Threefoot Building
Encyclopedia
The Threefoot Building is a historic building located in downtown Meridian, Mississippi
. The building is the tallest building in the city, standing 16 stories tall. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on December 18, 1979, under the Meridian Multiple Property Submission, and it was listed as a Mississippi Landmark in 2008. It was built in 1929 as Meridian's Art Deco
Center but is now abandoned. The site was added to the America's Most Endangered Places
in 2010.
structure is named after the Threefoot family, Jewish-German
immigrants who changed their name from Dreyfuss ("three foot" in German
) to better reflect their new American home. Abraham Threefoot began to make a name for the family in the late 1860s, and his sons, H. Marshall, Kutcher, and Lewis, continued the business after his death. By 1910, sales at Threefoot and Sons exceeded $100,000 per year. Just before the beginning of the Great Depression
, the company built the Threefoot Building in downtown Meridian on 22nd Avenue adjacent to the Marks-Rothenberg Department Store and the Grand Opera House
. The building was finished in 1929, shortly before the stock market crash. A combination of shaky finances and the onset of the Great Depression
caused the family's business to cease operation, but the building continued under different ownership as an office building for several decades. After Meridian's first mall was built in the 1970s, the city began to focus less on economic development downtown, so the building's tenants began to evacuate. By the 1990s, the building had been mostly abandoned.
As a testament to the building's influence on the city, the city began in 2002 to hold an annual showcase of art
by local artist
s. The city named the showcase the "Threefoot Arts Festival" in honor of the historic building. The festival
was held each year in October at Dumont Plaza, located two block
s down from the building, and on 4th and 5th Streets between 22nd and 23rd avenues. The festival began at 9 A.M. and lasted until 6 P.M. each year. Along with art exhibition
s from state and regional artists, the festival also featured a variety of live music
and entertainment
throughout the day as well as food and beverages sold by local companies and organizations. Retail stores and business
es throughout the city helped to promote the festival by offering special deals and discount
s to members of the festival. Admission was free, so an accurate count of attendees is difficult to achieve, but annual turnout is estimated to have been 3,000 to 5,000.
In 2009 the festival was combined with the Arts in the Park Festival previously held in early April at Bonita Lakes (and earlier at Highland Park
) to form the Threefoot Festival.
In 2011 and continuing years the festival will be held on the first weekend of April.
HRI planned to transform the building into a 125-room Courtyard by Marriott
. The project was green lighted because of the construction of a new parking garage in downtown Meridian, which had gone up in 2005 to provide parking for events at the Riley Center. For years the lack of parking availability had halted progress on the Threefoot Building's renovation, but the parking garage would provide an adequate amount. There was also a growing need for support operations for the Riley Center, and a ballroom
, conference facilities, and hotel rooms in the Threefoot Building would have fulfilled that need. The renovation would have cost $55 million, and the city would have backed $14 million of it. After much debate, HRI reached an agreement with then mayor John Robert Smith
and the city council in January 2009.
Current mayor Cheri Barry
took office in July 2009, and worked to undo the agreement. Stating that she saw problems in the plan, she asked Mississippi Heritage Trust Director David Preziosi if it was possible to remove the building from the National Register of Historic Places
in order to make it easier to demolish. Preziosi advised Barry not to have the property delisted and gave her the names of people she could talk to about funding opportunities for the building. The Meridian Star
reported that the people suggested to Barry had not been contacted as of June 2010. At the same time, HRI was asking the city to help complete funding of the project by acquiring grants from the state. Barry, however, refused to ask the state, claiming that the economy was too stressed to ask for money that wasn't essential to the city's function.
After a long controversy, HRI's agreement with the city was terminated in late 2009 due to lack of support from Barry and the need for various drainage repairs. Because of the termination the city was forced to reimburse HRI for the $1 million already put into the project. In a prepared statement, Barry claimed that the city and HRI would "look down the road for future projects and possibly even resume the Threefoot Project under different circumstances and different finances."
In June 2010, the National Trust for Historic Preservation
(NTHP) announced that the building was to be placed on its list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places. In October of the same year, the city accepted a $150,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History
(MDAH) for a study of the building. The study will focus on the foundation of the building and determine what would have to be done to rehabilitate it. The city also hired Watkins Development at a cost of $10,000 per month to focus on developing not only the Threefoot Building but the rest of downtown and all of Meridian. Watkins Development – like HRI – was involved in the renovation of Jackson's King Edward Hotel.
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. The building is the tallest building in the city, standing 16 stories tall. The building was added to 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...
on December 18, 1979, under the Meridian Multiple Property Submission, and it was listed as a Mississippi Landmark in 2008. It was built in 1929 as Meridian's Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Center but is now abandoned. The site was added to the America's Most Endangered Places
America's Most Endangered Places
Each year since 1987, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has released a list of places they consider the most endangered in America. The number of sites included on the list has varied, with the most recent lists settling on 11...
in 2010.
History
The 16-story brickBrick
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:...
structure is named after the Threefoot family, Jewish-German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
immigrants who changed their name from Dreyfuss ("three foot" in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
) to better reflect their new American home. Abraham Threefoot began to make a name for the family in the late 1860s, and his sons, H. Marshall, Kutcher, and Lewis, continued the business after his death. By 1910, sales at Threefoot and Sons exceeded $100,000 per year. Just before the beginning of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the company built the Threefoot Building in downtown Meridian on 22nd Avenue adjacent to the Marks-Rothenberg Department Store and the Grand Opera House
Grand Opera House (Meridian, Mississippi)
The Riley Center, also known as the Grand Opera House and formally as the Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts is a performing arts and conference center in Meridian, Mississippi...
. The building was finished in 1929, shortly before the stock market crash. A combination of shaky finances and the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
caused the family's business to cease operation, but the building continued under different ownership as an office building for several decades. After Meridian's first mall was built in the 1970s, the city began to focus less on economic development downtown, so the building's tenants began to evacuate. By the 1990s, the building had been mostly abandoned.
Threefoot Festival
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
by local artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s. The city named the showcase the "Threefoot Arts Festival" in honor of the historic building. The festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
was held each year in October at Dumont Plaza, located two block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
s down from the building, and on 4th and 5th Streets between 22nd and 23rd avenues. The festival began at 9 A.M. and lasted until 6 P.M. each year. Along with art exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
s from state and regional artists, the festival also featured a variety of live music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
throughout the day as well as food and beverages sold by local companies and organizations. Retail stores and business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es throughout the city helped to promote the festival by offering special deals and discount
Discounts and allowances
Discounts and allowances are reductions to a basic price of goods or services.They can occur anywhere in the distribution channel, modifying either the manufacturer's list price , the retail price , or the list price Discounts and allowances are reductions to a basic price of goods or services.They...
s to members of the festival. Admission was free, so an accurate count of attendees is difficult to achieve, but annual turnout is estimated to have been 3,000 to 5,000.
In 2009 the festival was combined with the Arts in the Park Festival previously held in early April at Bonita Lakes (and earlier at Highland Park
Highland Park (Meridian, Mississippi)
Highland Park is a historic park in Meridian, Mississippi. Home to a museum honoring Jimmie Rodgers, a Meridian native, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The park is also home to the Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building, a National Historic...
) to form the Threefoot Festival.
In 2011 and continuing years the festival will be held on the first weekend of April.
Renovation
In August 2006, the city purchased the building from Alabama developer Howard Robbins for $1.2 million with the expectation that it would be renovated by a developer from Jackson. No developer from Jackson ever seriously looked into renovating the building, but Historic Restoration Inc. (HRI), a New Orleans developer known for restoring the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, took up the project in 2009.HRI planned to transform the building into a 125-room Courtyard by Marriott
Courtyard by Marriott
Courtyard by Marriott is a brand of hotels owned by Marriott International. Courtyard by Marriott is designed for business travelers but also accommodates to families. Its rooms feature large desks, couches, free broadband Internet access, and "big" breakfasts. The majority of locations have...
. The project was green lighted because of the construction of a new parking garage in downtown Meridian, which had gone up in 2005 to provide parking for events at the Riley Center. For years the lack of parking availability had halted progress on the Threefoot Building's renovation, but the parking garage would provide an adequate amount. There was also a growing need for support operations for the Riley Center, and a ballroom
Ballroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...
, conference facilities, and hotel rooms in the Threefoot Building would have fulfilled that need. The renovation would have cost $55 million, and the city would have backed $14 million of it. After much debate, HRI reached an agreement with then mayor John Robert Smith
John Robert Smith
John Robert Smith served four terms as mayor of Meridian, Mississippi and currently serves as the President and CEO of Reconnecting America, a national non-profit transit research and advocacy think-tank.-Biography:...
and the city council in January 2009.
Current mayor Cheri Barry
Cheri Barry
Cheri Merritt Barry is currently the mayor of Meridian, Mississippi. She is the first woman to hold that position.-Biography:Cheri Merritt grew up in Meridian, where she was a graduate of Lamar High School in 1973...
took office in July 2009, and worked to undo the agreement. Stating that she saw problems in the plan, she asked Mississippi Heritage Trust Director David Preziosi if it was possible to remove the building from 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...
in order to make it easier to demolish. Preziosi advised Barry not to have the property delisted and gave her the names of people she could talk to about funding opportunities for the building. The Meridian Star
The Meridian Star
The Meridian Star is a daily newspaper published each morning in Meridian, Mississippi, USA, covering Lauderdale County and adjoining portions of West Alabama and East Mississippi. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holding, Inc....
reported that the people suggested to Barry had not been contacted as of June 2010. At the same time, HRI was asking the city to help complete funding of the project by acquiring grants from the state. Barry, however, refused to ask the state, claiming that the economy was too stressed to ask for money that wasn't essential to the city's function.
After a long controversy, HRI's agreement with the city was terminated in late 2009 due to lack of support from Barry and the need for various drainage repairs. Because of the termination the city was forced to reimburse HRI for the $1 million already put into the project. In a prepared statement, Barry claimed that the city and HRI would "look down the road for future projects and possibly even resume the Threefoot Project under different circumstances and different finances."
In June 2010, the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
(NTHP) announced that the building was to be placed on its list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places. In October of the same year, the city accepted a $150,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is a state agency of Mississippi. The agency has its headquarters in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson. The department, founded in 1902, functions as the state's historical agency.-External links:* *...
(MDAH) for a study of the building. The study will focus on the foundation of the building and determine what would have to be done to rehabilitate it. The city also hired Watkins Development at a cost of $10,000 per month to focus on developing not only the Threefoot Building but the rest of downtown and all of Meridian. Watkins Development – like HRI – was involved in the renovation of Jackson's King Edward Hotel.