Ihling-Doubleday Building

241 E. Michigan Avenue

Squeezed in between the striking Doyle Building (229), and the Louis Sullivan designed Desenberg block (251), the unpretentious Ihling-Doubleday Building at 241 E. Michigan Avenue may not have the architectural reputation of its neighbors, but its walls hold important histories related to Kalamazoo’s economic heyday as “Paper City.” The name of the building derives from its first two occupants. In 1985, the building along with its two neighboring buildings underwent a $3 million renovation project led by Arcadia Creek Development Corp. A nomination form was completed in an attempt to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places in the early 1980s that includes the following description:

“This three-story brick building, constructed with funds from the Desenberg estate, was designed to be compatible with the Desenberg Block to the east. A “Modern” structure, the Ihling-Doubleday Building has simple facade lines featuring large open windows suitable for the display of furniture. The building is accented by a conservative galvanized iron cornice. George Rickman and Sons, a well-known local firm, was responsible for the general contracting work.”

–NRHP Inventory Nomination Form

Home Furnishings in the Haymarket

The newly formed Ihling-Cone Furniture Company announced in April 1903, plans to move into a new block that would be built to the west of the Desenberg Building. The B. Desenberg Company was the primary investor in the construction project despite the February death of Bernhard L. Desenberg. Chicago architect A.W. Buckley was brought in to draw up a design that would compliment the successful grocery merchant’s building. The Kalamazoo Gazette reported that the firm, which sold home furnishings, had a capital stock of $25,000, and would occupy all three floors of the new building. A strike by carpenters during the summer months delayed the building’s September opening, which when it finally occurred, was met by the local newspaper with giddy excitement and admiration.

“The building is splendidly constructed of brick, steel and cement, and is of three large floors and basement, each 100 by 60 feet in extent. Special attention has been paid to the lighting of the building both by day and night, and to that effect the windows are the largest and finest in Kalamazoo, while at night thousands of electric lights will transform the big show rooms into bowers of brilliancy.”

“For the opening, Fischer’s full orchestra has been engaged and will present a very fine program for the entertainment of the thousands who will attend.”

Kalamazoo Gazette, 27 September 1903

The company’s personnel included Carl W. Ihling as Chairman, J.M. Richardson as Vice Chairman, Clarence B. Cone as Secretary and General Manager, and Earl Kettle as Treasurer. Cone was chosen as general manager of the furniture store. Ihling was the nephew of Otto Ihling, Kalamazoo’s first foreign-born mayor and the successful founder of the Ihling Brothers and Everard Company. The new business ran out of steam around 1910. For a couple of years, Quality House Furniture occupied the three-story building, but in 1913, a leading printing and office supply firm took over the handsome, no frills building.

Doubleday Brothers

Ten years after the death of founder Abner D. Doubleday, his two sons (Ward and Fred) moved their printing business into the onetime furniture store. The company focused on the manufacturing of a variety of paper products for both the commercial and government sectors including office forms, file folders, stationary, and blank books.

In February 1948, a costly fire gutted a large portion of the building. The unruly fire which injured several fire fighters was believed to have begun in the basement, where 30 tons of stacked paper was stored. Company officials estimated the cost of damage to be $283,000. Ten years later, Doubleday Brothers built a new facility at 1919 E. Kilgore Drive, yet stayed in the downtown building as a second location for a few years later. With Doubleday Brothers having moved out in the early 1960s, the next thirty years saw an optometrist and hearing services business operate out of the building, and later, in 2006, the economic-development organization Southwest Michigan First called the building home for over a decade.

In 1985, led by the Arcadia Creek Development Co., a building revitalization effort was conducted on the Doyle, Desenberg and Ihling-Doubleday buildings. The three buildings were linked internally, and their interiors renovated with the goal of returning the buildings to their original aesthetics, while updating the mechanical, electrical and structural elements.

Article written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, March 2026