Fox Building
The Fox Building was a 3-story brick commercial building located on the northwest corner of 19th Street and 4th Avenue North in downtown Birmingham. It was constructed in 1895 for John Fox's Sons Groceries, which had been founded near the Alice Furnace in 1888 by future Mayor of Birmingham John Fox and his three sons.
The new Fox Building was constructed in the Italian Renaissance "Palazzo" style
With the new building, John Fox's Sons Groceries became the city's largest grocery store and meat market. The business closed in 1910 and the building hosted a succession of businesses including a meat market, drug store, and barber shop. The Birmingham Business College kept offices on the 2nd floor. The Chicago Clothing Company, a shoe store, a finance company and the Paris Men's Shop also used the address. The open upper floor, called the Third Loft, was rented out for community meetings, concerts and worship services.
The long-vacant building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 11, 1980, in the midst of a heated debate about its preservation. Ultimately Judge U. W. Clemon ruled that opponents of the plan to tear it down for expansion of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta lacked standing. The Fox Building was demolished in 1981.
References
- White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
- Nelson, James (August 31, 1980) "If the Fox Building Goes, It is the Rape of History". The Birmingham News
- "Ruling Ends Fox Reprieve" (September 24, 1980) The Birmingham News