Ramsay-McCormack building

From Bhamwiki
Revision as of 08:37, 31 May 2008 by Dystopos (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Ramsay-McCormack building, also known as the Bank of Ensley building, is a 10-story, 144 foot tall art-deco style office tower designed by Harry Breeding and completed in 1929 on the corner of Avenue E and 19th Street Ensley in downtown Ensley.

Investment partners Erskine Ramsay and Carr McCormack announced the project in 1926 as a 6-story, $200,000 steel and concrete office building. It was built on one of four blocks they had purchased from James C. Warner, winner of the auction of former Ensley Land Company properties in 1898. The building, which was expanded to 10 stories during construction, housed the Bank of Ensley on the ground floor.

The office building was closed in 1979 and acquired by the City of Birmingham in 1983. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and has been empty since 1986. The city has been unable to realize various plans to restore the structure, which has continued to deteriorate. The Alabama Trust for HIstoric Preservation added the structure to its "Places in Peril" list for 2008.

In Spring of the same year New York-based development group Veristar Holdings made a proposal to convert the former office tower into 45-50 apartments for seniors.

References

  • Gordon, Robert K. (May 31, 2008) "Ensley building named to endangered list may get new life." Birmingham News
  • "Industrial Activities" (September 1926) Birmingham magazine. Vol. 2, No. 9, p. 11 - accessed May 31, 2008 via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections

External links

This article is a stub. You can help Bhamwiki by expanding it.

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Ramsay-McCormack_building&oldid=34509"