Historic Cane Hill College

Canehill, Arkansas

Project Details
3 Phase Project
1886 historic structure

Awards
Arkansas Preservation Excellence Award in Preservation Through Restoration
Excellence in Interior Design Silver Award for Historic Renovation

Historic Cane Hill College, located in Cane Hill Arkansas, is a two-story brick Italianate design building that served as the state’s first institution of higher learning and has been fully restored to its original 1886 design.

Following the college’s closure in 1891, the building continued to be used for religious services and primary education. Likely suffering from some disrepair, it was heavily altered in 1931. New larger window openings were created and patchwork was carried out with modern bright red bricks and Portland cement. These inappropriate alterations created long term structural problems.

By 2014, the building was in serious disrepair, and the second story auditorium was unusable. WER began a three-phase restoration project on the College.

Phase 1 included foundation underpinning. Phase 2 of the restoration included replacement of later era windows with custom made wood windows to match the original design based off old photographs, brick masonry repair, foundation stabilization and a new cedar shingle roof. Phase 3 will begin this Spring and includes interior work, as well as site plan changes.