500 Monument Square (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox building
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'''500 Monument Square''', also known as '''500 Main Street''', is a building in downtown [[Racine, Wisconsin]], facing [[Monument Square (Racine, Wisconsin)|Monument Square]] and [[Main Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Main Street]], and located on the southeast corner of [[5th Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|5th Street]] and [[Wisconsin Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Wisconsin Avenue]]. The current building was constructed in 1925 for [[Zahn's Department Store (Racine, Wisconsin)|Zahn's Department Store]], which operated there until it closed in 1981. Since then, the building has been vacant. In 1995, it was announced that a {{w|children's museum}}, The Imaginarium, would open in the building, but after several years of setbacks and financial difficulties, the project was cancelled in 2001.
==History==
A building known as the Lawton Block occupied the southwest corner of Market Square (renamed Monument Square in 1884) and Fifth Street as early as the 1870s. The Union National Bank of Racine was its primary tenant beginning shortly after it was established in 1881.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/racine1883citydirectory/page/n131/mode/2up Racine City Directory, 1883-4], W.F. Curtis & Co., 1883, page 283.</ref> After the bank closed in 1900,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/129268811/ "Notice - The Union National Bank of Racine, located in Racine, in the State of Wisconsin, is closing up its affairs."], [[Racine Daily Journal]], October 31, 1900, page 2.</ref> the space was occupied by the United States Express office, which vacated in September 1913 to move to the YMCA building at [[314 6th Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|314 6th Street]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/129269063/ "Express Office Moved"], [[Racine Journal-News]], September 25, 1913, page 5.</ref>
In March 1916, Joseph Solomon opened a men's clothing store on the site,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/129269209/ "Jos. Solomon in Clothing Business"], [[Racine Journal-News]], January 15, 1916, page 7.</ref> specializing in garments manufactured by {{w|Hart, Schaffner & Marx}}. Solomon closed his store in December 1923,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/129269347/ Advertisement], [[Racine Journal-News]], December 14, 1923, page 25.</ref> and his leftover stock was acquired by S.P. Gray, who carried out a closeout sale in the building. The sale ended on March 15, 1924, with Gray announcing that "this store is destined to become one of the finest stocked in the state".<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/129269488/ Advertisement], [[Racine Journal-News]], March 14, 1924, page 20.</ref>
===[[Zahn's Department Store (Racine, Wisconsin)|Zahn's Department Store]] (1925–1981)===
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On December 10, 1924, the first floor of the new building was completed and work stopped for the winter.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64306445/the-journal-times/ "Stop Working on New Zahn Building"], [[Racine Journal-News]], December 11, 1924, page 4.</ref> By April 1925, concrete was being poured on the fourth floor, and general contractor Nelson & Co. was lauded by the [[Racine Journal-News]] as "making a record for speed in erecting the building."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64306648/the-journal-times/ "Edward Zahn Lays First Brick in His New Store Building"], [[Racine Journal-News]], April 18, 1925, page 4.</ref> The new store opened on October 6, 1925.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64305714/the-journal-times/ "New Zahn Store Opens Tomorrow"], [[Racine Journal-News]], October 5, 1925, Zahn section, front page.</ref> Zahn's purchased the neighboring building at [[510 Monument Square (Racine, Wisconsin)|510 Monument Square]] in 1928, razing it to build a {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=on}}-wide annex to the store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64305778/the-journal-times/ "Zahn's Plan Big Addition to Store"], [[Racine Journal-News]], August 1, 1928, page 4.</ref>
A group led by C. Ellis Goldstein purchased the store in August 1950.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64305459/the-journal-times/ "Buys Control Of Zahns Store"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 1, 1950, front page.</ref> The new ownership modernized the building's third floor, which reopened on May 22, 1952.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64305538/the-journal-times/ "Zahns Remodel Entire Third Floor"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 20, 1952, page 4.</ref>
On June 29, 1977, Chandler V. Copps purchased the store from Goldstein, who retained ownership of the building.<ref>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64305225/the-journal-times/ "Upstate man buys Zahns"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 30, 1977, front page.</ref> Goldstein died in December 1978, and control of the Zahn Realty Company passed to his widow and son.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36259274/c-ellis-goldstein/ "Former Zahns' owner dies"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 27, 1978, front page.</ref><ref name=closure-jul1981/>
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On July 8, 1981, Copps filed for {{w|Chapter 11}} bankruptcy restructuring, and announced that the store would permanently close. The liquidation sale began on July 9,<ref name=closure-jul1981>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64304821/the-journal-times/ "Zahn's will close Monument Square store"], [[Racine Journal Times]], July 8, 1981, front page.</ref> and the store ultimately closed on August 15.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64304996/the-journal-times/ "To the bare walls"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 12, 1981, page 4C.</ref> Citing the decline of downtown shopping as a reason for the store's decline, Zahn's considered moving to a suburban location such as [[Westgate Mall Shopping Center (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westgate Mall Shopping Center]] to open in late 1981,<ref name=closure-jul1981/> but this never materialized.
===Vacancy (
With the closure of Zahn's, the building became one of the largest vacant properties in Racine. In spring 1989, state senator Joseph Strohl proposed converting the building into a "one-stop government center," housing state and federal offices as well as private businesses.<ref>Holley, Paul J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64230548/ "Zahn's building to be sold?"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 18, 1989.</ref> The Wisconsin Department of Administration agreed to move forward with the proposal in January 1990.<ref>Holley, Paul J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64230636/ "State eyes use of Zahn's building"], [[Racine Journal Times]], January 9, 1990, front page and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64230697/ page 2A].</ref> However, the state backed out of the proposal in September due to a lack of adequate parking near the building.<ref>Holley, Paul J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64230719/the-journal-times/ "State offices moved from Zahn's building"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 29, 1990, page 3A.</ref>
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On January 21, 2016, the property was ultimately purchased by 500 Main Street LLC, a single-purpose corporation created by regional gas station franchisee Bachan Singh, for $275,000.<ref>Feldmann, Mark. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/zahns-building-sold-to-brookfield-gas-station-mogul/article_31984d86-68e2-503a-8ce5-999006d53000.html "Zahn's building sold to Brookfield gas station mogul"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 3, 2016.</ref> Singh continued to offer the building for sale, raising the price to $595,000. Unlike Tri City, Singh had no intention of lowering the price to attract interest, saying he would wait "till I get the right price." By August 2017, Singh had made at least two contracts to sell the building, but no offers had panned out.<ref>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/business/local/agent-former-zahn-s-drawing-consistent-interest/article_6d1c7647-75c4-5703-b420-8be3167854e4.html "Agent: Former Zahn’s drawing consistent interest"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 31, 2017.</ref>
====
On October 11, 2019, the property was purchased by The Main Attraction LLC for $319,500.<ref name=assessor>[https://cityofracine.org/Source/Templates/WebPro.aspx?TabIndex=1&CardNumber=1&AccountNumber=175 Property Details: 500 MAIN ST], cityofracine.org</ref> Working with Dominion Properties, a real estate development firm based in Milwaukee, The Main Attraction proposed renovating and expanding the building into an 80-room hotel, with amenities including a rooftop bar. In addition to the existing Zahn's building, the hotel would use a newly-constructed building to be built in the vacant lot at [[510 Monument Square (Racine, Wisconsin)|510 Monument Square]].
Construction on the hotel was originally intended to begin in early May 2020, with a target opening date of May 1, 2021. Installation of a {{w|geothermal heating}} and cooling system began in March 2020, with the goal of making the hotel "extremely energy-efficient" and the third {{w|LEED Platinum}}-certified building in Wisconsin.<ref>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/business/local/preconstruction-starts-for-zahn-s-hotel/article_2ba61f1a-d33f-5b01-8e8c-2e99ec686839.html "Preconstruction starts for Zahn’s hotel"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 9, 2020.</ref> However, construction was delayed due to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}, and the city agreed to push the start of construction back to January 15, 2021.<ref>Johnson, Eric. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/racine-planning-heritage-and-design-commission-approves-requests/article_c3eca356-bc66-5439-90ae-6c019f9837c7.html "Racine Planning, Heritage and Design Commission approves requests"], [[Racine Journal Times]], July 26, 2020.</ref>
In March 2021, updated plans for the hotel were made public, and it was announced that the building would be known as the Hotel Verdant. At that time, the developers intended to begin construction in July 2021 and open the hotel to the public in June 2022.<ref>Panuncial, Diana. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/zahns-building-on-monument-square-empty-for-40-years-moving-toward-revival-here-are-the/article_337cb4fe-0204-55db-8f72-b58a4ce86ce1.html "Zahn's building on Monument Square, empty for 40 years, moving toward revival. Here are the new hotel plans"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 2, 2021.</ref> Construction ultimately began in February 2022.<ref>Rogan, Adam. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/after-covid-19-delays-construction-of-the-new-hotel-on-monument-square-is-underway/article_66593925-c137-5121-abc2-1ba0d0706eb5.html "After COVID-19 delays, construction of the new hotel on Monument Square is underway"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 3, 2022.</ref>
The Hotel Verdant is set to open on August 7, 2023.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/hotelverdantracine/posts/pfbid0ghTGsC8L1i925oWGAM3SxqNBzboNQaqrJdeFYyn287SJLAuQNt9mKjE6okt2mATgl?comment_id=1228961197676797&reply_comment_id=315008444295526 "Hi Angela, we're opening on August 7. See you soon."], Hotel Verdant, Facebook, July 31, 2023.</ref>
==References==
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