YWCA Building
The YWCA Building (formerly the Birmingham Athletic Club and Dixie-Carlton Hotel) is a 10-story building located on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue North and 23rd Street in downtown Birmingham. It was constructed around 1925 for the Birmingham Athletic Club, which operated it for some years as a clubhouse with apartments above. They converted the residences into hotel rooms, but soon decided to sell the building, though it continued to lease its clubhouse space.
J. Will Yon of Atlanta, Georgia purchased the building in 1939, but sold it a year later to Albert Noe, Jr of Jackson, Tennessee, who opened the Dixie Carlton Hotel there, with his nephew J. Newton Wall as manager. Noe renovated the rooms and public spaces, adding a coffee shop. The Athletic Club expanded its use of the building with the addition of a health club.
In 1948 the Birmingham YWCA purchased the building and spent nearly $1 million on renovations. Major repairs were completed in 1972, and a complete $10.5 million refurbishment in 1999. In addition to its administrative offices, the YWCA operates a homeless child care program, a Women's Resource Center, a Chapel Gallery, and 64 residential units in the building.
References
- "Athletic Club Building Sold To Noe Family Hotel Chain" (October 1940) Birmingham News - via Birmingham Rewound
External links
- YWCA Building at ywcabham.org
- Dixie Carlton Hotel postcards at Postcard Birmingham