900 Mississippi Street
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Brad Ziegler has made a Lawrence career buying, renovating and maintaining commercial and residential properties. He purchased Louise’s downtown in 1989 and owns the Tap Room and Six Mile Chop House, among others, but his recent focus has been on 9th Street just west of downtown.
He owns the Basil Leaf building and just completed a good-looking renovation of the old gas station next door for Mama’s Tamales. But for perhaps the crown jewel of his recent efforts, cross to the south side of 9th and take a look at the longtime laundromat on the corner at Mississippi: a full rehab under the watchful eye of the Kansas State Preservation Office is nearing completion and a new life as a restaurant to be called Big Mill.
The Preservation Office is involved because Brad is using a 20% state historic tax credit and a 25% federal credit for commercial properties to help offset rehab costs. Stan Hernly wrote the nomination for the building, now listed on both the state and national historic registers as Klock’s Grocery and Independent Laundromat.
Image provided by the Douglas County Historical Society, Watkins Museum of History.
Built by Fred Klock in 1922, the building replaced one at the same location that housed his grocery. In both buildings, Klock advertised his business as Klock’s Windmill Grocery, a reference to the community landmark that long stood at the top of the 9th Street hill. When the current building first opened, the eastern half was occupied by Beal Brothers Meat Market. The building transitioned in 1959 into Independent Laundry and Dry-Cleaning, which made a name for itself by providing a self-serve, coin-operated dry-cleaning service.
Image provided by the Douglas County Historical Society, Watkins Museum of History.
Mike Myers of Hernly Associates has provided all the architectural work and Joni Hernly is overseeing compliance with the tax-credit process. Andy Fletcher is the work coordinator on site, and Brad also points to Harvey Brothers Construction as a big help to the project.
Two outstanding features of the project are the pressed-tin ceiling inside and the transom windows. Portions of the original ceiling were damaged or missing, so Brad hired W.F. Norman in Nevada, Mo., to reproduce the stamp and fabricate new matching material. The windows were cleaned up and masterfully restored by Dave Anderson of Globe Art Glass.
Thanks Brad for bringing this corner commercial property back to tip-top shape!