Greenwald Building (Rosen Building/Hawkins Building)
Built: c. 1865
Address: 106, 108, and 110 N. Center Street
Brief History:
Built in ca. 1865 by Peter Greenwald, who was a well-known contractor in Bloomington. The architect is unknown.
The structure is comprised of three storefronts (106, 108, and 110 N. Center Street). It survived the Great Fire of 1900 in Downtown Bloomington. However, 106 and 108 N. Center Street were significantly damaged by the Newmarket building fire on December 25, 1918. These buildings were demolished to make way for the new Newmarket building (1919). Only the northernmost one-third of the building, 110 N. Center, was left standing.
The structure appears to originally have been an Italianate storefront, but the cornice has been removed, and all façade decoration has been removed. The storefront has been significantly altered as well.
From 1919 to 1965, the building was occupied by jeweler F.J. Dickman & Co./The Pearl Shop, Dickman’s optometry business, Jaeger Millinery, Madam Janda’s furrier, and finally Rosen’s clothing store and beauty salon.
In 1965, Hawkins Studio and Camera Shop moved in. It was likely around this time that the brick façade of the building was replaced with a brutalist-style concrete façade. All the original windows were covered up, leaving only the heavily modified storefront windows remaining. Hawkins went out of business in 1977 and series of businesses all occupied the building until the last tenant, DUI Countermeasures, Inc., moved in.
The building had been vacant for the two years when it was slated for demolition in 2025 by the City of Bloomington. The property will be turned into a parking lot with the potential of redevelopment by the City of Bloomington in the future.