YMCA Building (Shreveport, Louisiana)
YMCA, Downtown Branch | |
Front of the building, left, with twin campaniles | |
| Location | 400 McNeil Street, Shreveport, Louisiana 71101 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°30′46″N 93°45′05″W / 32.51278°N 93.75139°W |
| Built | 1925 |
| Architect | Clarence W. King |
| Owner | YMCA of Northwest Louisiana |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival |
| Website | www |
| Part of | Shreveport Commercial Historic District (First Boundary Increase) (ID97000437) |
| NRHP reference No. | 91000621 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 28, 1991 |
| Designated CP | May 16, 1997[1] |
The YMCA Building is a historic building in downtown Shreveport, Louisiana, built in 1925.[2] The National Register of Historic Places listed the Young Men’s Christian Association structure in 1982.[3]
History
The YMCA first started as a group in Shreveport in the 1860s but did not formally incorporate until 1922. The next year, the group raised $545,000 (equivalent to $10,058,018 in 2024) to build this building which opened in 1925.[4] Monroe E. Dodd, the First Baptist Church pastor and Edward Jacobs, the National Bank of Shreveport founder, both strongly advocated for the project.[5][2]
In the 1960s, the YMCA added a third and fourth story for new bedrooms and converted the old residences on the second story into exercise rooms.[3] The group stopped renting the rooms though and the floors are now vacant.[6] In 2017, barrels of food from 1963 were found in an unused wing of the building, left over from Cold War Civil Defense preparations.[7]
In recent years, the facility attracts downtown office workers to work out and provides exercise classes.[8][9] In 2020, the YMCA renovated the building which included updating the front desk area and CrossFit room, replacing lockers, and converting the underutilized social room into a yoga and Pilates studio.[2] In addition to the main building, the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana maintains two Shreveport neighborhood branches as of 2024. [10]
Architecture
The Villa Medici in Rome, completed in 1544, inspired architect Clarence W. King to design the building in an Italian Renaissance Revival style. The four-story building is built using blond brick and cast concrete with quoining along the corners.[5]
Outside, the front facade includes twin rooftop campaniles with a balustrade running between. The ground story has rows of arched opening each with double arched windows with a central colonnette. Between these are oeil-de-boeuf motifs. The main entrance consists of a triple arch opening flanked by pilasters and topped with a segmental pediment. Gold and blue terra cotta decorations highlight both the campaniles and the entrance.[3]
Inside, a central lobby consists of octagonal piers leading up to a plaster mock groin vaulted ceiling. Behind the lobby, is a small cortile with a fountain set in a tiled niche. The rest of the original interior included two gymnasiums, numerous bedrooms upstairs, and a pool in the basement.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Fricker, Donna (November 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Downtown Shreveport Historic District". National Register of Historic Places. First Boundary Increase. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. Retrieved January 4, 2025 – via National Archives.
- ^ a b c Watson, Jimmy (July 23, 2020). "Shreveport's downtown YMCA nears finish of $300K renovation project". The Shreveport Times. Gannett. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Tassin, Leslie (April 18, 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: YMCA, Downtown Branch". National Register of Historic Places. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. Retrieved January 4, 2025 – via Louisiana Office of Cultural Development.
- ^ Boucher, Makenzie (September 25, 2022). "YMCA coming to South Shreveport. Here's what you need to know about Camp Forbing". The Shreveport Times. Gannett. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ a b Todaro, Joe (August 10, 2020). "Downtown YMCA". 318 Forum. Shreveport, Louisiana: Venture Publishing. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ Patton, Devon (October 9, 2015). "Legend says spirit haunts downtown Shreveport YMCA". KTBS-TV. Shreveport, Louisiana: Wray Properties Trust. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ Wildsmith, Henrietta (December 14, 2017). "Inside the unused wings of the downtown YMCA building". The Shreveport Times. Gannett. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ^ Anderson, Scott "Scooter" (November 18, 2019). "YMCA". 318 Forum. Shreveport, Louisiana: Venture Publishing. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ Benn, Domonique (January 22, 2015). "Knock It Off members spin the fat off". KSLA-TV. Shreveport, Louisiana: Gray Television. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
- ^ Rowell, Kathie (January 11, 2024). "South Shreveport's state-of-the-art Lash Family YMCA to open soon". The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate. Georges Media. Retrieved January 4, 2025.