Julian--Drew Building -Tucson, Arizona
Posted by: Groundspeak Charter Member BruceS
N 32° 13.269 W 110° 58.046
12S E 503068 N 3564949
Historic commercial building in the downtown area of Tucson, Arizona.
Waymark Code: WMHFJC
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 07/05/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Math Teacher
Views: 6

"The Julian-Drew Building/Lewis Hotel is a 1917 commercial style building with Neoclassical Revival detailing. This building was one of the first of its kind of automobile dealerships in providing an indoor display showroom. Its lower floor offered large picture windows for the display of the most recent automobile models available to the citizens of Tucson. Its location at the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway Boulevard, and only three blocks from the City Center, provided prominent visibility to downtown travelers. Today, Broadway Boulevard continues to be one of the main circulation corridors to the downtown area. The building occupies nearly 90% of the lot on which it is located, a common situation of the commercial developments in the downtown business district. It presents a strong face along Broadway with only a lO'-O" sidewalk between it and the street curbing. The building is two-story, with a double wythe exterior brick wall and interior post and beam construction. It is distinguished by a flat roof and surrounding parapet. It uses a pressed red clay brick along the east and north elevations incorporating horizontal corbeling and decoration of the flat arch with the introduction of precast concrete keystones and voussoirs. The south and west elevations provides a more economical display of brick construction, with less detail, and the use of a less expensive low-fired red clay brick. The lower (main) floor east and north elevations present large glassed openings for the display of the automobiles, while all the other elevations maintain a more residential scale with the use of the double hung wood windows. The building is in excellent condition and maintains much of its original character." - National Register Nomination

The building is in very good condition. The automobile dealership is long gone. The first floor is used by multiple storefront businesses and offices. The second floor has been converted to residential apartments and artists studios.
Street address:
182 E. Broadway
Tucson, Arizona


County / Borough / Parish: Pima

Year listed: 1996

Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering

Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949

Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic

Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Recreation And Culture

Privately owned?: yes

Primary Web Site: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]

Season start / Season finish: Not listed

Hours of operation: Not listed

Secondary Website 2: Not listed

National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
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