Frank Ingram
BallardAIA
(1924–1997)
Ballard was born in Wadesboro NC. After serving in the Marine Corps Engineers during WWII, he bicycled through France filling notebooks with exquisite sketches of ancient structures. He returned to the US and graduated from the NCSU School of Design in 1950 then went to work for Leslie N. Boney. In 1955, he formed Ballard & McKim. His sons Frank Jr. and Thomas both became architects.
Herbert Pope (Herb) McKim, FAIA
(1928–2010)
McKim grew up in Robersonville NC. He graduated from Asheboro Senior High School in 1945 and joined the US Marines, serving until the end of WWII. According to Robert Sawyer's son Tom, he liked to think Charles F. McKim, of the legendary New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White as a relation, although there was no relation. He graduated in architecture from the NCSU School of Design College in 1950 and worked with Lesley N. Boney Architects. In 1955, he formed Ballard & McKim. He was Mayor of Wrightsville Beach NC. He received AIANC's F. Carter Williams Gold Medal and North Carolina's Order of the Long Leaf Pine. His son Herb Jr. became founding principal with McKim and Creed Engineers.
Robert Williams (Bob) Sawyer, FAIA
(1923–2005)
Sawyer was born in Darien WI, graduating from Darien HS in 1941. He worked as a machinist in an Allis-Chalmers plant in Racine WI then served in the Army during WWII. He graduated from the NCSU School of Design with honors in 1951 and worked 1951-1953 with A. L. Aydelott & Associates, 1953-1959 with Leslie N. Boney, then joined Ballard McKim in 1959 as a partner. He was a three-term mayor of Wrightsville Beach NC. His last major project was the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort at Wrightsville Beach. Sawyer was principally responsible for the designs of the Wilmington Hilton Riverside, Seapath Towers, Station One, Shell Island Resort at Wrightsville Beach and the Ocean Ridge on Topsail Island. His son John became an architect in Wilmington. His grandson Jack is an architect in New Orleans.
Sources include: Bruce Bowman; Jenna Ault-Holcombe; Frank Ballard Jr.; Michael Ross Kersting; Thomas Ballard; John Sawyer; Marimar McNaughton; Jennifer Daugherty.
