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Village Architecture & Preservation
Architectural Design and Historic Preservation Consulting Services
Fun #MondayMemory - VA&P's very first home office was the William Isinger House, stop #5 on the 1995 Town Tour & History Walks with the Chester County Planning Commission. Miss our old neighborhood! ![]()
- with Uwchlan Township Historical Commission & Lionville Historic District
When VA&P was founded and located in Lionville, Historic Yellow Springs was a favorite nearby historic site to take a break, enjoy a walk, and appreciate history and nature in our local community. Go see this beauty for yourself!
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It was a privilege and joy to attend the Phoenix Wheel ribbon cutting this weekend, and hear from Thomas L Zeigler, PE and The Schuylkill River Heritage Center supporters about the history and process of bringing a stunning piece of history back to Phoenixville. Congratulations to all!
Ribbon-cutting held for restored Phoenix Wheel
www.pottsmerc.com
The Phoenix Wheel was reassembled with its original steel components, including baskets and structural supports.
Yesterday was #NationalBooneDay - Berks County's very own Daniel Boone Homestead is a treasure trove of beautiful historic buildings and landscapes. VA&P's Jessica Zeigler-Cihlar, a former Board member of the Homestead, encourages you to visit for a picnic, nature hike, festival, reenactment event, or workshop on early colonial life and homesteading. Enjoy!![]()
#BerksCountyHistory #BringingHistoryToLife #DanielBoone
In honor of the upcoming Phoenixville Ferris Wheel ribbon cutting, we’d like to share some lesser-known Wheel restoration backstory. 🎡![]()
In 1893, Phoenix Steel manufactured 4 Ferris Wheels. One was delivered to Asbury Park, where it delighted amusement enthusiasts for 93 years. After brief relocation to Mississippi, the Wheel returned to the Phoenixville area in battered pieces. In 2008, The Schuylkill River Heritage Center acquired the Wheel, which now is considered the oldest in the world. ![]()
In 2012, Thomas L Zeigler, PE, Structural Engineer, was contracted to catalog and evaluate every piece of the Wheel. It took a weeks-long process to sort, move, and measure piles of twisted steel that were stacked in a field and Quonset hut. It took approximately 1 year to prepare working drawings, reverse engineer, and digitally assemble every piece like a jig-saw puzzle into a complete Ferris Wheel model. After many planning setbacks, the Wheel was once again moved, inventoried, and remeasured for final verification of the pieces. To the team’s dismay, some pieces were discovered missing and some were simply damaged beyond repair. Without TLZ’s careful documentation of the Wheel components, the restoration would have been even more challenging, if not impossible.![]()
Following extensive restoration and fabrication work by #SpecialtyMetals, the Wheel was at last erected and will be dedicated on June 6, 2026 as a monument to Phoenixville’s historic iron and steel industry. The Phoenix Wheel is 78 ft tall, with a diameter of 68 ft, and has 16 8-ft tall seated baskets. Its home is next to Phoenixville Borough Hall, for all to visit and admire. Due to modern-day safety and fundraising limitations, the Wheel has been assembled as a stationary sculpture, with the hope that one day it can be fully restored to a working wheel. ![]()
Read more about this exciting project here: www.phoenixvillefoundry.org/phoenix-wheel-restoration/ and here: phoenixville.com/phoenix-wheel-ribbon-cutting/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSOn5dleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFSVjlxe...