Event held in saved historic building

LOGAN - Described as an open house, Saturday's event at the Shollenbarger Building was as much as a celebration of the saving of one of the village's oldest structures.

John and Jo Brown of Amarillo purchased the long-vacant red sandstone building, formerly known as Shollenbarger Mercantile, at 818 Martinez St. about a year ago from a grandson of the family that owned it.

John, an attorney at the Mullin Hoard & Brown law firm in Amarillo, and Jo, a teacher, own a lakeside cabin in Logan and heard from locals the owners were willing to sell.

"I think everybody in the town had loved that old building," Jo said. "We just really wanted to save it."

According to the "Quay County 1903-1985" history book, Western Union telegraph operator J.H. Shollenbarger built the redstone building in 1911 as a grocery, hardware and feed store. His surname is chiseled into the archway above the corner entrance.

Jo Brown said she wasn't sure when the final business in the Shollenbarger Building moved out, but that it's been decades. She found a 1973 photograph from LeDeane Studio in Tucumcari of a Chavez Trucking and Feed Store business that occupied the site.

Jo credited the previous owners for putting on a new roof about 25 years ago.

"That roof saved the building," she said.

Even so, the Shollenbarger Building required a lot of work. It had no electricity, climate control or plumbing (Jo surmised previous long-ago owners used an outhouse that stood nearby). All the windows were broken.

They replaced the windows, shored up the sagging floor and replaced joists from the dug-out basement. She estimated they had to replace about 30% of the rotted flooring with spruce boards, though much of original remains intact.

Jo said her husband eventually will build a small office and a "man cave," including a rustic-looking bar that local contractor Wade Frost constructed. She will use the space as a gallery for her art.

Not long after the building opened to the public Saturday morning, a steady stream of area residents arrived. Many said they had noticed the ongoing renovations on the building for months and were eager to see what was inside.

One was 90-year-old Janet Bradshaw.

"I remember my parents talking about (the building)," she said. "It was closed up and looked bad. I am thrilled they did something with it. I think it's wonderful."

One who came to the open house was Harry Cazzola, whose grandfather was Shollenbarger. Cazzola recalled playing basketball inside the building with a goal hung on the south end.

Another who came was TJ Smith, who owns the former McFarland Brothers Bank down the street, built in 1904.

"This is wonderful. In the 1970s, Logan didn't have as much foresight in preserving its historic buildings," Smith said, citing the loss of several old structures in the same block. "I'm so proud of the Browns of making the investment and time. Not many would have done this."

The Browns set up a table where they displayed artifacts found during renovations, including jars, bottles and a snake skin. They also obtained a quilt made by the Baptist Ladies Club of Logan that Shollenbarger bought in 1910.

Jo Brown admitted it hadn't quite sunk it that the arduous task of saving the building was essentially finished.

"I'm still in shock that it's done," she said.