Downtown Omaha from the Rorick Tower

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:09 pm

As I have mentioned on here before, my boyfriend is buying a condo in the Rorick Building. It's a circa 1940s apartment tower in the Park East neighborhood which is undergoing extensive rennovations. We've been visiting every couple of days to take "progress photos", and today the protective coverings were off of the new windows, so I was able to take some photos of the view. The First National Tower, Qwest Building, and most of Union Pacific Center are obscured, but the view into South Downtown showing some of Omaha's beautiful historic structures is outstanding. Here you go.

First, here is a picture of the former home of Mary Rodgers Kimball, mother of famous Omaha architect Thomas Kimball, who designed the house along with countless other beautiful homes in Omaha. He also designed St. Cecilia's Cathedral, the old downtown Library, St. Frances Cabrini church in Little Italy, Hotel Fontenelle, The Medical Arts Building, the original Burlington Station design, and many more. Many significant structures that have been lost in Omaha were Kimball designs. A great friend of my family, Tom Kahoutek, lived in the home with his partner for many years and had worked on restoring it. Sadly he passed away just a couple of months agon. I believe his partner still lives in the house. Anyway, it's just a beautiful structure with great history. Sorry to be so long winded

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Bedroom View.

Livingroom View.

Zephyr · Post by **Zephyr** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 5:50 pm

Great photos of an area of downtown with a lot of potential! The Rorick has always been one of my favs.

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:22 pm

What a great new view! Finally we have an FNC eclipse!

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:17 pm

Nice... thanks for posting these Aaron.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:20 pm

As always Aaron..Great pics

..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:01 am

Nice, nice to see a different view.

jjjjhskr · Post by **jjjjhskr** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:38 am

Nice shots and a nice view! I'd enjoy hearing how the condo turns out - I have a friend who is thinking about buying one. I hope it the refurb of the building goes well!

And I digress:
"First, here is a picture of the former home of Mary Rodgers Kimball, mother of famous Omaha architect Thomas Kimball, who designed the house along with countless other beautiful homes in Omaha. He also designed St. Cecilia's Cathedral, the old downtown Library, St. Frances Cabrini church in Little Italy..."

You mean St. Philomena's Church? Probably a lot of people don't know that this was the origingal name of St. Frances Cabrini's until it was determined that there never was a St. Philomena.

Does anyone still go to the spaghetti lunch at the Sons of Italy hall on Thursdays?

omahapropertymanager · Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:58 am

Do you have any interior pictures of the renovation?

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:08 am

jjjjhskr wrote:Nice shots and a nice view! I'd enjoy hearing how the condo turns out - I have a friend who is thinking about buying one. I hope it the refurb of the building goes well!

And I digress:
"First, here is a picture of the former home of Mary Rodgers Kimball, mother of famous Omaha architect Thomas Kimball, who designed the house along with countless other beautiful homes in Omaha. He also designed St. Cecilia's Cathedral, the old downtown Library, St. Frances Cabrini church in Little Italy..."

You mean St. Philomena's Church? Probably a lot of people don't know that this was the origingal name of St. Frances Cabrini's until it was determined that there never was a St. Philomena.

Does anyone still go to the spaghetti lunch at the Sons of Italy hall on Thursdays?

Best time to go is during an election cycle. You get to see all the politicians trying not to get sauce on their ties & shirts. Actually, any time is great to eat there. The sauce is outstanding & I think the guy is still there with the shirt that says "Don't throw out the XXX baskets!"

guy4omaha · Post by **guy4omaha** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:30 pm

Great shots Streets. Like everyone else said, Nice to see a different view. The third and fourth shots really displayed some density.

Regarding Kimball, what a legacy. The Museum at St. Cecilia's (housed in the old Cathedral High School Building) has a very nice collection of photos and other artifacts (such as a spire from the top of the old Fontenelle Hotel) of his works not only from Omaha but across Nebraska as well. A real nice example from Grand Island comes to mind. A good amount of narrative in the collection as well.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:42 pm

No, jjjjhskr, I mean St. Frances Cabrini, since that's what it's called. I'm well aware that it was originally St. Philomena. ;)

I do have some indoor shots. At this point, it's pretty bare, but things are going to start picking up. They've painted the walls, and they will be installing kitchen cabinets and the black wooden floor later this week.

I'll probably put together a "progress" thread, and when the time comes I'll show some nice photos when it's fully finished.

jjjjhskr · Post by **jjjjhskr** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:09 am

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:No, jjjjhskr, I mean St. Frances Cabrini, since that's what it's called. I'm well aware that it was originally St. Philomena. ;)

- jj - nice that you know....my dad still calls it St. Phil's.

I do have some indoor shots. At this point, it's pretty bare, but things are going to start picking up. They've painted the walls, and they will be installing kitchen cabinets and the black wooden floor later this week.

I'll probably put together a "progress" thread, and when the time comes I'll show some nice photos when it's fully finished.

merci