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 D-76  OLD Y.M.C.A. BUILDING 407 NORTH LAURA STREET DATE: 1908-1909 ARCHITECT: H. J. Klutho BUILDERS: H. Green; Southern Ferro Concrete Co. The
first Jacksonville Young Men's Christian Association was founded in
1870. Thirty-seven years later its members commissioned H. J.
Klutho to design its headquarters. This seven-story structure
marked the beginning of his commitment to an architectural movement
which later became known
as The Prairie School. Klutho's description of his newly completed
Y.M.C.A. Building embraced these concepts as "a style of architecture
which is neither Classic or Renaissance, but in line with a new style
now being evolved in this country typifying the American Character,
i.e., strong and massive in its general outline, with large mouldings
void of useless ornamentation, square openings, horizontal lines and
straightforward in general design."
The building was Florida's first large reinforced-concrete frame structure and an engineering feat for the times. It featured an indoor running track suspended over the gymnasium by cantilevered concrete beams. A forty-eight-foot free span above the track and gym was created by six-foot-thick concrete girders that supported four more stories overhead. A swimming pool was located in the basement. A roof garden on the top of the building was surrounded by parapet projecting 4 feet above the cornice to provide a protective rail.
 The indoor running track was constructed between the first and second floors, supported by 10-foot-long cantilevered concrete beams. Construction of the reinforced concrete frame was by the Southern Ferro Concrete Company based in Atlanta. Southern Ferro was founded by two Frenchmen near the turn of the century, one of whom, a Mr. Berne, was trained by Francois Hennebique who invented the technique of construction with reinforced concrete patented in 1892 for buildings in France and Switzerland. Southern Ferro Concrete was incorporated in 1905 by Mr. Charles Loridans, who bought out Berne and his partner. In
1929 the Y.M.C.A. shared in the nation's financial
calamity; unable to meet mortgage, the building was sold and remodeled
(poorly) for use as retail space.  Although the YMCA Building only tentatively addressed itself to the Prairie School movement, it was a definite step in that direction and certainly a leap forward in fireproof reinforced-concrete structural design. It is now owned by the City of Jacksonville and is awaiting restoration for use as office space. Archival photos
courtesy of
Robert C. Broward. |
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Exceprts
of this work may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
with credit to Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage by Wayne W. Wood. All Rights Reserved, Wayne W. Wood and Ó University Presses of Florida. |
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