A piece of Louisville history sits at 2500 Montgomery St. in Portland.
Originally known as the Montgomery Street School, the 165-year-old Renaissance revival-style structure was later dubbed The Emma Dolfinger School; it’s currently on the National Register of Historic Places and is commonly referred to simply as The Dolfinger.
“She was a children's health advocate and biologist from Louisville,” explained Caroline Behrle, project manager of the Portland Investment Initiative, which began the building’s rehabilitation in 2013. “That's how we got the name ‘The Dolfinger Building’ — after Emma Dolfinger.”
The building was also used as a hospital during the Civil War, then by Portland Christian School as an elementary institution; today, it houses various artist studios and nonprofit programs.
According to the building’s National Register of Historic Places nomination form, which was filed in 1982, the two-story, red brick, renaissance revival-style schoolhouse is one of two remaining antebellum schoolhouses in the city. Its main entry, located in the center of the five-bay façade, was originally constructed with tall double doors that were topped by a fanlight.
It is thought that the shorter doors, sidelights, and a multi-room transom were added in the early 1900s. The original wooden frames of the double-hung windows were replaced with metal-frame rectangular windows in 1977. The original openings remain, as does the fanlight.
Home of the Week:One room, three ways: How 3 distinct looks completely transformed these living spaces
“Most of the (old classrooms) still have the hardwood floors and the chalkboards,” Behrle said. “Most of the tenants wanted to keep that there. It’s always a work in progress … but it’s a historic community asset that was kind of sitting empty for several years and (we) just wanted to bring some life to it.”
Among the dozen or so tenants that occupy The Dolfinger is the Anchal Project, which has expanded over time and utilizes several of the former classrooms. Co-founder and CEO Colleen Clines runs the nonprofit social enterprise with her sister, Maggie.
Together, they work with 180 women in India who were either trafficked in the sex trade or are survivors of domestic violence. Colleen says anchal is a Hindi word meaning “shelter and protection.”
“We provide training and full-time careers in textiles,” she told the Courier Journal. “The products (the women) create, we then market and sell in the United States, either through our online web store or through retail collaborations, like (with) Anthropologie and Madewell.”
The Clines complete all their fulfillment at The Dolfinger; they sew and construct some the products there as well.
“We wanted to be part of the Portland community,” Colleen said. “We have a garden down the street where we grow plants for natural dyes, … so we wanted to be closer to that. Also, we were really inspired by the architecture; … the large rooms, tall ceilings, (and) the nice natural light in particular — but the history, especially.”
Home of the Week:Board-and-batten Victorian-era cabins built in the late 1800s are still weaving tradition
Colleen adds that The Dolfinger provides the ideal community space — a place for artists and nonprofits to gather.
James Linton, president of Community Connections, also selected the building for his nonprofit and radio show specifically because of its location.
“(I chose) this location at The Dolfinger because I saw the trouble in Portland; in west Louisville,” he said. “You can go two blocks in some directions, and you can see the role models are the drug dealers, the people with the big, fancy cars. We (must) have organizations and groups in neighborhoods to change the climate and the culture. This was our reason for being here. … We wanted to be on the front line and say that … if you want to continue to be a drug dealer, you can't do it around this building, because this is a safe zone.”
Community Connections’ focus and mission, Linton says, is to serve youth between the ages of 8 and 16; and to provide food for the elderly, homeless, and anyone else who needs help amid the pandemic.
“We've been able to do that successfully,” he said, “by having community partners, by having board members who fundraise, (and) by going to corporations and getting donations.”
He adds that they have worked with 276 organizations over the last three years.
In addition to other initiatives, the nonprofit visits homeless camps every three weeks to offer food, blankets, gloves, and other necessities; it has also managed to distribute thousands of pounds of food to people in need throughout the city amid the pandemic.
Home of the Week:A vintage Christmas: Beaux-arts style Woman's Club in downtown is full of holiday cheer
“I promised God that I will always perform service to people and continue to give back,” Linton said, “so that's … what we do here.”
Community Connections was one of The Dolfinger’s first tenants, and it seems that the group has no intention of changing locations anytime soon.
“A lot of the tenants that have been here since we started have stayed through this whole time,” Behrle said. “It’s a pretty special place.”
Know a house that would make a great Home of the Week? Email writer Lennie Omalza at aloha@lennieomalza.com or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at kgregory@gannett.com.
Owner: Portland Stroll District LLC. Tenants include Anchal Project; Community Connections; Danny Seim & Noah Howard; Interfaith Paths To Peace; Katy Delahanty; Megan Bickel & Josh Peters; Redline Performing Arts; Richard Sullivan; Self-Esteem Inc.; Stan Squirewell; and World Affairs Council of Kentucky & Southern Indiana.
Building: This is a two-story, red-brick, renaissance revival-style building in Portland that was once an 18-classroom school. Including the basement, barracks, barrack parking lot, storage barracks, and boiler room, the property is 24,394 square feet. The original structure was built in 1857.
Distinctive elements: Round-arched openings with brick voussoirs; stone belt courses; simple frame cornice with brick corbelling accents; two-story arch on the east side with side entry and fixed, multi-pane window; two arched entries along the rear wall; concrete fire escape at the rear.
Applause! Applause! Gregg Rochman and Matt Gilles from Shine Contracting.