Lexington’s Own Flatiron Building at Walton Avenue and Winchester Road

Oddly shaped and quirky bits of land formed from the intersection of rail lines and roads often lead to creative and distinctive buildings. The Fuller Building in Manhattan – better known as the Flatiron Building – is a good example. The 22-story triangular shaped building, designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick Dinkelberg, is one of the best known wedge-shaped buildings in this country (perhaps the world?).  However, buildings shaped like clothing irons aren’t limited to major urban centers: the International Products Building (IPC), completed in 1927, is Lexington’s entrant in the wedge shaped building category.*

The facade of Lexington’s own flatiron building.

Nestled between the intersection of the railroad tracks, Walton Avenue, and US 60 (Winchester Road), this three-story brick building is striking not only for its form, but also the sunshine-yellow masonry of the exterior. At over 20,000 square feet when constructed, the building’s footprint is deceiving, as it is wider at the rear elevation than the facade.

Rear elevation of the International Products Building.

In  the summer of 1926,  a small article ran in the Lexington Leader, announcing that a new factory would be ready by December 1 of that year. The architect was John V. Moore of Lexington and the planned building was to be a plant manufacturing “a variety of medicines and liniments.” The best-known “medicine” produced by the company was Husky Tonic. The special blend of “soluble iron and herbs” was developed by A. G. Payne of Lexington.

Advertisement from the January 1, 1928 edition of the Lexington Leader.

The projected December 1926 opening was a bit premature, as the grand opening wasn’t until November 1927, when more than 2,000 members of the Lexington community inspected the new building and the manufacturing line. Swag bags containing samples of the medicine and salve were handed out to the curious public. The Husky tonic was touted as “building up the human system and relieving stomach, liver and kidney ills quickly, surely and with lasting beneficial results.”

Rendering of the new building from the November 13, 1927 edition of the Lexington Leader.

But although Husky was in high demand (according to the advertising wizards who hawked its miraculous qualities) across America and Canada, not all was well at the IPC.

Side elevation (along the railroad tracks) and facade.

Prior to locating in Lexington, the company had leased a large plant in Cincinnati to produce its goods. The construction of such a large building may have taxed the company’s  coffers, and the stock market crash of 1929 likely did not bolster the profit margin for Mr. Payne and his stockholders. By 1931, those stockholders had forced the IPC into involuntary bankruptcy, and charges of mismanagement and embezzlement were hurled about with increasing frequency.

Husky cured everything except…the financial statements.

But the flatiron building stood solid and new tenants began to take up the space formerly dedicated to tonics and liniments. Even before the crumbling of the Husky Empire, the IPC leased areas of the building. The offices of the Wole-O-Wheat Company moved into the first floor in the summer of 1928. In 1930, the Miller Casket Company of Huntington, West Virginia, leaded space for a display room and offices.  The location of the IPC Building was described as a “rapidly developing industrial section of the city.”

Detail of the restrained facade.

Quack medicines seemed to have departed the building entirely by 1934, as the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows only the casket company in residence.

Detail of the 1934 Sanborn map.

In 1941, a new chapter commenced when the Nehi Bottling Plant hung up its sign outside the former IPC building. Nehi Cola, introduced in 1924 by the Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works, came in orange, grape, root beer, peach, and other flavors (and likely tasted better than Husky Tonic).

Nehi (pronounced knee-high) was famous for its ads.

But Nehi moved on (to East Second Street) in just a few short years, and the next major tenant was the Allender-Brown Company. The moving company would turn out to be the longest occupant of the building since its construction.

Circa 1976 photograph of the IPC Building. Photograph by R. Michael Walker.

The Allender-Brown Company appears to have stayed in the flatiron building for almost 40 years. The building was starting to show its age, however, and according to former owner Robert McGoodwin, who restored the building in the late 1980s/early 1990s, “it was deteriorating rather rapidly after the last owner left.”** McGoodwin received a preservation award in 1991 from Lexington’s Historic Preservation Commission for his efforts.

Side elevation, as seen from Winchester Road.

In the early 21st century, the building underwent another major renovation and was rechristened The Lexington Design Center.

The IPC Building has been a personal landmark for me long before I knew what historic preservation was (and that I would one day be an architectural historian). I remember it mainly as the Neogen Building, and since I am a huge fan of interesting historic architecture, I am delighted that it still stands. But despite my newspaper research into the IPC Building, one burning question remains unanswered: has anyone has ever come across a bottle of Husky Tonic? I mean, it sounds quite restorative

*There is also a flatiron building in Pikeville, Kentucky.

**Lexington Herald-Leader, Thursday, May 17, 1990, page 17.