Eichenbaum, Rauch & Blass.[17]
Chilcote was married in 1953 to Clara Dudis and had four children.[17] He died in Little Rock at the age of 86.[12]
Erhart & Eichenbaum was historically one of the largest architectural firms in the region. Its principals were closely involved in their local community, and in the larger architectural community.[1]
At least ten buildings designed by Erhart & Eichenbaum and its successors have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts.