968 - 972 Fort Wayne Ave., William Buschmann Block, 1986

Description:	968 - 972 Fort Wayne Ave., William Buschmann Block, 1986 Yes William Buschmann Block968-972 Fort Wayne Avenuecirca 1870-1871 & 1879The William Buschmann Block is one of the few remaining large Italianate commercial buildings in Indianapolis. It was one of the earliest large, commercial structures in the highly concentrated mixed-use St. Joseph neighborhood. William Buschmann was a Prussian who emigrated to Indianapolis in 1852 at the age of twenty-eight. He identified St. Joseph as a developing commercial/retail center when he was working and living in the area during the Civil War. In 1865, Buschmann was a saloon keeper on Fort Wayne Avenue. In 1866, he was associated with H. Severin grocery and grain dealer. Upon construction of the Block, Buschmann opened his own grocery and dry goods enterprise. Buschmanns business expanded rapidly. Buschmann was a successful businessman. In addition to the Buschmann Block, he owned two similar commercial structures, several farms, and Broad Ripple Park. He was also a prominent member of the Indianapolis German community; active at Zion German Lutheran Church and a number of local charitable organizations. By 1883, he was also leasing space to Louis Meier and Company, a clothing manufacturer with which his sons Louis and Charles Buschmann were associated. In 1890, Meier & Company built a three-story structure to the immediate north across St. Mary Street (10th Street), that for a time was connected to the Block by a third-story bridge. The residential space on the second and third floors of the structure was occupied from 1871 to 1895 by the Buschmann family (William Buschmann died in 1893). William Buschmann grocers continued to operate on site until 1939. Beginning in 1914, commercial spaces were leased to a variety of service and light manufacturing concerns. Currently, the building is owned and occupied by Restoration Services, an architectural salvage and restoration construction company.Architectural Description: The Buschmann Block is significant for its Italianate architecture, tis siting as a visual terminus to a diagonal street, and its role in the commercial development of the St. Joseph neighborhood. It was constructed in two sections. The original portion, built in 1870-1871, is a three-story L-shaped structure made of red brick. It was constructed on a rubble foundation and the main facade, facing Fort Wayne Avenue, features seven bays. Fort Wayne Avenue was constructed diagonally to the standard Indianapolis grid street pattern. This necessitated that the Buschmann Block be built with an acute angle at the northeast corner of the building. The building was enlarged c. 1879 by the addition of a matching four bay wing on the south, forming the present c-shaped structure. The Italianate style of the Buschmann Block is impressively delineated on the main, eastern facade. Each floor of the building is clearly set off by a limestone stringcourse that extends through the window will level on the second and third floors. Windows are tall and narrow. The remaining original sash is double-hung with four-over-four lights. Limestone window sills project out from the plane of the facade and rest on two limestone blocks. Windows are capped by recessed brick filled arches. These arches are composed of brick voussoirs that rise from eared limestone spring blocks and culminate in a wide keystone. The arch base is the limestone stringcourse. The vertical sides of the windows are framed by a recessed brick course. Only remnants of a finely detailed pressed metal cornice remain, and the original metal parapet is completely missing. Cornice ventilator oculus were originally flanked by laminated brackets which continued the vertical line established by the recessed brick window courses. Only a few of those brackets remain today. About 1950, the original large, arched commercial windows and entrances on the first floor were removed and replaced with a projecting metal cornice that tops angled plate glass window units. The north wing of the Buschmann Block is two bays wide and ten bays deep. The northern elevation is finished as a secondary facade, with the details of the eastern facade mimicked in a less decorative manner. The two northern entrances are detailed like the windows on the east. Original five-panel, double leaf doors remain in the openings.St. Joseph Historic Area Preservation Plan, 1991 commercial
Origin:	1986
Source:	http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/HT/id/3687
Collection:	Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission Image Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright
Geography:	Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, United States, http://sws.geonames.org/4259418/, 39.76838, -86.15804
Subjects:	Architecture--Indiana--Indianapolis Built environment Historic districts Italianate

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