Developers keen on history of factory

The building that formerly housed the International Shoe Company on East Capitol Avenue was sold to a Springfield firm that plans to renovate it into loft apartments.
The building that formerly housed the International Shoe Company on East Capitol Avenue was sold to a Springfield firm that plans to renovate it into loft apartments.

The past, present and future of the Jefferson City landmark at 1101 E. Capitol Ave. will be propelled into the spotlight in the coming days and weeks as a national developer of historic properties based in Springfield rebrands the old International Shoe Company factory as a housing destination for young professionals.

Already dubbed Capitol Avenue Lofts, the Vecino Group LLC displayed the depth of its commitment to the $13 million, 75-unit project at City Hall Tuesday night with a history lovers' delight of a presentation in sight and sound.

Vecino retained the services of a professional historian late last year to produce an initial Missouri Preliminary National Register of Historic Places Eligibility Assessment.

The more than 35-page document, featuring 45 current external and internal images of the massive, 65,300-square-foot factory was submitted on Vecino's behalf to National Register reviewers Dec. 29.

The work reported the building is actually the Giesecki-D'Oench-Hays Shoe Manufacturing Company, later known as the International Shoe Manufacturing Company's Main Street Factory.

The property, now owned by DeLong Properties in Jefferson City, was begun Jan. 1, 1900, with significant alterations on Jan. 1, 1923, according to the exhaustive research commissioned by Vecino for the Capitol Avenue Lofts project.

"This shoe factory complex was constructed between ca. 1903 and ca. 1966," the analysis presented to the City Council Tuesday night began. "It occupies a large, relatively level lot on East Capitol, near the grounds of the former Missouri State Penitentiary. The complex includes a five-story factory that was built ca. 1903, a low one-story concrete warehouse to its north that was added ca. 1922 and a one-story brick warehouse that was built between those two early sections ca. 1966.

"There also is a small freestanding one-story brick utility building located on a loading dock a few yards from the south side wall of the main factory. The utility building appears to date to the 1950s or '60s. Sanborn maps show that it was built sometime after 1943."

The study is hardly just a restatement of dry facts, however.

"The factory was built for the Giesecki-D'Oench-Hays Shoe Company, who utilized labor of inmates of the nearby state penitentiary in the manufacture of shoes, including their 'Key Brand,' which was made at this location," the study explains. "A few years later, the property was sold to the Friedman-Shelby Shoe Company of St. Louis, who in 1910 advertised this building as 'one of the largest shoe factories in the West.' By 1916, the factory was under the control of the International Shoe Co., which dubbed this the Main Street Factory (Capitol Avenue was originally known as Main Street). International Shoe operated the factory until 1970, when it was one of m any ISC plants to be shuttered.

"The Main Street Factory commonly employed between 300 and 600 people annually, many from the surrounding neighborhoods in Jefferson City. The period of significance begins ca. 1903 and ends in 1996, the beginning of a decline in ISC operations in Missouri. ISC began closing Missouri plants in 1966 and for a time they shifted some production to this plant, which was the likely reason for the new rear warehouse. The increased production level was short-lived, however, and in 1970 this became the fourth large Missouri ISC plant to close in as many years."

The historical analysis is kind to the preservation of the building by DeLong Properties.

"The building is significant in the area of architecture as an intact example of a turn of the century industrial building, as noted in the 1992 Jefferson City 'Historic East Survey.' The survey commented on the architectural elements such as the elevator tower that extends above the fifth floor, segmental arched masonry window openings that are symmetrically arranged on all floors and wide bracketed cornices at the front wall and stair tower. The painted signage between the fourth and fifth floors is still clearly visible and serves to associate the building with the substantial shoe industry in Jefferson City during the 20th Century," the Vecino study reports.