FOLEY — Formerly a facility that managed processing, warehousing and storefront activities related to feed and seed, the Hamburg Building, operational since the 1900s, is succumbing to gradual deterioration.

According to Jeanette Bornholt, the head of Alabama local history and genealogy collections at Foley Public Library, the red-wooden building has an estimated two-four years remaining before it faces collapse or demolition.

While the city of Foley still owns it, there has been no recent influx of money to renovate or restore it for a new or historical use.

Located on East Rose Avenue, the building was a staple for the local farming community. Before 1918, local farmers in Baldwin County formed the Farmers Mutual Cooperative to represent area farms in state and regional markets. They built a red-framed building with board and batten siding.

The cooperative functioned until 1949, after which it was purchased by former members H.M. Hamburg and his sons. The new owners, Hamburg and Sons, continued providing services to former coop members. Farmers brought crops for cleaning, grading, packing, selling and shipping, using the convenience of the nearby railroad.

Families depended on Hamburg and Sons for their seasonal farming needs. The company operated until 2004, when H.M. Hamburg's grandson retired.

"It was an opportunity of summer jobs for teens, working on the potato sheds," Bornholt said. "Our school would let us out early because potato season would come in. I worked on the Hamburg shed first grading the potatoes."
Bornholt said people would come to the building to sit around and talk, see a potbelly stove cooking in the wintertime, purchase baby chicks and even buy fabric to sew aprons.

"It was always a first name basis," she said. "They always knew you when you came in, and you miss that in a lot of businesses these days."

Upon H.M. Hamburg and Sons announcing the closure of their establishment in 2004 after seven decades of operation, Bornholt said the community expressed disappointment.

"I think you probably had a lot of people like myself who remembered good memories there as a kid," she said. "We bought stuff there all the time, but it was disappointing because I knew my kids would be missing out on the type of thing."

Bornholt added that the Hamburg family was highly respected in the community.

Helen Hamburg Williams, a member of the Hamburg family, approached Foley City Council in November 2017 expressing a desire to donate the building for potential use as a museum after necessary repairs. The city accepted the donation in late 2017 and discussed the possible future of the building and property during a Feb. 5, 2018, council meeting.

In summer 2018, city council secured an Alabama Historical Commission grant for a predevelopment feasibility study at Cactus Café. During an Aug. 20, 2018, council meeting, the transfer of the grant to the Hamburg Building was approved.

During a prior city council meeting on March 19, 2018, Baldwin County Board of Education member JaNay Dawson and Foley High School teacher Ronna Sanford proposed a plan for Foley High teachers and students to assist in renovating the Hamburg Building. This initiative aimed to involve students in tasks such as cleaning boards, removing nails and sanding wood.

Despite being listed on Alabama's Places in Peril 2018 List, a program identifying at-risk historic sites, the H.M. Hamburg & Sons building remains untouched and is slowly deteriorating.

"It's a historic building," Bornholt said. "I would hope that money could be found along a grant to help go toward restoring it."

To restore this building, Bornholt emphasized the need for organizations and the community to unite and revive it.

The person Gulf Coast Media was directed to in regards to this situation is out of the office until January, so no comment could be given.