10/06/2016
September- 2016
Over a year ago, a friend made me aware of this building and it's predicament. Sensing that this was the exact type of structure the City of Louisville and the Historic Portland Neighborhood should strive to save, I stepped in to make sure that it would not be demolished by a local church...by buying it myself. About a month after helping the previous owners wade through a complex double closing and acquiring it myself, I was made aware by a relative that my own Great Grandfather(I am his namesake) owned this very building approximately 80 years ago. I was more than a little stunned and surprised. What are the odds of that? Since he passed away when I was just 3 years old, I never really knew him, but family members always referred to him as the Greatest. While going thru the building and assessing its needs(and my budget) we were constantly working our way thru boxing equipment: gloves, punching bags, weight sets, etc. I was informed by neighbors that World Heavyweight Boxing Champ Jimmy Ellis had run a boxing club in the building for many years. I liked the sound of that, although I wasn't really more of a boxing fan than your average 70's kid who could see professional bouts every other week on the networks. So I knew there were at least a few previous uses in this building's 125 year history: a grocery store and upstairs flat, The Redman's Club(which my great grandfather ran for years- his daughters/my grandmother and her sisters were in The Pocahontas Club- funny right?), a Bingo Parlor(thru the Redman's), a boxing gym, etc. My plans for the building have remained fairly open and I've even entertained selling it a few times as younger buyers have been very interested. Something has kept me from parting with it however. I felt like I didn't know the full story and had nothing but time to research as other renovation projects throughout Portland, Russell and Highlands/Germantown were always on the front burner. That is, until the City of Louisville issued an Emergency Demolition Order in early August, 2016. The front downspout on the corner had been discarded/removed/stolen at some point over the years and water would flow down onto the sidewalk and down into the front basement. I and my super had kept our eyes on it as we had several visual proofs of the structure over the years. We knew the front corner sagged down 3 inches and the limestone column and lentil had bowed out 2-3 inches. This did not immediately concern us as we compared the present visual with PVA photos from 2006 and a Google Earth elevation shot with a time stamp of Nov. 2011. The front corner wasn't going anywhere. We also knew from our internal investigations that the balloon framing left the front facade free from the second floor framing(which is why the corner had pulled away at all). This was certainly a repair that had a timeline, but none in our crew felt it immediate. Recently, a terribly sad outcome to some homespun engineering in a nearby neighborhood left one man dead in a heap of brick rubble. In that particular case the second floor collapsed due to structural pins being mistakenly taken out of the second floor to both exterior load bearing walls. The City rededicated itself to making sure older structures were safe for the general population. Thus the Emergency Demo Order placed on this building. We worked diligently and against many odds to formulate the right team to perform the corrective work under extremely contentious surroundings. There was certainly a feeling of bloodlust surrounding the environment I was working under. I was reminded daily that if certain things did not occur by a certain deadline(read "tomorrow") then the building was going to be demolished. I purchased safety fencing and constructed it all along the front sidewalk, we obtained a necessary permit from The City to block the alley off entirely and posted our permit next to the E.D.O. As our crew approached the building with man lifts and huge trailers to store materials onto, the neighbors came out in force. "Shame that you're tearing the building down, especially with all the people that have been inside the place!" My response, "No Sir, we're not tearing it down. This is the second time I'm saving it from being torn down... and what do you know about the people who've been here?" Soon a neighbor appeared and told me how he'd even seen Muhammad Ali inside several times. He claimed to have pictures of the Greatest Of All Time working out and sparring inside. I ran down the street to the Portland Grocery and Carroll showed me all his shots. I couldn't believe my own eyes. Here, the most recognized face on the planet was jumping around in the ring, sparring, chatting with other fighters, jawing off to some friends( That Lip!) and dancing around the ring in that inimitable rhythm and style. Floating>>Stinging. He had apparently won some of his first inter-city bouts as a child in the building and down the street and the Boys & Girls Club(now the Anchor Building). In these photos, which we’ve shared on this site, you will also see an older gentleman seated in an electric wheelchair. This is Officer Joe Martin who famously guided a young Cassius Clay into the ring to channel his anger and frustration after his bike was stolen. You'll also see Champ Jimmy Ellis in these shots as well, just guiding people thru, smiling, joking, jawing. This building has seen a lot of fun, pleasure, hard work, toil, suffering, age, withering. Is it any wonder we treat buildings like people? Like old friends? It's called "anthropomorphism" and it happens more than you'd think. We just can't let our old buildings die, can we? In a city with the relative body of history that Louisville possesses, it's imperative that preservation be important to all, not just builders, architects, planners, those in the professions. My Great Grandfather was always referred to as the Greatest. But for me to have hung on long enough to find at the depths of this entire experience, that The Greatest Of All Time had also enjoyed more than his share of fun and triumph in the building? What do they say? Priceless.
