User:JPRiley/Mather
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Austin W. Mather FAIA (1904–1994) was an American architect in practice in Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1939 until the 1980s.
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Life and career
Austin Wheeler Mather was born December 13, 1904 in Norwalk, Connecticut to Harry Wakefield Mather and Maude (Wheeler) Mather. He was educated at the Pratt Institute (Pratt) in Brooklyn, graduating in 1927, with further instruction at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. He worked as a drafter for architects Lee & Hewitt and Starrett & van Vleck until 1931, when he returned to Connecticut. He taught at Pratt from 1927 to 1928, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1937 to 1938 and again at Pratt from 1938 to 1940. In between these teaching engagements he worked with his former Pratt classmate, Thomas J. Lyons, in his office in Bridgeport, and in 1939 they formed a partnership, Lyons & Mather. During World War II, from 1941 to 1944, Mather served on the ordnance staff of the United States Army. With the exception of another period of teaching at the University of Bridgeport from 1946 to 1948, Mather focused on the practice of architecture for the rest of his career.
Lyons & Mather developed a practice based chiefly on the design of schools and other institutional projects. In 1952 they formed an association with New London architect H. Eugene Grieshaber to open a branch office in that city, and the local office of Lyons, Mather & Grieshaber was active until Grieshaber's death in 1960. In 1966 the firm admitted George J. Lechner, an employee since 1955, as a junior partner. In 1969 he became an equal partner and the firm was renamed Lyons, Mather & Lechner. In 1970 an office was established in Nashua, New Hampshire with Lechner as local partner. Later the main office was moved to Stratford and a third office was established at Wendell, near Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1979 Lyons died, and in 1983 operations were consolidated in the Stratford office.
Architectural works
- Fairfield Ludlowe High School, 785 Unquowa Rd, Fairfield, Connecticut (1948 and 1966)[1][2]
- Greens Farms School addition, 17 Morningside Dr S, Westport, Connecticut (1950)[3]
- Nathan Hale Middle School, 176 Strawberry Hill Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut (1952)[1]
- Henry Abbott Technical High School, 21 Hayestown Ave, Danbury, Connecticut (1953)[1]
- Shorehaven Golf Club, 14 Canfield Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut (1953, altered 2016)[1]
- Northwood Apartments, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut (1955)[1]
- Fairfield Warde High School, 755 Melville Ave, Fairfield, Connecticut (1957)[4]
- Notre Dame Catholic High School, 220 Jefferson St, Fairfield, Connecticut (1958)[4]
- Bristol Eastern High School, 632 King St, Bristol, Connecticut (1959)[4]
- Trumbull High School (former), 51 Driftwood Ln, Trumbull, Connecticut (1960)[4]
- Brien McMahon High School, 300 Highland Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut (1961)[4]
- Norwalk Community College, 188 Richards Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut (1961)[4]
- Mandeville Hall, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Connecticut (1965)[5]
- College of Nursing (former), University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Connecticut (1966)[5]
- Roton Middle School, 201 Highland Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut (1966)[5]
- St. Philip Church, 1 Father Conlon Pl, Norwalk, Connecticut (1967–69)[6]
- Bristol Central High School, 480 Wolcott St, Bristol, Connecticut (1968)[2]
- Nelson Hume Hall, Canterbury School, New Milford, Connecticut (1968)[2]
- Brien McMahon Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 915 Lafayette Blvd, Bridgeport, Connecticut (1968)[5]
- New Canaan High School,[a] 11 Farm Rd, New Canaan, Connecticut (1968–71)[8]
- Arnold Bernhard Arts and Humanities Center (former), University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Connecticut (1969–72)[9]
- May V. Carrigan Intermediate School, 2 Tetlow St, West Haven, Connecticut (1969)[2]
- Southern Connecticut Gas Company office building, 880 Broad St, Bridgeport, Connecticut (1969)[2]
- Shepaug Valley School, 159 South St, Washington, Connecticut (1970–72)[10]
- White Brook Middle School, 200 Park St, Easthampton, Massachusetts (1972–74, demolished 2022)[11]
- Joseph A. Foran High School, 80 Foran Rd, Milford, Connecticut (1973)[12]
- Nashua High School South, 36 Riverside St, Nashua, New Hampshire (1974–75)[13][14][15]
- Groton Public Library, 45 Fort Hill Rd, Groton, Connecticut (1976–77)[16]
- Amherst Street Elementary School, 71 Amherst St, Nashua, New Hampshire (1978–79)[17]
- Grasso Hall, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, Connecticut (1983)[18]
- John T. Downey Courthouse, 239 Whalley Ave, New Haven, Connecticut (1987)[19]
- Southington High School expansion, 720 Pleasant St, Southington, Connecticut (1988)[20]
- St. Andrew Church, 410 Anton St, Bridgeport, Connecticut (no date)
Notes
- Originally intended as a joint venture between Lyons & Mather, Desmond & Lord and Paul Rudolph, the building was designed by Lyons & Mather alone after community backlash caused Rudolph to resign from the project.[7]