315 West Main St. / Kronheimer's

Kronheimer's department store, around 1913.
(From "Images of America: Durham" by Steve Massengill)

Benjamin Franklin Kronheimer built the building at 315 West Main St. between 1898 and 1902 as a department store, which he operated throughout the early part of the 20th century.

 

Taken looking west from the Trust building, 1905. Kronheimer's is to the left.
(Courtesy Duke Archives)

This building remained a retail establishment throughout the mid 20th century. Here, in the early 1960s, it houses "Raylass."
 

(Courtesy Durham County Library)

This series of Ralph Rogers shots shows the 'undoing' of the 1960s era facades, after the streetscape work that created what we are undoing right now (which included the installation of the large concrete planters/trees.)

 

(Courtesy Durham County Library)

 

(Courtesy Durham County Library)

 

(Courtesy Durham County Library)

And the building today, 2007.
 

I don't know when Raylass closed, but the front facade has been nicely restored at the ground floor. Unfortunately, the front facade of this building is shuttered. Not so the Ramseur/parking lot side, though.

 

Looking north from the Loop. Just had to take this at night. I've always wondered why "Teasers" isn't on Culture Crawl...

A nightclub of some sort has operated out of the basement of this building since at least the early 1980s. Thanks to 'kat' who reminded me that this was called 42nd Street, and subsequently the Power Company. I know it has gone though a few other iterations since then, each targeting a different clientele. The incarnation before "Teasers Men's Club" got a few people shot in the Ramseur St. parking lot, which shut that version down and resulted in the current establishment, which I notice rarely gets promoted by DDI or DCVB as part of the downtown renaissance....

42nd Street opened in 1979 by owner Bruce Derbin, the same owner of Blueberry Hill. In 1983, it was renamed to the Power Company and was one of the most popular gay bars in the area. The location was previously a Rayless Department Store and was transformed with disco balls, dance floors, and pinball machines. In a blog post about the bar, Carlos Martín Gaebler, a Spanish graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, discussed his love for 42nd Street, saying, “This iconic disco was a non-segregated space where gay men and lesbians, black and white patrons, old and young, homos and straights, even Dukies and Tar Heels, haha, shared a good time together in brotherly spirit. It was a club for equality like I have never seen since. I was a gay kid in my early twenties who had just come out of the closet after years of unbearable loneliness. I had been a victim of humiliation and bullying during my adolescence. At 42nd Street I did not need to fight off bullies because I was among boys like me, and I felt protected. That place was like family to us.” He also comments on the spectacular music, drag shows, and dancers at the venue.

 The Power Company lasted until 2001. The club had a multi-level layout with multiple bars, bright decor, and an energetic crowd. In a 2020 article in Duke Chronicle, author Tessa Delgo notes, “the Power Company is most saliently remembered as a place where its frequenters, predominantly young members of the LGBTQ+ community, felt welcomed— often for the first time in their lives.” It was known for its diverse demographics, non-segregated, and open to all people of different ages, ethnicities, races, and sexualities, indicative of shifting changes within the LGBTQ+ community for more inclusivity. This did not prevent the closing of the bar in 2001, its reasoning reeking of racist undertones. Increased police visits for cited noise complaints, which are believed to have stemmed from shifting demographics of the attendees at the bar, were a major factor in its closing. A murder also took place outside the bar, adding fuel to the fire.

Check out some videos of drag performances at the Power Company here.