Located at 429 West Friendly Avenue in downtown Greensboro, the Christian Advocate Publishing Company Building was among the earliest structures downtown recognized for its architectural significance in the city\u2019s first historic architectural survey of 1976. Architectural Historian Ruth Little-Stokes wrote of the building in the survey \u201c2-story brick commercial building with masonry main fa\u00e7ade of dramatic Egyptian Revival design. One of the few examples of this popular commercial style left in North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n
This May 2017, a demolition permit was issued for the structure by its owner, the Greensboro Masonic Temple Inc. Plans for the site after demolition included a parking lot.<\/p>\n
The building was completed in 1927 to designs by Greensboro-based architect Charles C. Hartmann. Hartmann was responsible for many structures in Greensboro ranging from the Jefferson Standard Building and the UNCG Quad to the Julian Price Estate known as Hillside in Fisher Park. The Christian building is Hartmann\u2019s only known example of Egyptian Revival design. The structure exhibits unusual details articulated in terra cotta tile, including sumptuous lotus-designed pilasters with clawed feet at the base and topped with garland-and-shield entablatures.<\/p>\n
The Christian Advocate Publishing Company was established in 1855, and published a journal affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church entitled \u201cNorth Carolina Christian Advocate.\u201d The Journal covered topics important to the church including education, health, temperance, and affairs of the church.<\/p>\n
The building is owned by the Greensboro Masonic Temple, located at 426 West Market Street. The Masons have been excellent stewards of the historic 1927 Temple they occupy, but they have been challenged by the Christian Advocate building. The Mason\u2019s maintain that the building is structurally deficient, contains hazardous materials, and that it is cost-prohibitive to restore.<\/p>\n
The City of Greensboro has applied for state and federal matching funds to survey the center city in order to determine edibility of properties for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Maintained by the National Park Service, National Register properties can be eligible for state and federal tax credits to facilitate property rehabilitations. They survey has been sought to make owners such as the Masons aware of these funding outlets so that they may better plan for use and improvement of historic properties.<\/p>\n
The 11,000 SF building was added to the National Register\u00a0 designation and recognized to the National Register Study List in 2017, making it a candidate for use of Historic Tax Credits for restoration and re-investment. Interior details such as exposed brick, high ceilings, and expansive architectural windows make it a suitable candidate for re-use.<\/p>\n
UPDATE: Demolition was called off in 2019 as the Greensboro Masonic Temple reconsidered economic options for the property and its redevelopment.<\/p>\n
Written by Benjamin Briggs<\/p>\n
Preservation Greensboro contributes a key role in the growth of Greensboro\u2019s economy and vitality through tourism, reinvestment, and place-making. With diverse initiatives that help you to restore, explore, and connect with your community, Preservation Greensboro provides a voice for revitalization, improved quality of life, and conservation of historic resources for future generations. Are you a member yet? Learn more about Greensboro\u2019s only member-supported preservation organization by exploring our\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0or joining our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0page. Please join us today!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Located at 429 West Friendly Avenue in downtown Greensboro, the Christian Advocate Publishing Company Building was among the earliest structures downtown recognized for its architectural significance in the city\u2019s first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[48,16,17,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/CAPC-Building-1943.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8SRya-1Kb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10114,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6707\/revisions\/10114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preservationgreensboro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}