Kress, S.H. and Company Building
N 27° 46.299 W 082° 38.403
17R E 338394 N 3072985
Quick Description: F.W. Woolworth's would be joined by J.G. McCrory's, S.S. Kresge's and S.H. Kress and Co. Indeed, in St. Petersburg, the Kress Building was located next to J.G. McCrory's.
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 5/17/2007 3:13:48 PM
Waymark Code: WM1J80
Views: 89
Long Description:Built in 1927, the Kress Building is a classically styled
commercial building most influenced by the Beaux-Arts style. It was
continuously used as a five-and-dime store until closed by S. H.
Kress & Company around 1981. The Kress Building was built by
Samuel H. Kress, founder of the S. H. Kress chain of five and dime
stores. Mr. Kress retained an architectural staff to design many of
his buildings, although the architect of St. Petersburg's Kress
Building is unknown. The five-and-dime store, a concept conceived
by F.W. Woolworth in 1897, had an immediate impact on the downtown
scene. The downtowns of the 1920s and 1930s, including St.
Petersburg’s, were vibrant places of great activity with the
five-and-dime store at the center of this activity. These stores
offered not only shopping, but also lunch counters and places to
socialize. Their popularity was apparent by the number of competing
five-and-dimes that could be found in a single downtown. F.W.
Woolworth's would be joined by J.G. McCrory's, S.S. Kresge's and
S.H. Kress and Co. Indeed, in St. Petersburg, the Kress Building
was located next to J.G. McCrory's. Today uses in the building are
a mixture of offices and services.
The Beaux-Arts style, as evidenced by the State Theater and the
Mirror Lake Library, is a highly ornamental style of architecture
that originated from the Ecole des beaux-arts. It emphasizes a
strongly symmetrical facade and may feature classical detailing,
such as the egg-and-dart molding and dentils found on the Kress
Building. Although the Kress Building is not an elaborately
decorative building, it does feature the figure sculpture (urns,
brackets) along the parapet that is so common with the Beaux-Arts
style, in addition to be clad with glazed terra cotta tile. That
the building is less ornamental shows some influence from the
Commercial style, a style popular for five to sixteen-story
commercial buildings during the 1910's in large cities. The
Commercial style emphasized large glass expanses and subordinate
ornamentation.
The Kress Building is a four-story (plus basement and mezzanine)
masonry building with a spread footing foundation. The ground floor
facade of the building is extra long, accounting for the mezzanine
level within the building. It features a largely glass expanse on
both the southern (front) and western exposures. The front entrance
consists of two plain commercial glass doors topped by a
multi-light transom window and flanked by two concrete block piers.
The upper three levels of the south elevation are clearly more
classical in design than the ground/mezzanine level. Separating the
ground floor and mezzanine from the upper portion of the building
is a classical decorative string course featuring an acanthus leaf
pattern. Decorative recessed panels run horizontally between the
windows, separating each floor. A decorative cornice is located
above the fourth floor and is detailed with egg-and-dart molding
over dentils among other classical ornamentation. The cornice is
topped by a classically detailed parapet featuring a central raised
portion containing the name "Kress" flanked by two urns and two
decorative brackets. The western facade of the Kress Building is
similar in detail to the south (front) facade, excluding the main
entrance. A small side entrance is located at the northern end of
this western facade. The upper three floors are divided into eight
bays with identical ornamentation as that on the front; the parapet
level also features the central raised portion with the "Kress"
name.
