By Ruthie Cobb
This undated photo from the McLean County Museum of History’s “Architecture in McLean County” Photo Collection shows the front of the building at 724 West Washington, probably in the early 1900s. The second woman from the left is identified as Mary McCrary, perhaps the namesake of Mac’s Home Made Bread.
The building standing today at 724 West Washington Street became the third home for the West Bloomington Revitalization Project in 2017. Volunteers moved the tools, furniture, and other items across the intersection from the old brick barbershop building at 801 West Washington. The Tool Library was still fairly new at the time, and the previous space was considerably smaller, so there were not nearly as many tools to be moved.
From 2000 until 2016, the building was the site of the Jesus House, a homeless services ministry run by Tom and Bonnie Lentz. Prior to that, the building housed a variety of small grocery stores, bakeries, and other businesses, with apartments on the second floor. Grocery stores here included the Great A & P Tea Company (1926 to 1940) and Hindert’s Food Market (1941 to 1957). Eddie’s Super Way Grocery opened in 1959 and was later called Eddie’s Market. Owner Edwin Schwitek ran the store here until 1988. Many neighborhood residents remember shopping at Eddie’s.
An earlier structure on this busy corner at Washington and Allin streets was severely damaged by a fire in 1909. According to Assessor’s records, the current building at 724 West Washington was erected in 1910.
From 1910 to 2000, the building served as commercial and residential space and suffered some setbacks over the years. Various exterior infrastructure elements eventually wore out and had to be removed or replaced. In the summer of 2021, the WBRP building, like many others in the neighborhood, had significant damage due to unprecedented flooding. Neighbors and volunteers from the community helped to clean up the terrible mess afterwards, and WBRP and its programs have revived and thrived, even through the COVID pandemic.
Expansion of programs and initiatives, as well as the development of the Rick Heiser Memorial Garden and green space on the east side of the building, and glorious murals on both the east and west walls have all enhanced the energy in and around this vintage building that has been an anchor for the neighborhood for more than 100 years.
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