^ 815 gallery
815 Gallery
A historical place for up and coming artists by Melissa Cowan
I f you didn’t know of Columbus Park — nestled between the Heart of America Bridge, I-29 and the Missouri River — you’d likely never stumble upon the quiet and quaint neighborhood, one of Kansas City’s oldest. After World War I, Italian immigrants cultivated the area, building everything they needed in a few-block radius: restaurants, drug stores, bakeries, breweries, barber shops and the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, the heart of this close-knit community. In addition to baptisms, weddings and funerals, residents gathered there for dinner and con- versation, sports, and annual carnivals. Though the neighborhood is now home to diverse populations, the Italian history remains. The church bells still ring on the hour; you can see the Italian pride in the red, white and green-painted fire hydrants and in the 100-year-old buildings that, on the outside, have not been updated. One such building stands at 815 East 5th Street. Now a private residence, the building once served the community as J. Vaccaro Bottling Works Co., the name still carved above the windows; a dance hall and speak-
easy, where even police indulged in an illegal beverage during Prohibi- tion; and, for nearly 90 years, LaRocca Grocery. Joe Mike Mesh, a lifelong Colum- bus Park resident, still remembers the smell of the grocery. “[Owner Frank LaRocca] had everything from the old coun- try — every kind of salami and cheese.” Joe Mike and his mother would shop there, and then walk down the street for a fresh loaf of Italian bread with olive oil. Shon and Carol Hall, the building’s cur- rent owners, were looking for an historic firehouse or church to renovate when they found this “secret gem” in Columbus Park, or aka the North End, if you grew up in this little city within a city. When they first opened its doors, the Halls found many of the building’s original elements remained: The pulleys to raise the orange, grape, strawberry and cream soda
hung from the ceil- ing; the decorative blue stenciling
up the staircase to the speakeasy was un- touched; and the dance hall’s pristine maple wood floors hid beneath years of debris. “They were so worn down, you couldn’t tell what they looked like,” said Louis Pisser, project manager for Jamie Jeffries Construction, the Hall’s contractors. Once uncovered, it was “one of the most beautiful floors [he’s] ever seen.” To preserve the integrity of the build- ing as much as possible, the construction team repurposed materials — not only from the space, but also from other buildings throughout Kansas City. “Every day, we would have to make a new
12 VINTAGEKC SPRING 2017
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