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1 ho walls of the studio arc lined with his
work. Neatly framed watercolors hang beside
stark black-on-white sketches. Models of
proposed buildings jut from the comers.
Wooden work tables, scattered with tubes of
paint and scraps of unfinished projects, fill
the backroom. And amidst the clutter stands
Robert Hanna, wearing a blue denim apron
and a friendly smile. He looks content. He
looks relaxed, Robert Hanna looks like a
man who is doing exactly what he wants to
do. And, in fact, he is.
Hanna says he's found the secret to happ
iness his, anyway. But it took him awhile.
Ten years ago, Hanna was a full partner in
the architectural firm of Bahr, Hanna, Ver
meer and Haecker, with offices in Lincoln
and Omaha. He was, by society's standards,
a real success story. But Hanna saw it differ
ently. One day, he realized his life was not
headed in the direction he wanted.
He quit the firm and went into private
practice, leaving behind the problems of
what he terms a sometimes too competitive
profession.
At 46, Hanna has become a more uncon
ventional architect.
He still does design work, acting mainly as
a "hired gun" for firms located throughout
the Midwest. He says he enjoys concentrat
ing on design work because he is not involved
with production, or, as he put it, "the head
aches of building a building.
"And nobody sues me, so I've got the best
of it."
But Hanna has broadened his world since
le "retired" from the fast track. His real joy,
te says, comes from doing sketches and
watercolors.
His favorite subjects, are buildings which
reflect memories of his childhood near Grand
Island. The culmination of that work can be
found in Hanna's first book, "Sketches of
Nebraska," published in 1984 by the Univer
sity of Nebraska Press.
The hardback publication contains 124
sketches of buildings w hich Hanna feels por
tray the originality, strength and vitality of
Nebraska's carpenters, architects and engi
neers. Originally, Hanna says, the publishers
wanted to include only buildings located in
Lincoln and Omaha, since the main buying
public was there. Hanna balked at the idea.
"I told them that everybody who lives in
Omaha and Lincoln came from towns like
Willow Island and Alveda. And the strange
thing was, we wound up throwing out all the
drawings of Omaha."
"Sketches of Nebraska" has been a re
gional success. It is among the best selling
books in Nebraska, Hanna says, and has
gone into a second printing. That pleases
him, of course.
He also enjoys the responses he gets at
book signings and from telephone calls.
An 85-year-old man once called from
Just doing what
he wants to do
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North Platte to comment on a drawing of a
Beaver Crossing railroad depot he had seen
in Hanna's book. Hanna asked him if he
.liked the depot.
"Hell no," the old man replied. "I don't
like railroad depots." But in back of the
depot was an elevator. And that, said the old
man, is where as a boy, he had heard a radio
for the first time.
Responses like that, Hanna says, make
him happy he completed the book.
Hanna says he also hoped that, by calling
attention to some of the buildings, some
effort may be made to preserve them. Unfor
tunately, many of the structures have been
destroyed since the book's publication, both
by natural disasters and demolition.
". . . I'd do them (the sketches) and then I 'd
come back and the buildings would be gone.
So I'd tell anybody that if they wanted'any
building removed, just have me go out and
sketch it and it'll be gone inabouta month."
Hanna's second book is now in the works.
This book will have more interior sketches,
he says, highlighting things that have been
discarded with the rise of fast-food chains
and department stores. Things like soda
fountains and small roadside cafes.
Hanna is also mapping the location of
Nebraska's disappearing towns. The map,
which he has titled, "Lost Towns of
Nebraska," only includes towns which are
no longer in existence.
"I thought it'd make an interesting place
mat for bars and restaurants along the inter
state. Visitors would look at it and try and
find Omaha or Lincoln. But they wouldn't
be there. It'd be like, 'Where are we?' It'd be
like a Twilight Zone.'"
But as happy as Hanna sounds, he is the
first to admit that making the transition
from tough competitive architecture to his
present, more relaxed, lifestyle was not easy.
He credits his family with helping him.
"They've stuck with me through all of the
changes and the things that I've done."
Changes are also occurring at home for
Hanna and his w ife, Arlene, who, he jokes,
has been married to him for "almost a
hundred years."
Since their three children have moved
away (Laura is married and living in Colo
rado; Bob and Lisa are students at UNL) he
"has to develop a relationship all over again
with (his) wife," he says with a grin.
"There's no noise. It's quiet all the time . .
.It's a strange transition." Hanna says he has
no regrets about leaving the firm.
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