[ Afternoon Update: ]
A grand building on East Broadway between Shelby and Campbell Streets is now home to ORI Furniture USA, but once, it was known as the Broadway Theater. Built in 1915 by Louis F. Steuerle and designed by Joseph & Joseph architects, the theater began immediately hosting live music and vaudeville acts to packed houses of 800 people.
In the 1930s, the marquee canopy still seen today was added and the theater was converted to a movie house. Radio shows were also performed here, including performances by Gene Autry. Early reports of the theater indicated the space was acoustically near perfect.
In 1960, the property was sold to the Catholic Theater Guild who began staging amateur theater productions. The last performance ran in 1970. Later, the space was converted into the Mad Hatters nightclub and saw acts from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, and Santana. By the 1980s, the theater was vacant and quickly deteriorating.
In 1985, Business Office Supply Company, a predecessor of today’s ORI, purchased the building and began renovating the property for a showroom. The conversion was careful to leave the original plaster detailing of the theater hall and balconies intact.
The Broadway Theater remains one of Louisville’s last great performance halls still in existence. (You might also remember another story about a smaller extant movie house on Frankfort Avenue currently slated for condos.) This property isn’t for sale and has no plans for redevelopment, but I felt its hidden spaces were worth exploring. It’s current owners are currently guarding the ornate spaces and quality of the building for whatever may come down the road.
The building sits along the East Broadway “Bridge” Corridor we’ve been talking so much about lately just down from the monumental Eichhorn Stained Glass Building currently for sale and the Shelby Street Apartments currently under construction. This is just one more reason we believe this part of town deserves to be part of Louisville’s urban regeneration in year’s to come.
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[ Credits: Modern photos from the Broken Sidewalk Archive; Historic photos labeled ORI are courtesy ORI Furniture USA; Historic Photos labeled U of L are from the University of Louisville Photographic Archives – Reference URL 1, URL 2, URL 3. ]
The mixed-use condo project on Fourth Street near the Guthrie Green dubbed Bycks Lofts only has four of its 16 units remaining on the market. Three of the units range in size from 1,050 to 1,260 square feet and are priced between $265,000 and $310,000. A large penthouse with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and 20 foot ceilings with skylights is listed at just under $700,000.
The two historic buildings making up the project feature exposed brick walls, modern bathrooms, and contemporary kitchens with granite countertops and stainless appliances. Developer David Barhorst bills the condos as “New York Style Lofts in the Heart of the 4th Street Entertainment District,” and says the spaces must be experienced to grasp their full urban quality.
This project represents one of the only residential developments in the heart of Downtown. Most other residential projects are currently on the periphery of downtown. That’s great for their own neighborhoods, but in order for central Downtown to grow and become a fully living neighborhood, we’re going to need more projects like this that allow people to step out their front door and immediately be Downtown.
The shotgun house on Campbell Street we told you was scheduled for demolition back in October is safe… for now. A tipster tells us the property owner was denied a demolition permit at a Butchertown Landmarks meeting and must fix up the property.
A small church on the corner of Chestnut Street and Shelby Street has been sitting wounded from this year’s windstorm and in need of repair. A decorative brick element has toppled over onto the sidewalk, its bricks still strewn about the base of the building. This is one of our favorite churches in town as it is small but grand, proudly occupying its corner site. Its austere detailing and multi-colored slate roof help define the Phoenix Hill neighborhood.
The building sits next door to the Cloister Apartments and was once part of the complex that housed the Ursuline Academy of the Immaculate Conception, serving as its convent. According to the Encyclopedia of Louisville, the building along with the Cloister were refurbished in the late 1970s when it housed a gourmet restaurant called Raposo’s. The restaurant closed in 1980 and the next year, the Louisville School of Art moved in. Upon merging with the University of Louisville in 1983, the building was again vacant.
Six years later, Temple Beth Shalom began meeting in the building, which perhaps explains the Star of David on the building’s steeple. The same year, a fire tore through the structure, destroying several 19th century murals by artist Johann Schmitt painted between 1868 and 1872. Schmitt was born in southwest Germany in 1825 and was trained as an artist in Munich. He painted throughout the midwest, including other churches in Louisville. The congregation apparently still meets in the building’s basement.
The brick on much of the building is now in need of tuck pointing, probably the reason for the damage in the first place. The Jefferson County PVA lists the structure’s owner as Child of the King Ministries, but we’ve never seen any activity going on at the building. The building appears to be in sound shape, but needs quite a bit of repair, especially to the roof and steeple. Hopefully this building can one day rise from the ashes of its 20 year old fire (it’s in Phoenix Hill, after all), and become a neighborhood landmark once again.
We bring you this week our first reader-submitted art car. Michelle of Consuming Louisville fame spotted this yellow Corvette sporting a large no smoking sign and the words “Drive Cancer Out” in a parking garage in the Medical Center (how appropriate). We looked into the meaning behind the metal and discovered a local organization called “Drive Smoke Out.”
The latest potential condo conversion might be taking place in the Clifton neighborhood near the corner of Frankfort Avenue and Pope Street. The Hilltop Theater, currently home to Jim Conti & Sons (an events planning company), was built in 1920, and according to Wikipedia, was the first theater in the east end. The building sits next to the Stoll Fire Station which is being relocated to Spring Street in Butchertown. The city will sell the building after the move, so look forward to another potential redevelopment next door.
Strange to live in a movie theater, you may ask? It’s not really all that crazy an idea at all; recently plans for turning a church into condos surfaced, so it looks like Louisville entrepreneurs are getting a little more creative with what makes a home. We’ve toured several theater-to-house conversions in the past, and with a little creativity, they can be great living spaces. Converting a theater into multiple units, however, could prove to be a challenge, but we’re game for a proposal.
The Jim Conti company will be moving their headquarters to Jeffersontown and are reportedly very near a sale of the historic Frankfort Avenue theater. The building is currently used as warehouse space and has been substantially altered from its original format. Walking into the building, one would never guess it was once a dazzling movie house and burlesque venue. Up on the second floor, however, is a different story. We snapped a few photos of the ornate plaster detailing still visible on the ceiling and surrounding the original stage, most of which is still intact and in great shape (it’s worth checking out after the click). The original projection room when the building played movies. Now, it serves as an office.
We don’t have the details yet on what the project will entail: how many units, price range, etc, but as soon as we hear anything more, we’ll be sure to bring it to you.
We’re pleased to announce the first ever Broken Sidewalk Contest. We’ll be giving away a copy of a limited edition book produced by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA-CKC). The tome was first published in 1912 and a first edition is exceedingly rare. Now you can have your own reprint of the classic Catalogue of the First Exhibition—1912 courtesy of the Broken Sidewalk.
