The Renwick Building is located in downtown Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 since 1983, and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties since 2000. It is known locally for the large painted sign on the north side of the building depicting the Bix 7 Road Race

Bix 7 Road Race and Memorial Jazz Festival

The Bix 7 Road Race and Memorial Jazz Festival is a road race and music festival held annually in Davenport, Iowa. The race and festival commemorate Davenport native and jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke.-Race:...

. The NRHP incorrectly lists the building’s address as 322 Brady Street, which is the building next door. This structure is 324 Brady Street.

History

The building was built by its namesake William Renwick, who was a prosperous Davenport industrialist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His mansion is also on the National Register of Historic Places as a part of the St. Katherine's Historic District

St. Katherine's Historic District

St. Katherine's Historic District is located on the east side Davenport, Iowa, United States and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the campus of a former Episcopal girl’s school named St. Katherine’s Hall. It is currently the location of a senior living facility called...

. The building has housed various furniture stores over the years. Davenport Furniture was the first business to occupy the structure after it was built. It was followed by Drake Furniture and Carpet, Iowa Furniture & Carpet Co. and Freeman-Glickman. The last tenet was Matthew’s Office Supply, whose name is still on the building.

Architecture

The Renwick Building is a steel frame and brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

 commercial building. The four-story building reflects the Chicago Commercial Style

Chicago school (architecture)

Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...

. The brick façade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 acts as the building’s skin around the steel frame, which supports the structure. This technology allowed a greater expanse of windows, which are found in this building. Decorative elements are found at the top of the building. Round arch windows in a tri-partite configuration line the fourth floor on the facade, and the building is topped with a heavy ornate cornice

Cornice

Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...

.

Future

There are plans to renovate the Renwick Building and turning them into apartments, Restoration St. Louis' plans to renovate the Renwick building at 324 Brady Street. This project is slated to cost around 4.5 million dollars and if all things go right will open around the fall of 2012.

The Renwick building will keep commercial real estate on the first floor and will have nine one bedroom apartments and nine two bedroom apartments located throughout the building.

External links

• Archiplanet Listing