Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Preserve Arkansas names most endangered places
Century-old commercial buildings associated with Arkansas’ Jewish and Chinese merchants are among the state’s seven most endangered places, according to Preserve Arkansas.
The announcement was made Wednesday morning at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock.
Being on the Most Endangered Places list makes it “a preservation priority for the state of Arkansas,” said Rachel Patton, executive director of Preserve Arkansas.
“We don’t have cash to give people, but we will do whatever we can do to help them … whatever they need to move forward,” she said.
Founded in 1981, Preserve Arkansas began doing the Most Endangered Places lists in 1999 to highlight Arkansas’ significant historic and cultural sites at risk of being damaged or lost. Preserve Arkansas solicits nominations for the list from individuals and organizations.
The two structures mentioned above are the Adler Building in Batesville and the Chu Building in Forrest City.
Built in 1881 by Jewish merchant Simon Adler, the two-story Adler Building is one of the largest commercial structures on Batesville’s Main Street, according to a press packet at preservearkansas.org.
“When the Adler Building opened, it housed two businesses on the ground floor, with offices and a large auditorium and dance floor upstairs,” Patton wrote in the press packet. “After Simon Adler’s death in 1904, his son Nathan continued the Adler business in half of the downstairs space, with other Jewish merchants operating in the remainder of that level. The federal court operated in the second floor auditorium area until 1916, when Nathan Adler sold the building to Yeatman-Gray Grocery Co., a wholesaling company.”
The building has changed hands several times since then.
Joey Markowski, current owner, said he was planning to spend $1.1 million to restore it, with commercial space on the ground floor and eight loft apartments in the building.
But the building’s back wall collapsed in February 2018.
“We were expecting to have to take it out anyway,” Markowski said. “Unfortunately, when the wall fell down, the optics looked really bad and the bank got cold feet. … By the time we were able to regroup, the interest rates had gone through the roof.”
Markowski said he’s looking for another investor to help with the project, or someone willing to take it over and preserve the building.
The Forrest City building was built around 1915 and owned by the Chu family, according to the press packet. They leased the west side of the building to another Chinese family, the Howe family, who lived in a small upstairs space and operated a grocery store on the first floor.
“The Chu family also leased the east side of the building to the Harlem Theater, an African-American theater during the days of segregation,” Patton wrote.
The Harlem Theater closed in 1966, and the Howe Cash Grocery closed in 1972. A church organization later occupied a portion of the building, but it has been empty for many years, Patton wrote.
“The building is in fair structural condition, but a new roof is needed as well as considerable interior repairs,” according to the press packet.
The Chu Building was recently deeded to the St. Francis County Historical Society with the stipulation it be used for “philanthropic purposes for the betterment of culture and society” in the county.
The Historical Society intends to restore the building to house a new entity called the East Arkansas Delta Multicultural Museum and Archives as well as office and research space, wrote Patton.
The other five properties named to the 2019 Most Endangered Places list are:
■ Emmet United Methodist Church, Emmet (Nevada County), a 1917 Colonial Revival-style church that serves a small congregation. The church has applied for a grant to stabilize the building, but additional fundraising is necessary.
■ Scipio A. Jones House, Little Rock, the 1928 home of Scipio Jones, a prominent African-American attorney and civic leader. The home, which is in poor condition, is currently for sale and eligible for historic tax credits, Patton wrote.
■ Malvern Rosenwald School, Malvern, a 1929 school for African-Americans built with assistance from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The building is vacant, and deterioration has reached a critical point. “It’s getting to the point where something’s going to have to be done or we’re going to lose it,” said Patton.
■ Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church & Cemetery, Marvell (Phillips County), a 1957 church built to replace an earlier structure, with an adjacent cemetery containing historic burials. Structural and safety issues need to be resolved to keep the location viable, according to the news release.
■ Saenger Theater, Pine Bluff, a 1924 motion picture palace, one of the last of its kind in Arkansas. Groups have tried to restore the theater in the past, but it has been vacant for a decade.
The Saenger Theater was on the Most Endangered Places list in 2000, and all Rosenwald Schools in the state were listed as one entry in 2005.
“Out of nearly 400 Rosenwald buildings in Arkansas, fewer than 20 remain standing today,” Patton wrote. “In 2005, Preserve Arkansas included Rosenwald Schools statewide on its Most Endangered Places list. Since then, there has been forward momentum at a few sites, but most of these schools remain endangered.”