Graves Building
- This article is about the 1912 commercial building, for other similarly-named buildings, see Graves Building (disambiguation).
Graves Building or Graves Block is a four-story commercial building at 1814-1820 3rd Avenue North, across from the Alabama Theatre. It was constructed in 1912 by W. S. Graves who had founded the Graves Shale Brick Company in 1901. The four-bay building spans 100 feet. It was designed by Harry Wheelock and composed of brick with subtle terra-cotta ornamentation.
In 1930 the building housed Dailey's Clothes and Duke Brothers Furniture on the left, with Kilgore Furniture on the right. Lawrence Furniture replaced Kilgore Furniture in 1945.
In 1961 a major remodeling and modernization of the left side of the building was undertaken by the Vaughan-Weil department store and Engel Realty. Vaughan-Weil, long occupying the former Duke Brother's space, expanded into the former Dailey's Clothes slot at that time. Architect Greer, Holmquist & Chambers designed the renovations, which were executed by the Mann Brothers Building Co..
By 1970 Lawrence Furniture occupied the right side, as well as a "third floor annex" which extended westward over the adjoining Vaughan-Weil store. A major fire broke out in this annex on December 17, 1970, causing about $1 million in damages, mainly from lost stock.
By 1977 Mr King Furniture had taken over the Graves Building. The left-side ground floor space was the home of The Playhouse costume and prop shop until 2009. The right side most recently housed Lichter's Furniture and Jewelry. Both remained vacant until Appleseed Workshop purchased the eastern two bays of the building in 2016 and redeveloped the ground floor for Shu Shop and the Wheelhouse Salon and the fourth floor for office tenant Platypi.
In 2018 the western half of the building was redeveloped, along with the adjoining Roberts & Son Building, as offices or retail with loft residences above. The Sher family, which owns the property, worked with Retail Specialists on the project. CCR Architecture & Interiors designed the renovations, which were carried out by Rives Construction.
References
- Beiman, Irving (January 24, 1961) "Face-lifting job in downtown area gets under way" The Birmingham News - via Birmingham Rewound
- White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
- Godwin, Brent (March 15, 2017) "Where things stand with a major downtown Birmingham project." Birmingham Business Journal
- Godwin, Brent (March 14, 2018) "Major redevelopment in works for Theatre District buildings." Birmingham Business Journal
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External links
- Graves Building website
- Graves Building on Emporis.com