Anatomy of a Main Street Building (2023)

AGENDA

• History of Main Street buildings
• What features make up a traditional main street building
• Mid-century changes
• How to conduct a building survey

History of Main Street buildings

• central business district: As small towns began to develop across America, a central business district was established where merchants built stores for their retail businesses.
• main street: Traditional downtowns were formed as business owners built their shops one after another in a row along one main street. The main street was the primary road through town and as more businesses sprung up it became the main hub for the social activities of the community.
• Mesker Storefronts: A building that displays pressed metal, steel, cast and wrought iron architectural features. From the 1880s through the 1910s the two manufacturing giants were Mesker Brothers Iron Works (St. Louis, MO) and George L. Mesker & Company (Evansville, IN). The Meskers marketed their products through catalogs displaying their designs. According to a 1915 catalog, there were Mesker storefronts in every state.

What features make up a traditional main street building

• anatomy of a building
• cornice: The decorated projection at the top of a wall provided to protect the wall face or to ornament and finish the eaves.
• upper floor
• upper facade: The typically non-retail space above the retail ground floor; multistory Main Street buildings are typically between two and four floors.
• window hood: A projecting member above a window that is both structural and decorative; on Main Street typically of stone or cast iron.
• window sash: The moveable part of a window made up of the vertical and horizontal frame that holds the glass.
• window pane: Also called a lite, a sheet of glass for glazing a window. After installation, the pane is referred to as a “lite” or “window lite.”
• window sill: Located at the very bottom of the window, the sill is usually sloped to allow water to run off the bottom of the window in rain or during cleaning.
• regularly spaced windows: Windows on upper stories are spaced in a symmetrical way.
• lintel: Structural member above a storefront that supports the upper floor.
• storefront: The front exterior wall of commercial space, typically with large areas of glass.
• transom: Upper windows in a storefront; can be operable or fixed, clear or patterned.
• display window: The main areas of clear glass on a storefront behind which goods are arranged.
• column: A vertical structural member.
• pilaster An architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function.
• bulkhead: The area between the sidewalk and the display windows; can be wood, tile, or metal; or can be glazed.
• mid-century changes to Main Street: In the 1950s, downtowns declined and the suburbs explosion began. The marketing revolution after World War II dealt it a lethal blow.
• mid-century storefronts: were changed to represent the thinking of the day. These designs were completed by some of the most talented architects and designers practicing in the United States.
• new technology: Architects applied war-related technologies to constructing buildings, rather than destroying buildings. Companies that produced glass and aluminum promoted renovation away from the traditional. With new signs, shopfronts, display windows or slipcovers, Main Street became modern.

Mid-century changes

• asymmetrical and angled storefront: Asymmetrical display windows and recessed entries provided room for additional displays and a small exterior lobby. The angled front swiped buyers to the asymmetrical entrance door.
• exaggerated massing and experimental structures: Signage was used in mass to further activate facades. Some designers experimented with new technologies and mimicked space exploration.
• canopies: Canopies were added to front facades to project over the sidewalk to protect the exterior lobby and shop windows. They replaced traditional fabric awnings. Some were supported by rods and columns. Others were steel and concrete and cantilevered with no visible supports.
• awnings: Fabric awnings were still used but fixed awnings became popular. Some storefronts were shaded by fixed aluminum awnings.
• display cases: Picture-framed display boxes showcased the latest goods. Sleek aluminum or steel surrounded the plate glass surface. Other picture-framed display boxes were inset into the front or side walls of the storefront.
• cantilevered display cases: Cantilevered display windows projected beyond their base to further deconstruct the storefront plane. This gave the display the allusion that they were floating.
• signage: Upper floors were closed off and whole facades became billboards for the store. Giant signage stated the business name and was readable by fast moving automobiles.
• neon lighting: Channel-set neon tubing was set within metal letters with the neon tubes left uncovered and visible. Reversed channel-set letters had neon tubing housed, or set behind, metal letters.
• projecting signs: Also called blade signs, these were mounted above the sidewalk and perpendicular to the building façade, typically suspended with brackets.
• slipcovers: Front facades were covered in metal or porcelain enamel to give buildings the full modernism treatment.
• new materials: Plate glass in sizes 10′ x 24′ Opaque structural glass like vitrolite and carrrara Aluminum, Glass block Terrazzo.
• retain the change: Many of the mid-century changes were profound. To ignore the built evidence of these changes seems inconsistent with preservation. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation states: “Number 3: Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.”=”
• building inventory: This allows the committee and the organization to better understand properties located in the district. From there, they know which buildings/properties to target for projects and the availability for potential businesses.

How to conduct a building survey

• STEP #1 BASIC INFOMATION
• STEP #2 DESCRIPTION
• STEP #3 PHOTOS
• STEP #3 NARRATIVE
• THE BUILDING AT 109 EAST MAIN (C. 1867) IS ONE OF THE FIRST ITALIANATE COMMERCIAL BLOCKS.) THIS YELLOW-PAINTED BRICK WITH DARK-RED TRIM, THREE-STORY BUILDING HAS A SLIGHTLY PITCHED ROOFLINE AND A PROJECTING CORNICE WITH FOUR PAIRS OF SUPPORTING BRACKETS. THE SECOND AND THIRD STORIES ARE THREE RANKED; THE RECTANGULAR 1/1 WINDOWS HAVE FLATTENED ARCHED HOOD MOLDS AND STONE SILLS. THE FIRST FLOOR HAS A MODERN RENOVATION WITH DARK RED CORRARA CLASS SURROUNDING A MODERN DISPLAY WINDOWS AND A RECESSED DOORWAY TO THE EAST. THE BUILDING SITS BETWEEN TWO TWO-STORY BUILDINGS THAT HAVE THE SAME ITALIANIATE STYLE.

Source Citation
Huff, Abby. “Anatomy of a Main Street Building,” Historic Places Conference. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Main Street. 2023.