Dick Tully

Richard Lowden Tully – summary of work

Dick Tully was born in New Orleans, LA, on May 24, 1911. He lived in New Orleans and other places in the south, often with his older brother, Thomas James Tully (Tom) and his wife Edna. Tom was an architect. Tom and Dick had two sisters: Elizabeth (Liza) and Dorothy (Dot). All had the same father, while Dick, Liza and Dot had a different mother, who was their dad’s first wife’s sister. Fifteen years separated Tom and Dick; Liza and Dot were younger.

In the 1920s, Dick moved to Columbus, Ohio, where his brother had settled and was a practicing architect. After graduating from East High School and studying architecture at Ohio State University, Dick began working for his brother in 1937. Tom had received architectural training under the Atelier System in New Orleans architectural offices. He was a civilian engineer at the Norfolk Navy Yard in World War I. When Tom came to Columbus, he worked for Benham and Richards before starting his own practice in 1924, which he continued until his death in 1975. Tom’s work included many fine residences, including the Chennell house, the restoration of the Columbus Club, and projects for Crane Plastics, Central Market, Denison Engineering Company and others (read more in the “Tom Tully” section).

Dick took the examination and became a registered architect in 1939. In 1943, he became the plant architect for Denison Engineering Company. In addition to being admitted to practice architecture in Ohio, Dick became registered in many states over the years, as his practice expanded, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, West Virginia, New York, Florida and others.

After the war, it was a good time to be an architect. In approximately 1946, Dick formed a partnership with Frederick H. Hobbs and Walter Hansen – Tully, Hobbs and Hansen, Architects. They practiced at 582 Oak Street, Columbus, Ohio. Walt Hansen left the partnership a few years later to open his own practice.

Dick’s firm was known as Tully and Hobbs, Architects, until 1966. The name was changed to Tully, Hobbs and Partners, when Marvin Ames, Richard Elzey and J. Lynn Thomas were admitted to partnership. In 1968, the firm moved from Oak Street to a new building at 222 East Town Street. Upon Fred Hobbs’ retirement in 1972, the firm became known at Tully, Ames, Elzey and Thomas. In 1981, Dick retired from the firm and formed A-Consulting, Inc. He practiced well into the 1990s. He died in 2001.

Dick became a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1945 and was very active in the Columbus chapter. He served as president of the Architects Society of Ohio (ASO) in 1967. Dick became a Fellow of the AIA in 1974 and received the Gold Medal from the ASO in 1975 for excellence in practice over a period of time.

Dick’s firm completed a variety of projects from the late 1940s to his retirement. A selected list follows:

• Variety of commercial projects, including Broad Olympic, a post-war bowling alley with a night club (the Torch Club), a drive-in restaurant, industrial buildings
• In 1951, the firm was appointed architects for the new town of Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, developed by John W. Galbreath for U.S. Steel Corporation. Dick and family moved nearby and lived there from 1951 to 1955. As a new, planned community, it was an early example of a team approach with architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, economic consultants and constructors working together. The houses were prefabricated, created by the Gunnison Corporation.
• In about 1953, The Galbreath Corporation hired Tully and Hobbs to create three communities in northern Minnesota, Silver Bay, Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes, for workers in the Mesabi Iron Range.
• Between, 1947 and 1965, the firm’s relationship with John Galbreath resulted in a variety of projects, including:
  • office buildings and warehouses for Standard Brands and Owens-Corning in various parts of the country
  • work on Galbreath’s farm
  • the United Redevelopment Corporation, which was responsible for a plan that created a variety of urban renewal projects that changed part of downtown Columbus, such as the Westminster-Thurber Village community and small office buildings
  • department stores for F. & R. Lazarus Company, which became part of Federated Department Stores; Gold Circle, also part of Federated, one of the first discount retailers to build on a national scale; stores were built in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and New York.
• Projects for clients in the public sector, including the Physics Building and married student housing at Ohio State; the University Inn and science laboratories at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
• Projects for the State of Ohio, including (the most visible) the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation and the Ohio Department of Highway Administration, flanking the state department’s building on Front Street, facing the Scioto River; and, the Kosar Geriatric Center
• Between 1963 and 1978, 26 projects at Port Columbus, including terminal remodeling, hangars and the airport fire station (a new terminal has been built since then)
• Buildings for Weirton Steele, in West Virginia.

Many of these projects involved collaborations with other firms, in Ohio and elsewhere. His firm received many honors and awards for their work.

Dick also was active in civic and professional associations, beginning in the early 1940s, when he joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He served with organizations that were important for the growth of Columbus, including a Columbus building code revision committee in the 1940s, the Building Commission (1958-1962), Governor’s Committee on Nuclear Emergency (1967), Construction Specifications Institute (from 1957 on, including serving as president), Capitol Square Commission, Development Committee for Greater Columbus, including serving as chairman, Land Use Planning Committee, including serving as chairman, the Builders Exchange, and with Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church and Planned Parenthood. He was an avid golfer, a photographer, and loved jazz and good food.

June 2019