Store Fronts Are Links To Forgotten History
Part of the City's Past
Behind the faded facades -- which have undergone various facelifts over the decades -- and the large banner that denotes that they are now under city ownership, there are cavernous spaces waiting to be brought back to life.
These buildings, 61 and 67 Dexter Ave., date to 1850, a time of robust expansion and wealth in Montgomery.
They were at the center of Montgomery life back then, said Mary Ann Neeley, a noted local historian. Neeley is in the process of unearthing the details of these buildings' early years.
>"This was the place to be" at the height of antebellum life, Neeley said.
Now, 160 years later, there is renewed interest in this area. The city purchased about a dozen properties here for $3.2 million and has been selling them at a discount as a way of extending an economic development incentive to developers.
No one has committed to purchasing these two buildings, but a group of preservationists, including Neeley, is keenly interested in documenting their historical details.
This group feels that even if developers can't, or won't, retain any of the histories of these buildings, it is important to at least have them recorded.
Colorful past
The committee recently toured the Estelle Hall and Concert Hall, as 61 and 67, respectively, are commonly called.
The buildings have been vacant for some time; the last retail tenants, which occupied the first floor, moved out years ago. A long stairwell between the buildings leads to the second and third floors; a sign for Ruth's Beauty Shop still adorns one of the stair risers.
The second floors were used for doctors' offices and the like. But the more colorful parts of their past lie on the third floors, beneath the peeling paint and crumbling plaster.
Neeley has concentrated her research on the Concert Hall, which is 67 Dexter. While reconstructing the past is an ongoing process, she has so far found several mentions of it in the Daily Alabama Journal, which published from 1849 to 1853, according to genealogybank.com the Concert Hall was initially leased by one C.H. Cleveland for use as a dancing saloon, her research has found.
Throughout the 1850s there are numerous ads and notices of activities, including "Donetti's Acting Monkeys, Dogs and Goats," as well as ladies' socials, lectures and dances. An advertisement in 1852 refers to a jewelry store under the Concert Hall.
And, 151 years ago this month, the adjoining Estelle Hall was the venue for Confederate President Jefferson Davis' inauguration reception (though the Concert Hall was probably used as well.)
Just two years later, the Concert Hall became Concert Hall Hospital, as referenced in at least one letter from a Confederate soldier who was a patient there in 1864.
These events took place on the third floor, which must have been an extraordinary space in its day. Now, long walls partition most of the third floor, but those were a Victorian-era addition, said Christy Anderson, the city's historic preservation coordinator.
The third floor is dominated by a large blue "air rotunda," which extends up through the roof. The hall was "admirably ventilated" by the rotunda and windows at each end of the third floor, according to the 1851 Daily Alabama Journal article on its opening.
Some of the interior's original details, such as the woodwork, remain; some of the architectural characteristics are very similar to those in the 1851 state Capitol building, Neeley said.
Future use
For now, because safety is a concern -- the buildings are solid, but there are some pockets of deterioration, and there is no power -- access to the buildings is limited to those who are documenting the history and potential investors.
The city's inspections department will not do a thorough review of the buildings until an actual development plan is proposed, said Jerry Russell, building plans review coordinator with the city. But Russell, whose job it is to think of the worse-case scenarios, already sees a significant issue: There is only one way in and out.
"It's not impossible to retrofit an existing building and comply with the code and meet your needs all at the same time, but it does require some effort on the owner's part," Russell said.
Right now, the likely use for the building would be residential, because that typically is the least restrictive when it comes to building code standards. One thing is certain: The building's third floor will not have an encore as a performance hall.
At this point, there are no serious negotiations ongoing with a potential developer. Of the dozen city-owned sites in the lower Dexter Avenue area that were up for grabs, this is one of two remaining properties. The building is eligible for federal historic rehabilitation tax credit, according to the city's 2010 request for redevelopment proposals.
The three-story building, which has a total of 14,461 square feet of space, has a complex, poignant history, but yet it is considered a non-contributing structure in the Court Square-Dexter Avenue Historic District. A stronger designation eludes the building because of its modernized facade, said architectural historian Robert Gamble.
"Unfortunately, in the historic district studies for the National Register, you could have 'George Washington slept behind it,' but if the facade is all messed up, the building is not as important as it is if you had a third-rate building right next to it but the facade's intact," Gamble said.
Gamble is part of the committee's effort to better understand and document the building's significance so that it might one day be considered a contributing structure on the National Register of Historic Places listing, to which it already belongs. That elevated status could improve the property's chances of being rehabilitated one day.
"You start with a knowledgeable basis. You don't just come in like a bull in a china shop. You know what you're dealing with. You know what it represents historically. You know what its physical demeanor is, and then you start from that and try to figure out these knotty problems," Gamble said.
In a way, Gamble considers their task at hand as "building archaeology." And to David Braly, who is an artist and architect, buildings like the Concert Hall represent the "forgotten history" of Montgomery.
The air rotunda, in particular, is a telling feature.
"It may be the only thing like it's kind left in Montgomery when it could have been very typical in many places. If it can't (be restored), then at least it's recorded," Braly said.
Staff writer Jill Nolin contributed to this report.