Once a focal point in the heart of Tuscaloosa, the Allen Jemison building has been closer to demolition than prominence as of late. However, the Tuscaloosa Arts Council and their supporters believe the address will soon spark interest again.

The council, following Tuscaloosa’s acquisition of a $1.5 million HUD grant and volunteer funding, are renovating the old building on the corner of 7th Street and Greensboro Avenue into what will become The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center.

“We want to give the arts community a sense of home,” Sandra Wolfe, executive director of the council, said. “[Cultural centers] give people within the community and people coming into our community a way to connect.”

Wolfe said the center will greatly expand their capabilities to present works, hold workshops and facilitate the communal artistic environment she hopes to create. The main points within the center, two primary gallery spaces, a black box theatre/workshop space and several artist studios, would provide this flexibility.

The largest gallery space, at 1,500 square feet, is designated for The University of Alabama, in part of the effort to coordinate cultural efforts between the city and the University.

“It’s part of bringing the University communities out and melding them with the Tuscaloosa community,” Wolfe said. “What often happens in college communities is that the town doesn’t really know what’s happening there.”

The space will be used to display works from UA faculty, MFA students and touring exhibits, as well. The additional studio space provided will give the council far more flexibility, Wolfe said. The Bama Theatre, which offers its own gallery space, is booked until next summer.

Beyond the studio space, Wolfe said the theatre and community rooms will be used extensively for a variety of University projects: written, musical, dance and others that would house council workshops and local artistic groups. The more intimate size of the floor-level black box theatre provides a more appropriate venue for many smaller or children-aimed productions.

Additionally, the second floor offers costume workshop space and storage that will grant a new home for the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theater, offices for TCT alongside the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Tuscaloosa Community Dancers and six individual studio spaces. Wolfe expressed that the next stage of development would offer similar features on the third floor of the building.

“There’s simply so much potential for new opportunities we couldn’t accommodate before,” Wolfe said.

Similar to the council’s Bama Theatre, the Allen Jemison building fell under historic building exceptions, which allowed the council to abandon some major overhauls the updated building code would require. This allowed them to update the facility while maintaining the historical significance the former store holds within the community.

“It was a hub for Tuscaloosa,” Wolfe said. “It’s part of the fabric of this community, and it’s important that we preserve that in some way.”

Brian Brooker of Ellis Architects, architect of the CAC, took these considerations into mind with his design. Brooker said he sees Tuscaloosa’s downtown in the midst of a revival, recalling years when the area didn’t have much use. He said as the University has grown, buildings have been repurposed, and its growth has been undeniable.

“The downtown area has retained its integrity, mostly, through the years,” Booker said. “And there are a lot of buildings that await new uses, like the Allen Jemison building.”

He spoke of their efforts to preserve the historical presence of the downtown fixture. Through this effort, much of the building’s exterior has kept its original makeup, with additional efforts to mimic the patterns of the original storefront and aesthetic improvements to windows.

Within the building, code updates were made, and the new interior, featuring specially pivoting gallery doors and new lighting, was designed. Exposed brickwork, uncovered hardwood flooring and the preservation of the signature pneumatic tube, which functioned to transport money in the old store, reveal historical touches.

“We’re going to keep it where it is and sort of make an art exhibit out of [the tube]” Booker said. “We’ve tried to leave exposed as much of the original structure as we can.”

Wolfe viewed the CAC as just one part of the downtown’s artistic growth, alongside private studio housing, gallery spaces and dining that will stretch Greensboro’s pedestrian area down to the CAC and 7th Street. She cited Tuscaloosa as being “on the cusp” of becoming a true cultural and artistic hub.

“When I moved here 20 years ago, there wasn’t a reason to come downtown,” Wolfe said. “That’s all changing.”