Our Coolest Buildings; Ideas, anyone?

 My late father was a building junkie. He was keenly interested in any new building of note that was going up in his adopted home of Boise, occasionally taking me with him to construction sites to watch the work being done.

  Some of his passion for building-watching rubbed off on me. I’ve been known to stop and ask questions of workers at construction sites and can’t drive the Connector into downtown Boise without multiple glances at the Arthur, the new high-rise being built at 12th and Idaho streets.

  So when an email from The Discoverer, an online travel publication, included a story about “the coolest buildings in every state,” I was eager to read every word, 

  Many of the states have buildings that in one way or another are decidedly cool:

  Colorado’s, for example. The Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy is so unusual and striking that it’s said to draw visitors from all over the world. It has 17 spires reminiscent of fighter jets and a frame made of 100 tetrahedrons. Tetrahedrons, for those who have no idea what they are (I didn’t), are triangular pyramids.

  Nevada is home to one of the most unusual buildings in the U.S. – the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Patients seeing it for the first time could be forgiven for thinking their brains were misfiring. The building looks as if it’s imploding.

  Alaska’s coolest building is weirdly whimsical. Known as the Dr. Seuss House, it started out to be a two-story cabin, but the owners kept adding one story after another. Now it has 17 and looks like something out of, well, a Dr. Seuss book. Cool and then some.

  And Idaho’s coolest building, according to The Discoverer, is …

  The Statehouse?

  Granted, the Statehouse is imposing and historic. And it ranks fairly high architecturally among the state capitol buildings. That said, however, it’s but one of many that use the generic capitol style. 

  Impressive? Absolutely. 

  Cool? Not so much.

  So what buildings does Idaho have that could be considered cool? There have to be some, right?

  Well, yes. A few do come to mind.

  Teater’s Knoll, for example. One of only two Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses in Idaho, it was built as a studio for late artist Archie Teater. Perched on a hillside near Hagerman, it’s made largely of Oakley Stone. The Idaho Architecture Project calls it “a premier example of organic architecture at its best, where the fundamental integration with nature blurs the meeting of building and nature.”

  One of the members of a group I have coffee with on Saturday mornings cast his vote for Teater’s Knoll. Another suggested the Cataldo Mission, in North Idaho.

  Built in the1850s by Catholic missionaries and members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, the baroque style church is the state’s oldest building and the oldest surviving mission church in the Northwest. Interesting fact:  the wood of its interior got its color not from paint, but from huckleberries.

  Several Boise buildings are at least moderately cool:

  The Hoff Building, at Eighth and Bannock, was Idaho’s first “skyscraper,” though at just 12 stories plus a penthouse it may or may not have warranted the appellation. Originally the Hotel Boise, the art-deco style building now houses offices and, notably, a lovely   ballroom. 

  The Boise Depot, overlooking Capitol Boulevard, is both beautiful and historic. With its Spanish style architecture, red tile roof and illuminated, 96-foot bell tower, it’s one of the city’s most recognizable and distinctive structures. Harry Truman made a speech there from the back of his presidential train, the Ferdinand Magellan, during one of his 1948 “whistle-stop tours.”

  Nampa, Caldwell and several other Idaho cities also have interesting depots. 

  Wouldn’t it be nice if passenger trains actually stopped there?

  Not everyone will agree with this, but the JUMP building, on the Grove Plaza, arguably could be considered cool. Some people love it; some hate it. And who knows? Maybe the ability to inspire conflicting opinions is part of what makes a building cool.

  Churches come to mind. From Idaho’s larger cities such as Boise and Pocatello to towns as small as Paris and Silver City, the state has a plethora of distinctive places of worship.

  But I’m almost certainly overlooking some of our cool buildings.

  Can you think of any?

  If so, please email them to me at the address below. If there are enough suggestions, they’ll appear in a future column.

Tim Woodward’s column appears every other Sunday in The Idaho Press and is posted on woodwardblog.com the following Mondays. Contact him at woodwardcolumn@gmail.com.