HENRICO, VA, October 17, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- October 17, 2018 Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present C. Page Highfill with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Highfill celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
In 2018, C. Page Highfill, AIA Emeritus was a Marquis Who's Who subject of biographical record in the field of architecture. Inclusion is limited to individuals who possess professional integrity, demonstrate outstanding achievements in their respective fields and have made innumerable contributions to society as a whole.
As a child just beginning school, Page went to Westhampton Elementary School. The school buildings and its 1-block property at Libbie and Patterson Avenues, were later purchased in 2012 by Bon Secours, Hospitals and Health Care facilities, indicating an intention to preserve the existing buildings, one of them over 100-years old.
Later Bon Secours reversed that decision to instead tear all of them down and build an eventual new campus. This generated many concerns, complaints and negative feelings in the community. Page still vividly remembers his 1st grade class with his teacher, Mrs. Williams in that basement room at Libby and Patterson Ave. Springing from those nurtures and today's architectural possibilities waiting there for younger and highly talented architectural firms and developers, of which there are many in the Richmond area, Page wrote an article to the Editor of the Richmond Times Dispatch, and it was published as a guest Op/Ed on January 8, 2017. The link to that article is below.
http://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/guest-columnists/westhampton-elementary-school-is-a-place-parade-opportunity/article_ec45b313-975c-5a78-a6a7-e5ceff297a05.html
Seven months later, August 24, 2017, Bon Secours announced updated thinking, which incorporated many of the suggestions in the Op-Ed article. See the link below to that announcement.
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/updated-bon-secours-announces-westhampton-property-will-be-preserved-for/article_70d91cbd-085f-5e00-8c2d-08d1f4008e8d.html
The official decision is still out, pending requested developer proposals. Page hopes the Op/Ed article had sufficient impact to reach the hearts and minds of those involved. If he were 20-years younger, he said, he would submit a proposal with a developer.
Jumping back in time to see the roots of some of Pages life, his late wife, Kate Highfill and Page have four children, Scott with his wife, Cindi, and their 3-children Bryan, Holly, and Sean. Page's second son, Marc has three children, Austin, Matt and Riley. Page's oldest daughter is Ann Page Shope with her two children, Davis and Sydney, and Ann Page's husband, Rob Shope and his two sons, Kyle and Jake. Page's youngest daughter is Katie, with her husband Bob Lucy. Katie has a daughter, Clare Copeland.
Page's current wife is Doris Moore Highfill. She has two children, Laura Corbett and husband Col. Arthur Corbett. They have 5 children, Christine, Arthur, William, Stephen and David Corbett. Doris's son, Hudson Moore, with his wife Susan Moore have two children, daughter Catherine with her husband David Custer. Hudson and Susan's second daughter is Sarah Moore.
Page's brother is John Henry (Jerry) Highfill III. He is married to Shirley Gordon Highfill.
They have two daughters, Anne Elizabeth Highfill and Leigh Ellen Highfill who is married to BJ Coggins.
Page has two sisters, the oldest being Patricia Mullins Highfill Purcell. Her husband is John Jerl Purcell Jr. They have two sons, John Jerl Purcell III, who is married to Helene Patricia Sidur Purcell. They have two children, John Jerl Purcell, IV and Joseph Samuel Purcell. Their second son is David Michael Purcell, and he is married to Diane Marie Tingstrom Purcell. They have two children, Katelyn Patricia Purcell and Jack Tingstrom Purcell.
Page's youngest sister is Betty Jean Highfill Joyner. Her husband is Kenneth Mark Joyner. They have two sons, Kenneth Mark Joyner, Jr., who has three children, Hannah Michelle Joyner, Olivia Grace Joyner and Samuel Bluford Joyner (Sam). Kenneth Mark Joyner is married to Mimi Kauders Joyner, who has two sons, William Rawson and McBride Rawson. Betty Jean and Kenneth's second son is Kevin Michael Joyner. He is married to Amy Deane Dunbar Joyner. They have three children, John Alexander Joyner, Lauren Elizabeth Joyner and Allie Suzannah Joyner.
Back in the 1950's, while Page was in Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond, Virginia, he planned on going into commercial art at college. But while working in a consulting engineer's office (his Sunday school teacher's) during the summers, washing floors on weekends and drawing ink borders around blank drawing sheets during the week, he saw many architectural drawings in the office. The drawings were fascinating to Page. The engineers provided electrical and mechanical engineering services for numerous architects. Later Page was promoted to tracing the engineers design drawings onto the large sheets on which he had completed borders earlier. In the process of tracing ductwork, radiators and pipes, he began to add shades and shadows to the drawings to make it easier for readers to understand the drawings. The engineers started coaching him, explaining that he should go into architecture instead of art. Page began thinking about that possibility. Eventually they convinced him during his high school senior year, and he applied to the School of Architecture at Virginia Tech, and was admitted. As Page says of his memories, the school opened his eyes about architecture, developing his design talent and cultivating a problem-solving attitude which resides in him still today. Page won numerous design awards at Tech. His primary mentor at Tech was the late Professor Soderlund, during Page's sophomore year.
When he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture, Page remembers-well driving around Richmond looking at various buildings, applying somewhat of a grade on each building; based its aesthetics and expression of functions. Later he decided which architect he wanted to work with based on the buildings he observed. He found that one architect's work stood out. Page had never met the architect but wrote him a letter asking for a job. Surprisingly, the architect had an opening. Page, unknowing at the time, learned that his employer would become a lifetime friend and mentor. He was Frederick T. Hyland, known as Bud, now deceased. Page got the job, and his first project was an apartment project owned by Mr. Hyland's brother in Champaign Illinois.
Soon, Page learned that Bud Hyland studied under Frank Lloyd Wright and had many of Wright's design vernaculars in-bred. Later, Page passed the Architectural Registration examines, and Bud allowed him to set up his own office there within Bud's office, continuing to help Bud on certain projects while also looking for projects of his own that he might bring in. When work-loads became low in this small office of two architects, Page would mutually agree go on loan to other architects across and down the street. Although this was disappointing at the time. It was instead a healthy learning experience.
One day when Page was on loan, he got a call from Bud, saying that Meadowbrook Country Club where Bud had belonged for many years, was considering adding a major addition next to its original historic English Tudor club-house-facility which centered on its formal gardens and walled entry courtyard. Meadowbrook wanted to expand its dining area and kitchen, and Bud wanted to know if Page would be interested in joining him, if he got the project. Of course, Page said absolutely.
Bud got the job and the two of them teamed up, calling the grouping, Hyland & Highfill, Architects. They managed to successfully explain to the Meadowbrook Board the wisdom of doing a master plan first for needs in 5-10 years, where the impact would influence various decisions for the next several phases of expansion. The Board agreed. Unfortunately, when Bud and Page were about 75% complete with the master plan, the old Tudor house caught fire and burned to the ground. Only the chimneys were left. Much grief followed.
Then Bud and Page realized that a next step feasible answer presented itself right before their eyes. Why not now, move the master plan's full master plan with schematically designed additions, over where the burned house once stood, centering it on the gardens and entry? The Board agreed, and the new clubhouse was built as master plan-designed for new dining areas, new kitchen and club support facilities. Soon after this project, Bud wanted to know if Page would be interested in buying into his firm, and the Hyland and Highfill name would be fulfilled. Page said yes, and he agreed on Bud's first very fair price.
Soon, some of Page's own projects began to go forward. They hired some additional architects, and together Page and Bud designed the original campus of the Trinity High School in Chesterfield County. One of the primary issues and concerns expressed by the proposed new school planning team was; private schools cannot predict enrollments as quickly or accurately as public schools, particularly new private schools. Such information is needed to program the phases and what each would include. After brain-storming some thoughts with this client, Page proposed a classroom Pod concept, where the Classroom Pod's construction drawings, once completed in phase 1, could be readied again very quickly for another Pod to be bid by contractors for additional multiple Pods, when needed. During phase 1's actual construction, while two Pods were being built, the School Directors added another single Pod, actually twice.
Other commissions evolved through some luck and hard work, both of which were soul-deep in creative imaging fun. Page remembers when the State of Virginia added the Kindergarten grade level to the previous 1-12 mandate for state-supported educational facilities. It then became a K-12 mandate. What a huge challenge for school districts and golden opportunities for architects. What were school divisions going to do?
Chesterfield County published an RFP (Request for Proposals) for architects and engineers to provide design and construction administration services for multiple Kindergarten Classroom additions to 19 of their Elementary Schools. Invited architectural and engineering services were requested to submit proposals for one or more Elementary School additions. Page could imagine the problem-solving possibilities pulling at him and hopefully his partner-pal, Bud, too. Page got together with a couple of engineering firms they had been working with and they all put together a plan that would solve this problem for the school division at huge savings in construction cost and design fees.
Page submitted the proposal for Hyland and Highfill to service all 19 of the Elementary Schools under one contract. The plan was based on using Classroom additions, similar to the Trinity High School Pods, but in this case for a specific number of classrooms for each school in the RFP. The requirements were for some 4-classroom additions, some 5-classroom additions, and some 6-classroom additions, all in multiples as necessary to provide the required K-classrooms. They proposed the project could be bid to contractors on a bid one or more site basis, with the added contractor-attraction that the project additions could also be staggered in construction so that individual trades could work on one, then move to the next site.
For example, when the concrete foundations were completed on one new addition, the concrete sub could then move to the next classroom addition site and repeat their work. The same would apply to other trades as well, brickwork, windows, fascia materials, roofing and so on. All of the components in the classroom additions would be identical; for example, all windows would be the same, including doors, etc. Only the brick color (to match the existing school) would vary between sites.
During the interview with the School Boards Selection Committee, Page presented all of this as above. To Page's and Bud's delight, the team was selected for the entire project, even though this was their first public school project, and the competition was from numerous well qualified and school-experienced firms.
The project was built accordingly and by one contractor for all 19 additions. Page still remembers one of the savings figures. Since each of the classroom additions were designed once only, and then were repeated at various Elementary school sites, the design fee for re-use at each site was customarily 50% instead of 100% again, and only the site adaptation fee was full value. Page remembers the result was a savings of over $61,000 in design fees. Construction cost provided additional substantial saving. From that point forward, the firm was commissioned to design other public-school buildings; and then fire stations on a same logic. Later Pages firm would design Henrico County Fire stations 14, 15, 16, and 17 (River Road at Gaskins) and two groups of 5 Fire & Rescue facilities for Hanover County.
Soon, Page's mentor-friend, Bud Hyland, expressed an interest in retiring. Page asked Bud to submit his price to sell his interest; and that Page would accept his first offer. Page accepted Bud's offer to sell his 50% interest in the firm as requested, and Page will never forget the feeling of gratitude he and Bud shared in that father-son mentor relationship encompassed in that partnership and transition. Later the firm name became Highfill and Associates, then Highfill-Smith Associates, architects, growing to 18 staff people.
During the late 1960's computers became feasible for small offices, although the cost was well over $50,000 for a server and a couple of remote stations. Most firms were interested in computers for the secretarial and financial management functions in the firm. One day Page was in a Radio Shack store buying batteries. As he stood at the counter waiting, he over-heard a nearby store sales-person explaining the new Radio Shack TRS80 small computer. The sales-person and his customer talked about the TRS80 price being approximately $1,000 with software at about $90 per program, including word processing, generally ledger, inventory and other applications. Wow, Page said to himself, this is a real break-through for small firms. Later, Page bought his first computer with the maximum memory (16 K-bytes) and 4-floppy-disc drives. He bought a bookkeeping program, and soon realized it was not sufficiently flexible to best serve his architectural needs. So, he taught himself the Basic computer language, and then he revised the program to include certain aspects in his firm's financial processes. Later Page learned the dBase language sufficiently to program complete applications. Eventually every person in Page's firm had a TRS80, and later an IBM PC on their desk. Page remembers walking around the office then asking each employee, what was the worse part of their job? They would tell him, and he took notes, seeing those valuable employee inputs as potential software applications. Just as architects use bricks for all kinds of uses, so Page used standard $90 software packages and his own coded applications.
The University of Wisconsin customarily offered seminars for architects and engineers across the USA on the latest advances in A/E firm's management and production, with the speakers usually being representatives of computer manufactures, like Wang Mini-Computers plus staff members from large architectural and engineering firms using such equipment. While Page was on a different track, he felt he could certainly learn from others on the wide-reaching subject. So, Page attended one of the seminars. It was a good seminar, but no one talked about the TRS80 or the Apple or IBM equivalent of "personal" computers, and how they could be of great service to all firms. During the end of the seminar and while filling out the standard appraisal sheet on the seminar, Page mentioned the small computer applications they were using, and that he would definitely be interested in future seminars on that subject.
About a month later, Page received a call from Phil, the University of Wisconsin department head of the design-firm seminars. Phil asked if Page would consider being a speaker at one of their future seminars. That wasn't what Page had in mind, but the opportunity of mixing with fellow architects and engineers and their firms was very attractive. He accepted the offer.
From that point forward, Page had a new vector in his architectural career while still overseeing his firm now named Highfill-Smith Associates Inc. For the next dozen or so years, Page had the opportunity speak at numerous University of Wisconsin seminars across the USA, then various AIA conferences, including invitations to speak at three National AIA Conferences, all to convey what Page's firm was doing with personal computers. Page's theme was simply, make decisions on the screen. Phil became a mentor for Page as did George, who ran private Systems Conferences where Page also spoke. These opportunities of learning and sharing among his peers were very invigorating years in his career. Page held several seminars right in his own office where the staff participated in sharing their systems and software applications with other architects.
Some other important mentors throughout Page's life are in his church, River Road Church, Baptist, an ecumenical community church with a deep faith-based history. The over-reaching mentor here is the Christian Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God's Trinity is everywhere and everywhen. It is human perception which is the variable, and Page's quest continues to be to gain a better understanding of the influences behind human perception, particularly as might be enhanced by music, architecture, as defined by Goethe's as "frozen music," the spoken or sung word, by lyrics, poetry, narrative as well as throughout art. Perception also appears to Page to be enhanced by gratitude, faith and sharing among others, particularly with those we can help. Uplifting is uplifting. Other mentors here include Pastor, Dr. Daniel Glaze, Dr. Daniel Bagby, Dr. Bert Browning, Dr. Robert Gallagher, Dr. James Slatton, Pastor Emeritus, Dr. Michael Clingenpeel, Pastor Emeritus and hundreds of others in this caring family of believers with a mission to serve and give back.
During this time period, Page also had the opportunity to write and direct over a dozen faith-based plays and vignettes for local churches. He also wrote lyrics for existing hymns, one being for his mother as she played the piano for other residents in her assisted-living facility. That hymn-lyrics is now used as the Introit each Sunday at Page's sister, Patsy Purcell's and her husband John Purcell's church.
Page later began his project real estate development and management work by buying a house in a growing commercial area and converting it to small office building and then managing the rentals and tenants. He and staff learned new challenges, skills and opportunities along the way, and those new tools of learned maintenance and occupancy requirements became available to clients in more depth in his staff's design skills.
Later a client stopped in to see Page, mentioning that he, the client, had just bought an existing brick house at a prominent commercial intersection, Parham and Patterson. The house was on the market for more than 3-years, and soon Page would discover why. The house was positioned diagonally across the property making commercial parking and possible office use very inefficient. The client wanted Page's firm to design the renovations. When asked about a budget, the client looked baffled, and in fact had not figured any of the possibilities, costs and those difficulties. Page said he would run a few numbers and get back with him. Because of the cost and the site layout, it was basically a dud investment. Not generally feasible. Office rents would have to be so high, that even if a tenant agreed to pay it, no mortgage company would take the risk of having a re-possessed project that they could not rent. The client was at a loss of what to do, and asked Page what would he do, considering the client had already bought the property. Page offered to do some serious studies to see if something could be designed that was feasible and marketable.
However, Page found out quickly that nothing yet would work. Too costly, too little office area to rent. Too little parking within odd shapes left by the houses location. Finally, Page got one example to work. It required that the existing house have its porch and den wing removed and the house to be moved to a more efficient location on site to allow an efficient parking lot layout on the site. At the same time of the moving process and expense, the house was proposed to be lifted another level so the two-story became a three-story structure, adding rental square footage to be remodeled and rented to office tenants as an immediate phase 1. This would generate badly needed income, all while the remaining portion of the overall project could be planned. A new three-story 15,000 sq. ft. separate office building was designed, with adequate parking, and then investors and a satisfactory mortgage were obtained. The project was built and leased. All of that, including rental income from the house in phase 1 now worked. Page's firm invested its fee back into the project and became a partner throughout design, construction and leasing and management. The project was completed satisfactorily and was 100% occupied most of the time. Page's firm rented office space at the retail rate there for years, eventually moving later into Page's firm's next development project, an indoor tennis facility and office building. Page and his staff managed that entire development process as well including running the racket club and leasing to tenants about 8,000 square feet of built-in office space to help stabilize income of the indoor tennis courts, all for about 22 years. The partnership was then sold and now, years later, Page's two sons and one of Page's grandsons run the facility operation and club.
Page's firm designed the headquarters of the Virginia Certified Public Accountants Association in Innsbrook in Henrico County. They also designed Gayton Elementary School and numerous school additions. Page's firm won two design awards, both for St Bartholomew's Episcopal Church. One award was from The Guild of Religious Architects, an affiliate of the AIA and a second award was from the State of Virginia award of merit from the Virginia State AIA Chapter.
Page is the author of two books, one is entitled Thin Places and Five Clues in their Architecture. Thin Places are defined from Celtic history centuries ago, as places where the veil which separates our world from another world, becomes very thin (and transparent). That is, our perception of that other world, spiritual or of other dimensions than Earth, becomes clearer. Examples as evidenced from visitors, are the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, The Rock of Cashel and other of the historic ruins in Ireland, Stonehenge and others. Page's objectives throughout much of his career, has been to chase thin places, and find how they influence human perceptions. Once better understood, perhaps such may open possibilities which will encourage more of them intentionally designed into our environments.
Page's second book is Twelve Words Never to Forget. Here's a comment from one of its reader-reviewers. "Page Highfill, playwright, artist and author, pursued as avocations, a true renaissance man. His earlier book, Thin Places gives meaning to those déjà vu moments where we all experience from time to time; the feeling that where we are is somewhere between where we were and where we'll be someday. In contrast Twelve Words is a collection of stories, poems and song lyrics designed to invoke thoughts from within. The joy of this book is anticipation; it's all about the journey. Just as tomorrow brings expectation…so too does Twelve Words… a story…. that poem which speaks to you might be but a page away. "
In 1989 Page and the same engineers he had worked with on the kindergarten additions, examined a very interesting RFP from Hampden-Sydney College. The College had recently changed administrations. The new President and his Vice President of Business Affairs and Treasurer, of this historic college wanted to determine the general conditions and maintenance/code status of twenty-eight (28) of its buildings. The previous administration had apparently paid little attention to those matters, and such knowledge now would help them to plan and budget for future maintenance and life-safety updates of these facilities. The RFP asked for proposals from architects and engineers to determine that and present it to the College.
Page's team got together to brain-storm the possibilities. They proposed to service all 28 buildings in the RFP using a special team to inspect and record its findings on custom data base software, an application written by Page for this purpose. The software would also include a College user interface which would provide ways College officials could get budgeting answers to questions like, "how much do we need to spend on roofs next year?" The software would retrieve an answer from thousands of observation items, timings and cost estimates of each, and print a report of the results for the College as needed. Pages team was also available to generate the same reports whenever the College needed from its in-office version.
The team was awarded the commission, and that was the beginning of the next 20-years of Page's firm working with Hampden-Sydney College to first discover, then serve the facilities in the two-volume analysis records, and a similar one 2-years later for all 13 of the College's Fraternity Houses, plus numerous other renovations and additions to facilities and new buildings during that time.
In 2002, Page, approaching retirement, sold his architectural practice and work-in-process to an architectural and engineering firm in Roanoke, Virginia. The sales agreement included a provision that Page could continue as long as he wished to work through the purchasing firm to serve Hampden-Sydney College with them, as long as Hampden-Sydney approved. Page did that and finally retired from this phase of his career doing what he dearly loved, discovering multiple layers of challenges (opportunities) within each commission, all with a special story of its own to further assist clients to achieve their goals in their mission statements. For, that is not work, but continuous delightful "play." Page officially retired in 2008, at the age of 71.
But Page continued to serve new causes and clients which appeared, except now it was always on a volunteer basis, including his volunteer work for Sussex Square, an 87-house community in Henrico County, Virginia, where Page and his wife Doris have lived since 2011. This community is self-managed by volunteers. Page volunteered to serve as chair of the Property management committee and the Architectural Review Committee and served for over 3-years up until health issues required him to step aside. The committee chairs were turned over on January 26, 2018 to a new volunteer leader of the existing team and systems cycling developed with 7 other dedicated volunteers and their efforts. During that period, Page reorganized the maintenance time and materials, coordinating the quality of house paint, for example, with maintenance attention on a revolving cycle of painting 11 houses and their decks each year over an 8-year period. In 8-years then, all 88 structures, including the pool house, would be regularly and systematically maintained. At the mid-cycle year (4-years) 11 houses and decks are power-washed to extend the paint life to the full 8-year cycle while also cleaning it and restoring the appearance. During the first year of implementing the 8-year cycle, the costs compared with previous years of maintenance and painting indicated over $30,000 savings. Page set up a data base for the community which prints out lists of the houses addresses each year for that year's cycle, including painting, carpentry repairs and re-roofing.
As an expression of thanks to the residents for working with him over the years and being great neighbors, Page did a watercolor painting of one of his favorite views of the community, then he gave each of the 87 households a print of the scene for their recollection and memories at Sussex Square.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, C. Page Highfill has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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