Historical Landmark - 1636 Lincolnway k

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT CONTINUED After Prohibition the company began to again brew beer and was soon producing 50,000 barrels a year. The primary sales area for their products was in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. The firm later built new offices directly across the street at College and Lincolnway West and the old offices were converted to manufacturing space. By 1950 business was stagnating, producing half of their past volume. Brewery officials blamed a federal excise tax of $8.00 per barrel for the decline, for it was a severe burden for a small brewery. The brewery closed November 11, 1950. The firm's ice department, Polar Ice and Fuel, continued to do good business and is still in existence today. The building was used in the 1950's by White Way Glass Company, operated by Russell E. Frushour. By 1960 it was being used by the I.W. Lower company who specialized in paints. From 1970 to 1985 it housed McDaniels' Harley-Davidson Company. In 1985 it was also being used by Acme Design Service Incorporated. Kenneth Inwood purchased the building in 1990 and sold it to the current owner, Ethel Anderson, in 1995. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION This is a four to five story Gothic Revival style industrial building with a single story rear addition for loading and mechanics. It has a flat, multi-leveled roof with castellated parapets and two five story square towers at either end of the front facade. The walls are made of brick that has been painted over with advertisements. In addition, they are toped with corbelled cornice banding which is located just beneath the battlements. The front windows are evenly arranged with voussoired roman-arch heads and stone sills, all of wich are boarded up. The windows and doors on the east facade also have stone sills and were arched in shape, all which have been boarded or bricked up. The rest of the structure contains square and rectangular shaped windows of various sizes which have also been either bricked up or boarded shut. The rear single story portion of the structure has some loading doors in operation, which are of the modern steel and aluminum variety. The brewery added a one story small brick office front to the front left side of the building in the 1940s. The White Way Glass Company and I.W. Lower Company extended this store front all the way across the first story of the building in the 1960s, using a modern glass and metal design. This addition was connected to the existing exterior wall of the building which is currently being used as an interior wall for a used furniture store. The building boasts a smoke stack, battlements, two turrets and many of the window openings and sills. RECOMMENDATION Based on the Historic Preservation Commission's Local Landmark Criteria's adopted by the Common Council, the building at 1636 Lincolnway West has been recommended to the Common Council for designation as a Local Historic Landmark by Historic Preservation Commission.