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Restoration in the plans
Historic building to house loft apartments, dining hall
By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com The opulent apartment complex that once held forth as one of Joplin’s most elegant and stylish buildings could shine once more thanks to one local private college administrator. Mark Williams, vice president of college advancement at Ozark Christian College, said it took only one tour of the vacant Olivia Apartments building at 320 S. Moffet Ave. for him to make an offer. “I thought it was too good to pass up,” Williams said. “I couldn’t let it just sit here.” Williams purchased the property Dec. 13, for an undisclosed price. He said the building was a good deal and it appraised for more than he paid for it. He estimates the costs to purchase and renovate the building at $2 million. The renovated building will reopen this June as Olivia Apartments and Grand Dining Hall, with 33 one- and two-bedroom loft apartments ranging in price from $500 a month to $1,400 a month. The apartment building was built in 1906 for $150,000 by local architect Austin Allen, according to the Joplin Post Memorial Art Reference Library. The 25-year-old Allen also built the Newman Building, now Joplin City Hall, St. Peter’s Catholic Church, the United Hebrew Congregation, and the Elks Lodge building on Fourth Street. But Williams, who has done his research on the building, said there is something special about the Olivia Apartments that sets it apart from Allen’s other projects and the host of other downtown loft apartments springing up around Joplin. “With how luxurious this place is, there’s nothing like this anywhere in Joplin,” he said. “I don’t see any problem filling this place up.” In 1907, the Globe printed an article stating that “nothing more elegant, more stylish, more convenient has ever been erected in Joplin.” The article lauded the project as owner Anton Bendelari’s “monumental testimonial to the universal confidence in Joplin’s future.” Some of the building’s unique features include a balcony, French doors and a fireplace in every apartment, marble wainscoting and baseboards, original oak trim and floors, and 12-foot ceilings. The building also has a rotunda, pillars and a ceiling mural. “Someone took very good care of this building, and we’ll only have to do some work to the walls and floors,” Williams said. The building originally housed three restaurants and a 5,000-square-foot dining hall. Williams said he will knock out one of the dining hall walls and create a space that can be rented for weddings and banquets. According to the reference library, the Olivia Apartments historically also contained a barber’s shop, manicurist shop and a billiards hall. The large roof that overlooks all of Joplin and offers a direct view of Allen’s other architectural accomplishments, will become a party deck for residents, Williams said. Williams said the building’s significance to Joplin isn’t only contained in its walls, but also the people those walls housed. “Anybody who was anybody in Joplin lived here at one time,” he said. “This building housed the Ramsays, Tabors, Murphys and Ewerts.” The apartment complex was named after Bendelari’s daughter, Olivia. Her name is spread throughout the building in floor tiles and windows. Williams said the project would not have been possible if not for state and historic tax credits that will reimburse him 40 cents for every $1 spent in restoring the building. “It’s the only way a guy like me can get a building like this,” Williams said, motioning to the building’s grand staircase that leads up five floors. Williams’ family owns 33 rental units across town, and he said it has contracts on five other downtown properties. Williams also owns the historic home next door to the Olivia, as well as the home across Fourth Street. The Olivia doesn’t have any parking space because Williams said almost no one owned cars when the building was constructed. He plans to turn an empty lot cater-cornered from the apartments into a parking lot for the building. “But the owner (Bendelari) was supposedly one of the first people in Joplin to own a car,” he said. “And supposedly he would race anybody with it — cart, horse and buggy, anything.” Stories like that make Williams’ face come alive. The college-administrator-turned-downtown-developer is less interested in history as a whole, and more in love with the idea of a past version of the city he loves. “I have a great love for Joplin,” he said. Photo search Mark Williams, new owner of the Olivia Apartments, is looking for people who remember what the historic building originally looked like from the inside. He doesn’t have any photographs of the Olivia’s interior, but wants to accurately restore it. Williams can be reached by e-mail at williams@occ.edu
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