Loveman's Annex
- This article is about the 1917 building on 3rd Avenue North. For the 1949 store "annex" on 2nd Avenue North, see Loveman's Store for the Home.
Loveman's Annex was a 6-story commercial building at 1819 3rd Avenue North, behind the Loveman, Joseph & Loeb department store building that stretches to the corner of 19th Street.
The annex building, of "fireproof construction" supported on a steel frame, was erected by the Smallman-Brice Co. Photographer Oscar Hunt documented the progress of construction, which was completed in 1917.
When the Alabama Theatre was built in 1927, the wall between it and the Loveman's Annex was constructed 36 inches thick with solid masonry as a firewall. The main department store was destroyed in a massive fire which started in the sub-basement on March 10, 1934. The annex was heavily damaged, but the steel frame and a vault containing the store's records survived. The firewall fulfilled its purpose well, allowing only damage from smoke to affect the Alabama Theatre.
After the fire the annex building was rebuilt on the same frame, and mainly used for staff offices. During the Loveman's building's renovation for the McWane Science Center it was found that the annex was unsound. It was demolished for that project. A newly-constructed section of the science museum took its place, designed to blend the massing, decorative scheme and materials of both its neighbors.
References
- Kuhl, Earl D., editor (1934) "Illustrated Souvenir: Birmingham's $3,000,000 Fire, March 10, 1934." Birmingham: Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. Accessed February 22, 2007 from Birmingham Public Library Archives Digital Collections.
- Hollis, Tim (2012) Loveman's: Meet Me Under the Clock. Images of America series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 1609493427