Hogan's Fountain Pavilion Informations

The Hogan's Fountain Pavilion is a large gazebo and picnic shelter of mid-century modern architecture located within Cherokee Park, Louisville, Kentucky, built in 1965. This pavilion is available for rental for a variety of events. When not rented, the pavilion is available, at no charge, to all park visitors. It is a popular location for the community.

Known as the City of Parks and for its unconventional architecture, it is fitting that Louisville's most popular park is home to the Hogan's Fountain Pavilion, the most prominent landmark in Cherokee Park.

Often affectionately referred to by its admiring fans as "weird" or "offbeat", the Pavilion's eccentric appearance fits in very well, in a city that prides itself on "Keeping Louisville Weird".

In 1974, the pavilion survived a Category F4 tornado with minor damage although Cherokee Park was heavily affected, losing over 2,000 mature trees to the twister. After 1994, the Parks Department and the Olmsted Parks Conservancy agreed to, and have set into motion plans for, the eventual demise and removal of the Hogan's Fountain Pavilion stating, "...removing the tepee when its natural life span ends." as part of a Master Plan to recapture the original 1892 design that Frederick Law Olmsted envisioned for Cherokee Park.

In the spring of 2010, in response to local public hearings being held in reference to the implementation of a second Master Plan, a group of local Pavilion-restoration supporters organized a grassroots effort to save the structure from demolition. As a result of this group's efforts, the Parks Department agreed to delay removal of the pavilion to allow private funds to be raised for its repair.

The Hogan's Fountain Pavilion is located atop Bonnycastle Hill and acts as an architectural centerpiece along the 2.4 mile Scenic Loop in Cherokee Park in Louisville.

Commissioned by the City Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, George F. Kinkead in 1964, the originally named Hogan's Fountain Pavilion and Comfort Station, which was subsequently shortened to Hogan's Fountain Pavilion project was put out for bids. Fifteen offers were made. The highest was for $72,299. The lowest bid exceeded the $40,000 budget city officials had set aside for the project. The successful bid accepted was from C.G. Campbell and Son, Inc., and they were awarded a contract in the amount of $49,915 with a projected "ready for use" time of early May 1965.

In October 1965, Mayor William Cowger dedicated the Pavilion.

In a Local Landmark Designation Report prepared by Cynthia Johnson in 2012 for the Metro Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission, she writes of the pavilions earlier name history "…the facility was originally named the McCall Shelter in honor of Alderman C.W. "Ches" McCall who was killed in an auto accident in 1962. Although the structure was officially named for McCall, the local vernacular continues to refer to the shelter as the "Teepee."

The Hogan's Fountain Pavilion was originally designed by Edward Jacob (E.J.) Schickli, Jr., of Tafel–Schickli Architects. Mr. Schickli felt that a conical "wigwam" or "teepee" shaped design was appropriate as it reflected Cherokee Park's Native American-derived name.

Born January 1928, Mr. Schickli graduated from MIT in 1950, and became a registered architect in 1954, President of the West Kentucky Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1961, Designed the Hogan's Fountain Pavilion in 1964, President of the Kentucky Society of Architects in 1965 Achieving all of these prestigious accomplishments before 37 years of age.

Other prominent civic contributions by Schickli included the design of the original Louisville Zoo and Botanical Gardens in 1969 and Louisville's Standiford Field Airport expansion project in 1970, currently called the Louisville International Airport.

Being an active member of the community and the architecture industry, as late as September 2006, Schickli, then 78, served on the State of Kentucky's Division of Engineering selection committee which oversees architects selected for state funded design projects.

Schickli visited his creation in June 2010 for the first time in 15 years and was disappointed by the mentality of what he saw, that of discard the past and start anew. "That's the problem with most public and semi-public entities," Schickli said, shaking his head as he looked at the pavilion's deteriorating roof. "Money is often appropriated to build them but never to provide maintenance for them. It doesn't matter if it's this or any other structure. It's a mind-set I will never understand." He hopes the pavilion will be around for a while longer. "It has a lot of life left in it …" he said. When recently asked by the Courier-Journal about his teepee project, Schickli said he would like to see his project preserved. "It's a whimsical structure; the type of thing I believe belongs in parks."

Because of the shape of the shelter, it garnered a great deal of both media and public attention. "It will be a departure from the usual rectangular-shaped shelters built in parks in the past." So it was that Al Blunk, photographer for the Louisville Times captured an early construction shot of the raising of the oversized laminated wood beams. The Times reported "Beams curve skyward, hinting at the shape of things to come …"

Striking in appearance, the pavilion's atypical, octagonal shaped roof stretches skyward. Designed to be rustic in appearance, the pavilion was intended to have a wood shake shingle roof. However, per a notation by M. Newton on February 5, 1965 onto the original blueprint; he approved the shingle change from shake to that of cement shingles laid over a single layer of 15 lb. asphalt felt.

The floor of the pavilion is constructed of a round concrete pad, originally with a large interior circular fire pit surrounded by wooden picnic tables. Above the fire pit is a substantial sized 13 foot diameter smokestack to provide proper venting. The sides of the building were left open to help facilitate cooling by transferring the warm air upward out through an opening at the top. Exiting the top of the covered roof, copper was clad to the exposed structural beams to cap them from the elements. The addition of copper gutter beds and scuppers highlight this unconventional structure.

The laminated wood beams are anchored in eight considerable sized concrete buttresses sheathed with native stone from the area. Lastly, a rectangular brick façade building was attached to the west side of the pavilion that would house the restrooms.

The finished teepee structure measures 56 feet wide by 56 feet in height. It is fitting that "tipi", a variant spelling of "teepee" translates to [from ti to dwell + pi used for]. This further illustrates the intentionally ambitious Native American design concept Schickli had in mind for this park setting.

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