The Library

Ullmann Building

Published July 18, 2016 Submitted by: Renee

The Old Gives Way
Springfield Leader and Press, July 31, 1947, page 1

"Wrecking began this week on one of Springfield's landmarks – the three-story Ullmann building at the southwest corner of College and Campbell. Under direction of Chapman and Bramer, contractors, the two top stories will be stripped off and the first floor will be remodeled into a building for Rubenstein's at a cost of approximately $80,000.

"William Ullmann of 521 East Walnut, recalled that his father, the late Dr. [Ludwig] Ullmann, built the structure in 1889 and that it originally was a 44-room hotel. Later, the Kentucky Liquor house occupied a part of it, and in recent years it was split up for a clothing store, a jewelry store, a harness shop and an ice cream parlor. Most of the building has been vacant for the past several years. Mr. Ullmann recalled that the hotel was the only building on the old 'city lot' an area bounded by College, Campbell, Market and Walnut, when it was constructed.

"Is he sad at the building's passing? 'A little, maybe,' he said. 'But old things must give way to the new. Otherwise, the Empire State building would never have been built.' Work on the project is expected to take about six months."

The top image is from the newspaper article. The image with a flag on the tower is from a 1894 Souvenir Edition of the Springfield Democrat newspaper. The color photograph was taken in 1995 after the top two stories had been removed.

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