A portion of the Wolfson Building, corner of Main Avenue and Commerce Street, stands Monday morning. BENJAMIN OLIVO / MYSA.COM
The adage, “you don’t appreciate something until it’s gone”, sadly, seems especially poignant when it comes to architecture.
Since the Wolfson Building, 100 N. Main Ave., caught fire early Saturday morning, drawing 216 firefighters and other emergency responders, people have been snapping away at what remains at the site.
Whether the structure, erected in 1880 as L. Wolfson’s Dry Goods Emporium, is a total loss, or whether portions of it are salvageable, still remains to be seen.
“We’re still waiting for the engineering report,” building owner Paul Carter said. “They have to carefully remove all the rubble and then see what really is standing. They won’t even allow me to go on the property, so I can’t really see for myself the few little surviving pieces until its safe.”
A 30-foot-wide mural of a bluebonnet field by prominent Hill Country painter Porfirio Salinas (1910–1973) may have survived the fire. The Carter family acquired the mural from the Buckhorn Saloon (during its Lone Star Brewery incarnation) and eventually donated it to the Witte Museum. The plan was for the mural to remain at the Wolfson until it was ready to be displayed at the Witte’s South Texas Heritage Center expansion, due to open in May 2012.
Carter thinks the painting, which can still be seen through the windows of the partially-standing facade, survived the fire, but that it may have been damaged from debris falling from neighboring Riverview Towers, 111 Soledad St. Experts from the Witte may be on site as early as tomorrow to assess damage to the mural.
This morning, whether they were there for the scheduled press conference, or just passing by, people continued to take pictures of the remains. Eerily, the one portion of the building which drew onlookers’ focus was a wall shelf of the restaurant Poblano’s on Main, seemingly undamaged from a distance, on which rested a certificate-sized landscape painting, what looked like a prayer candle, and a fire extinguisher. Meat Market Barbecue was the building’s other tenant.
Fire Chief Charles Hood said the investigation is still ongoing, but added, “There is no reason for us to believe that this fire is suspicious in any nature.”
A damages estimate to both the Wolfson and Riverview are still unknown. Carter added, “It’s hard to put a price on history.”
At the press conference, it was revealed that both the Wolfson and Riverview buildings did not have sprinkler systems installed. According to Chief Hood, the Riverview was built at a time when city code did not require such systems.
The 21-story Riverview Towers houses 11 city departments, more than 350 employees from financing, purchasing and legal, among others. A handful of city staff were allowed to enter the building to retrieve critical paperwork. It remained unclear when non-city workers would be allowed to enter the building.
The Wolfson building was designed by prominent S.A. architect Alfred Giles. Carter, who has restored a number of downtown buildings including the Radius, 106 Auditorium Circle, purchased the Wolfson in 1996. The building housed the Bell Furniture Company for decades.
It was one of the few original commercial structures remaining on Main Plaza. The other is the former Pauline Books & Media bookstore. That building’s owner, the Daughters of St. Paul, are currently pursuing new tenants.
— Benjamin Olivo
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