Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates

Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates (BMG)
Indianapolis City Market
Practice information
Principal office	Indianapolis, Indiana
Founded	1853 (as D.A. Bohlen, Architect)

Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates, or BMG, is an architectural firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded by German immigrant Diedrich August Bohlen on April 10, 1853, as D.A. Bohlen, Architect. Work halted while Diedrich fought in the Civil War (beginning in 1863) but resumed once he returned. In 1884 the firm became D.A. Bohlen and Son with the addition of Diedrich's son Oscar Diedrich Bohlen.

Diedrich was known for his German Neo-Gothic style^[1]. Many of his buildings, like the Indianapolis City Market, exhibited the Rundbogenstil or Round-arched style.^[2]

Diedrich died on June 1, 1890. Oscar continued the firm alone until his son, August Carl Bohlen, joined in 1909. August helped to coauthor Indiana's original building codes. A fourth generation of Bohlens came on board in 1946 with the addition of August's son Robert Lesh Bohlen.

In 1961 August incorporated with David V. Burns and the firm became Bohlen and Burns Architects. This was changed to Bohlen, Burns and Associates in 1967 and in 1971 the firm adopted its current name, referencing architects Melvin B.G. Meyer and John M. Gibson. In 1990, Schneider Engineering Corporation became associated with the firm.

More than 20 Bohlen projects are listed by the National Register of Historic Places. The firm maintained relationships for decades with clients like the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, for whom they have completed more than sixty projects since 1858. Prominent clients include the Indianapolis Star, St. Francis Hospital, and the city of Indianapolis.

Significant buildings

D.A. Bohlen, Architect

• Charles Mayer Store facade, 1853
• Odd Fellows Grand Lodge (dome addition), 1854
• Saint Mary-of-the-Woods convent and chapel, 1854
• Morris-Butler House, 1864
• Crown Hill Cemetery Chapel, 1877
• General German Protestant Orphans Home, 1872
• St. John's Catholic Church, 1871
• Churchman House, 1871
• English Opera House and Hotel Auditorium (remodel), ca. 1897

Church of the Immaculate Conception

D.A. Bohlen and Son

• Indiana Dental College, 1893
• Tomlinson Hall, 1886
• City Market, Indianapolis, 1886
• Majestic Building, Indianapolis, 1896
• Indiana National Bank building, 1895
• French Lick Springs Hotel, 1898
• Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis, 1901
• St. Francis Hospital, 1903
• St. Vincent Hospital, 1903
• Union Station addition, 1903
• Church of the Immaculate Conception (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana), 1907
• Stokely Brothers office building, 1912
• Indianapolis Star-News Building, 1924
• Blessed Sacrament Chapel (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana), 1924
• Marygrove College buildings, including Madame Cadillac Hall and the Liberal Arts building, Detroit, 1925–27
• Empire Life Building (now the Lilly Endowment headquarters), 1950

Footnotes

1. ^ Smith 1994
2. ^ National Park Service: City Market, Indianapolis

References

• Council of Independent Colleges (2006). "D.A. Bohlen & Son". Historic Campus Architecture Project. http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/cgi-bin/cic/library?a=d&d=d401. Retrieved November 4, 2009. 

• Madden, Mary Roger (1991). The Path Marked Out: History of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods: Volume III. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana: Sisters of Providence. pp. 128–130. 

• Smith, Richard W. (1994). "Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates (BMG)". The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University): 334.