BEBCO Building
- This article is about the historic BEBCO Building. For other buildings used by the company, see BEBCO Building (disambiguation).
The BEBCO Building is a 24,000 square-foot one-story brick commercial building at 2230 2nd Avenue South, at the corner of 23rd Street South on Block 119 in Birmingham's Southside neighborhood.
It was constructed in 1926 as a garage for the Birmingham Electric Battery Co.. The $30,000 structure was designed in a "Spanish-Moorish" style by architect William Leslie Welton, and constructed by M. C. Banks. The design featured shallow-pitched brick gables at the entrances and tile-roofed canopies over the southern windows. Brick pilasters are capped with limestone trim. The narrower window dividers feature twisted-column tops which resemble Alessandro Volta's original electrical battery design.
The building was originally used as an automobile service station and repair shop. A 25 foot wide by 140 foot deep addition to the building, also designed by Welton, was constructed by J. I. Borris for $5,000 in 1930. It was raised to two stories during the same decade, adding a company boardroom. As the company grew and diversified, the combined building was renovated for use as administrative offices and storage, and for its generator division.
The building is listed as a contributing structure to the Birmingham Automotive Historic District, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
In 2005 BEBCO president David Duffee, grandson of founder E. D. Henley, announced plans for the company to consolidate its operations in the newer building across the street and redevelop the 1926 building for commercial tenants. He applied for federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit to offset the $2.6 million cost. A rooftop billboard and corner neon blade sign were restored to their historic appearance as part of the project.
Tenants
References
- Hairston, Diean & Melanie Betz (July 31, 1990) "Automotive Historic District". National Register of Historic Places registration form - entered May 30, 1991
- Wilkinson, Kaija (July 24, 2005) "Bebco building set for $2.6M makeover." Birmingham Business Journal
- Davis, Bryan (February 12, 2015) "BEBCO building lands Jay Electric as tenant." Birmingham Business Journal