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Archive for the Nabes: Russell Category
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Category Archives: Nabes: Russell
Inside Chestnut Street’s Quinn Chapel
Front of the sanctuary (Courtesy Eric Schumacher)
Last Semptember, we took a look at the boarded up Quinn Chapel Church at 912 West Chestnut Street. The church building is owned by the adjacent YMCA of Greater Louisville which plans to convert the structure into some sort of community center.
There’s no new news about plans for the church, but we now can take a look inside the historic structure thanks to Eric Schumacher who had the opportunity to photograph the building as part of a documentary.
Click through to see and learn more about the church interior.
PrintOuerbacker Renovations Slow To Start
Ouerbacker House (BS File Photo)
WFPL checked in with renovations planned on the historic Ouerbacker House in the Russell neighborhood. After the mansion was nearly torn down, renovations have been slow to start, but at least the building wasn’t disassembled and shipped to California. Here’s the latest from WFPL:
“Some repairs were done to keep the mansion standing, and board member Scott Kremer says it will take about two million dollars to finish the work.
“Kremer says once the repairs are done, the house will be turned over to a nonprofit organization to use as offices. Until that group confirms it will move in, though, Kremer says fundraising will be difficult.”
Read more at WFPL.
Ceremony Transfers Ownership Of Trolley Barns to Heritage Foundation
Future Kentucky Center for African American Heritage (Photo by Eddie Davis)
On Martin Luther King Day this week, officials conferred ownership of a former trolley barn to the non-profit African American Heritage Foundation after a $23 million renovation. The ceremony marks a milestone in the creation of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in the Russell neighborhood.
Initial renovations transformed the abandoned trolley barns at 18th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard into a revitalized facility through a series of Federal, state, and local funds in addition to private donations. In coming months, the Heritage Foundation must raise additional funds estimated at around $5 million get the museum operational which could happen in 2011.
The once-beleaguered project was the subject of a state audit causing significant delay and eventually the city assumed responsibility for the project. Part of the funds to be raised include back payments to contractors and a lender.
For more information, check out coverage from the C-J, Biz First, WFPL, Mojo, and Fox 41.
Demo Watch: More Carnage On West Market
Russell Building reduced to rubble
It’s happened again. Another commercial building on West Market Street in the Russell neighborhood hits the dust. I first began to worry about this building, most recently the Portland Bait & Tackle Shop slash A1 Batteries & Tires, back in 2008 after an attached townhouse was demolished leaving a hole in the side of the building.
The structure was crudely boarded up then and in disrepair but signs on the exterior indicated that the building was still salvageable. In December, I stopped by the structure again when visiting the demolition site of a brick mansion on the next block and noticed the city had declared the property an emergency demolition candidate. The boards over the windows, which were never fastened well, were gone and the hole in the side of the building was larger (although it looked like humans were making it bigger, not gravity).
A few days later, a tipster wrote in to say the building had been leveled. I stopped by one last time before my flight out of Louisville to document the rubble. This building might not have been ornate, but its vernacular character certainly contributed to what’s left of West Market Street. One by one, West Market Street is being undone.
Demo Watch: West Market Mansion Leveled
House under demolition on West Market Street
It seems like every time I venture into the Russell neighborhood, another beautiful historic building is being demolished. My last trip was no exception. This time, a three-story brick mansion is under demolition near the corner of 18th and West Market Streets.
This house is just as nice as any house in Old Louisville or the Highlands and featured sturdy brick walls and stone arches. From the before photos it appears the house needed some work, but there was clearly no need for demolition. So what happened? Anyone know why Russell is losing another tooth?
Lost Louisville: Russell’s Ideal Theater
Ideal Theater (via NPS / NRHP)
The Ideal Theater is long gone, replaced by a parking lot for a Domino’s Pizza shack. Originally built in 1912 at 2315 West Market Street just down from St. Anthony’s Church, the masonry theater was noted for its glazed brick facade, monumental detailing, and imposing pilasters. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The photo above was presumably taken in the Spring of 1983 when the boarded up building appears to have been a failing adult theater with a large for sale sign on the front. No architect is listed, but the structure lends a true monumental scale to Market Street. The scale can be deceiving until you notice the man standing in front of the Ideal.
I’m not sure when or why the building was demolished but it’s certainly not to be found on West Market now. I have walked by the former site but never bothered to take a photo of the parking lot at Market Street’s dogleg. An empty parking lot just isn’t that exciting. In 1983, the building was judged to be in fair condition.
A much smaller and less ornate glazed brick structure with similar pilasters is on Seventh Street in Limerick (see photo below). It’s currently home to the B.C. Plumbing Supply (which, incidentally has one of the best neon signs in Louisville). Is the resemblance just a coincidence or did this Limerick building once show movies as well? Could those windows once have served as ticket sales kiosks?
Ideal Theater site today (via Google Maps)
Ideal Theater site on West Market (via Lojic)
Building on 7th Street in Limerick
No Need To Disassemble The Ouerbacker House
Ouerbacker House in October
Russell’s Ouerbacker House has had quite an eventful past couple of years. But disassembling the historic 1860′s era mansion and shipping it out of state will definitely not come into play. Alarmed tipsters wrote in today to report that a Cincinnati company had proposed just such a scheme.
ResErections, Inc. has listed the Ouerbacker House on their web site as for sale for $2.25 million. That price doesn’t just get you the house, it disassembles it and rebuilds it for you anywhere in the country. There’s only one problem: the house’s owner has no intention of selling the property or tearing it down. It is, in fact, planned to be fully renovated at its existing site.
Lee McClymonds of ResErections says he has no connection with the owner, but would make contact when an interested buyer is found. According to the ResErections web site, “removal of the house would allow the land they occupy to be put to a higher end use. We love these old houses, and wouldn’t touch a house that is a grace to its surroundings.” The process involves carefully labeling each block of stone on the house’s facade and inputing it into a 3d computer model so it can be rebuilt on another site.
He explained that such houses in disadvantaged neighborhoods could be put to better use in other applications, especially when faced with threat of demolition. While buyers are scarce, interest in other houses has come from Connecticut, California, and Texas. McClymonds says no offers have been made on the Ouerbacker House but he could see it potentially serving as the front facade for a law firm in California.
Officials with the Landbank Authority who administered the sale of the house and provided a grant towards its repair say such a proposal would most likely not be approved. The intent of the program is to see properties renovated at their current location for the benefit of their current community.
Scott Kremer of Studio Kremer Architects who stepped in to save the structure from demolition last year after a portion of the house’s east wall caved in has contacted ResErections asking that the Ouerbacker House be removed from its web site as he has “every intention to move forward as planned.” He was just as surprised to learn the house was offered for disassembly, especially after the east wall has been repaired and initial steps towards renovation have been taken.
Kremer has already established the Ouerbacker House Restoration Foundation, the official owners of the property, to guide the rehabilitation project. The house was featured on last September’s AIA-CKC Architects’ House Tour after the first floor was cleared of debris and non-historic partition walls were removed. In all, Kremer says two full dumpsters were removed from the house.
You may notice that the mansion at 17th and Jefferson Streets is also no longer covered with a jungle of vines and weeds. Kremer says a delicate process of removing the vines has been undertaken to not damage the masonry. Simply pulling down the vines could have caused damage, but cutting the roots and waiting for the plants to die is much less detrimental.
While no plans have been finalized as to an official use for the renovated Ouerbacker House, Kremer says he is in serious discussions with a local non-profit who is interested in locating there. After narrowly dodging demolition, we’re just relieved the house will remain in Louisville and not be shipped out to California.
- More information at the Victorian Antiquities blog
- More coverage of the Ouerbacker House from Broken Sidewalk
Whats The Scoop On This Russell Rebuild?
Corner commercial building in Russell
Anyone know the story behind this corner commercial building on 20th and Madison Streets in the Russell neighborhood? After trying to find the scoop myself unsuccessfully, I figured one of you might know the answer. Tell us in the comments.
I found the building with a gaping hole in its side last year around the same time as the partial collapse at the Ouerbacker House a few blocks away. I assumed then that this was also a collapse and expected the building to be demolished. Upon checking back, the structure has been repaired, albeit not quite to its original architectural grandeur, but at least it’s still standing. Take a look at the original structure as captured on Google Maps below.
Corner commercial building in Russell
Corner commercial building in Russell (via Google Maps)
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