The Renna, located at 613-619 Virginia Avenue, was built in 1911. Over the years, it has contained a meat market, a feed & coal company, a physician’s office, a plumbing shop, a contractor’s office, a dentist’s office, and a shoemaker’s shop. In more recent times, it housed a halloween store in the 1990s and a pizza shop in the 2000s. The Renna exudes unique quoining, or masonry blocks making a pattern along the corner, on the edge of the facade and surrounding the entry; these bricks have an interesting red-purple undertone. 

The Bower, located at 621-627 Virginia Avenue, was most likely constructed 1911-1912. The adjacent parking lot-turned-bar patio was originally a home, then redeveloped into the large, brick Apex Theatre. When the theater closed, the Standard Loan Corporation converted the space into an office. Prior to The Bower’s construction, the site was home to Madame Nagalia, a clairvoyant and “great palmist” who could “give advice on business speculation, reunite lovers, and settle family troubles” for 25 cents. What questions would you ask Madame Nagalia during your visit? 

Once the Bower was constructed, it housed a bicycle shop, a repair shop, a pool hall, and a machine shop before becoming the Dugout Bar in 1954. Evidence shows that Thomas Wallace’s pool hall was also a popular gambling site, which resulted in many fines and court appearances for Wallace. In one instance in 1914, police raided the pool hall and arrested sixteen men who were gambling while playing a game of craps. The Bower has a beautiful purple brick band framing the facade and entry with a sharp, contrasting orange brick checker pattern. 

The buildings prior to the construction of The Renna and The Bower in 1887. The Renna was previously a wood-sided one-and-one-half dwelling. The Bower was two wood-sided storefronts.
Credit: 1887 Sanborn Map, MapIndy, City of Indianapolis.

The Renna and The Bower illustrated on the 1915 Sanborn Map.
Credit: 1915 Sanborn Map, MapIndy, City of Indianapolis.

The Renna Building in 1912; note the streetcar lines in the foreground.
Credit: Renna Flat, 1912, Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society, 1912..

The Bower Building in 1982; note the neon Dugout Bar sign is the same today.
Credit: The Bower Building, 1982, Indiana Landmarks Historic Architecture Collection, Herron School of Art Library, 1982.