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S.H. Kress & Co Building

Built in 1937, Birmingham’s S. H. Kress Five-and-Ten Cent Store was the second completed of the three great mercantile buildings on this intersection. Its construction reflected Kress’s confidence in Birmingham’s economy and marked a break by its chief architect, Edward F. Sibbert, with prior architectural traditions by incorporating Bauhaus, Streamline Moderne and the emerging International Style influences into the creamy mottled terra-cotta and steel-framed structure.

 

Thriving through the Second World War and into the early 1960’s as part of Birmingham’s historic retail and theatre district, the company’s downtown fortunes began to diminish as activity and population moved toward the suburbs and into newer forms of retail development. The store was closed in 1978, and the building was added to the National Register in 1982.

 

The Kress Building was acquired in 2003 by the shareholders of the law firm of Wiggins, Childs, Quinn and Pantazis, P.C. After a complete restoration of the building and its historic features in 2003 and 2004, the Kress Building once again has regained the vibrant and significant presence it once enjoyed.

 

Kress, LCC Founding Shareholders Robert L. Wiggins, Jr. • Robert F. Childs, Jr. • C. Michael Quinn • Dennis G. Pantazis • Richard J. Ebbinghouse • Ann K. Wiggins • Samuel

 

By Tim & Renda Carr, May 22, 2010

 

2. S. H. Kress Five-And-Ten Cent Store Marker

Marker located on the 19th Street Side of the building.

 

Fisher • Ann C. Roberterson • Joseph H. Calvin III • Deborah A. Mattison • Timothy B. Fleming • Jon C. Goldfarb • Gregory O. Wiggins • Rocco Calamusa • Brian M. Clark • Russell W. Adams • Barry V. Frederick

 

Kress Building Restoration Team

Architectural and Design: Tammy Cohen and Stan Corson of Cohen & Company

Developer and Project Coordinator: John Lauriello and Julie Gieger of Southpace Properties, Inc.

General Contractor: Andy Anderson and Charles Ferlist of Charles & Vinzant

Preservation Consultant: Linda Nelson of FuturePast

 

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Uploaded on February 25, 2013
Taken on February 22, 2013