Doors Closed?

Future use of Crawford Door building faces obstacles.

VITAL STATS
Name: Crawford Door Sales
Address
: 1701 N. Heidelbach Ave.
Year Build: 1919
Historical Footnote: Before serving as a warehouse for Crawford Door, the building housed the Never-Split Seat Co.

The Crawford Door Sales warehouse on North Heidelbach Avenue โ€” an iconic backdrop to Evansvilleโ€™s historic Bosse Field baseball park โ€” faces an uncertain future after a series of previous plans fell through.

Data from the Vanderburgh County Assessorโ€™s Office show the Crawford Door Sales warehouse was sold in December 2022 for $1.15 million. Its current owner is Paul Saunders, doing business as Jimtown Holdings LLC.

The prior owner, Affordable Housing Services Corporation, obtained it in October 2021 for $1.05 million.

In recent years, the more than 88,000-square-foot industrial building has been eyed for storage, an entertainment complex, and housing for senior citizens. Some of those plans involved tearing down all or a portion of the massive structure.

Nothing has come to fruition, with financing appearing to be the biggest roadblock.

โ€œWeโ€™re open to ideas,โ€ Ted Oโ€™Connell, director of Jacobsville Development for Jacobsville Area Community Corp., told Evansville Business in an email.

Oโ€™Connell did not respond to additional questions, and Saunders could not be reached.
Evansville Otters owner Bill Bussing says an entertainment district is an intriguing possibility for the site, and he notes that in addition to Otters baseball at Bosse Field, the neighborhood features the Deaconess Aquatic Center indoor swimming facility, as well as Garvin Park.

Bussing suggests the environment could be a smaller-scale version of Ballpark Village outside of Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals in St. Louis, Missouri. The 150,000-square-foot entertainment district opened in 2014 and offers multiple dining and event venues as well as residences and office space to supplement revenue during Major League Baseballโ€™s five-month off-season.

Bosse Field opened in 1915, and the door factory behind its outfield wall followed four years later. Itโ€™s been a fixture at Heidelbach and Morgan avenues ever since.

Bussing would like to see the Crawford Door building preserved in some manner.

โ€œIโ€™d just hate to see the building torn down. It does fit well with the North Side, but thatโ€™s up to Paul,โ€ Bussing says of Saunders.

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