"He thought his buildings would last forever," Betty Moratz Singh recalled in a 1990 interview concerning her grandfather, the prominent Bloomington architect Paul O. Moratz.

Singh said her grandfather looked ahead to a time when a curious onlooker would stumble across one of his libraries, schools or homes and say, "What a beautiful building - I wonder who built it?"

Born in Germany in 1868, Moratz settled with his family in Bloomington when he was about 2 years old. He attended - but likely never graduated from - the University of Illinois, and his architectural background reflects less the theory of the classroom and more the day-to-day practicalities of managing the family business.

Herman Moratz, Paul's father, opened a woodworking shop in the predominately German neighborhood of South Hill, situated south of downtown and east of Miller Park. Paul succeeded his father in the late 1880s, a time when Queen Anne architecture and its "gingerbread" styling placed a high demand on mill work.

As a result of this Queen Anne "rage," Moratz and the craftsmen under his employ were kept busy meeting the demand for locally produced doors, sashes, frames, moldings and veneers. Eventually, he relocated the planing mill to a site near the old Nickel Plate Railroad tracks between McLean, Bell and Evans streets.

For Moratz, the disciplines of architecture and mill work melded into one, and his "up-to-date" (that is, modern) homes were born of "ready-made plans" and "massed-produced materials."

After a fire destroyed the planing mill, Moratz rebuilt at the same location, but shifted his business focus to the production of hardwood flooring.

Moratz served as the primary architect for Samuel R. White's two-block residential boulevard White's Place (today known as White Place without the possessive).

He designed the stone gate at Empire Street, and several of the homes mirror the style and layout of those found in his 1899 plan book "Up-To-Date Homes."

One could argue that Moratz's greatest legacy rests with his prolific body of work relating to public libraries, many of them Carnegies. Moratz-designed libraries include those in Edwardsville, El Paso, Fairbury, Farmington, Greenville, Paxton, Pekin and many other small and medium-size communities.

Unfortunately, several of Moratz's major works have fallen to the wrecking ball.

One of his more well-known public buildings was the old Coliseum, located at the corner of Roosevelt and Front streets. Opened in late December 1892, the concert and convention hall was razed in April 1961 to make way for a used car lot. U.S. Cellular Coliseum, across the street from that site, is named after the original.

In 1991, local preservationists suffered a grievous blow with the razing of the Moratz-designed J.W. Van Schoick home at 103 W. Wood St.

The nearly century-old residence, with its signature Queen Anne-style corner tower, was torn down to make way for a gas station and convenience store.

Sadly, history may repeat itself. Today, the block immediately to the south of the BP station is threatened by commercial development. This historic block features Moratz's own home, 108 W. Wood St. Although this Queen Anne residence has weathered significant modifications, including the loss of the two-story gazebo porch, the original design is still visible. This block also includes the architecturally significant Adolph Wochner home, located at 104 W. Wood St. and designed by George H. Miller, another major Bloomington architect.

Currently on display at the McLean County Museum of History is a recently restored rolltop "secretary" desk designed and built by Moratz when he attended the U of I. Visitors will find this golden oak "confection" in the south hallway just off the main floor rotunda.