Pictured is the Endowment Building in Urbana as it looks today.
Submitted photo
Submitted story
Urbana Tomorrow recently acquired the Endowment Building, located at 111-113 South Main Street in downtown Urbana, from the estate of the late Pam Thorpe.
The company plans to complete a multi-year, multi-phase redevelopment of the tallest occupied building in Champaign County and the largest historic building by square footage in downtown Urbana.
“The Endowment Building possesses immense potential and has the ability to further advance the redevelopment of downtown Urbana. Our team is looking forward to the journey of bringing this once important icon back to life,” said David Uhl, CEO of the Urbana Tomorrow group of companies.
“There’s a lot of positive, private investment happening in downtown Urbana and we believe it is important to keep that momentum going,” Justin T. Weller, founder of Urbana Tomorrow, shared. “We’ve encountered our fair share of challenges in championing change, but we take on projects like this because hardships are the catalyst for lasting success. Change and hope are in the air.”
The Endowment Building was hailed as Urbana’s first skyscraper. A 1924 image from the Whitham Collection of the Champaign County Historical Society shows the Powers Home Store and the Kenton Grocery on the street level. The bones of the building at 111-113 S. Main St. date from the 1870s when the Odd Fellows Lodge constructed a tall three-story building with a spacious hall on the upper floor. The ground floor housed the Urbana Post Office on one side and a grocery on the other.
All that changed in 1922 when the building was purchased by the Ohio Industrial Endowment Fund Company. They gutted the interior, added a steel superstructure and turned a three-story building into a five-story structure. When completed, the upper floors had 42 suites, which were used as professional and government offices.
City directories listed as many as four beauty shops in the building at one time. The top floor still had a ballroom for events into the 1920s. The ornate Victorian style gave way to a building with an Art Deco feel. The ground floor was occupied as retail space and included prominent companies like the Urbana branch of The Home Store chain and later the Western Auto Store.
Today, much of the building still has embossed tin ceilings, interior transom windows, and elegant wood trim dating to the 1920s reconstruction. The building offers some of the best views of downtown Urbana. The complete history of the building is available at www.EndowmentBuilding.us
Urbana Tomorrow owns and has redeveloped several properties in Champaign County. Most notably, 40 Monument Square – commonly referred to as the big blue building – and Bodey Circle, among others. Redevelopment of the Endowment Building will focus on respecting the history of the property and highlighting its features while bringing modern amenities and a higher standard of living to the building, according to the Urbana Tomorrow team.
“It will take several years and a lot of work, but doing what’s right for the betterment of our community is something we should all get behind,” Uhl said. “Hard-working local businesses owners, property developers, advocacy groups, and dedicated private citizens have made progress happen. Justin and I intend to continue being a part of and leaders in this movement.”
Submitted by Urbana Tomorrow
