Historic Stegman Building Documents

The collection consists of the final documentation of the Historic Stegman Building located in downtown Brownsville. The collection contains exterior and interior photographs prior to the renovation as well as historical Robert Runyon photographs of the building. In addition, the collection contains a Historic American Buildings Survey compiled by Historian Roman McAllen, Brownsville Historic Resources survey, and .dwg architectural and measurement files of the renovated floorplan.

The 1911 Stegman Building has been completely renovated to house the Brownsville Performing Arts Academy as of 2018. It feautures two dance studios on the first floor, and studios upstairs for classical music education. The $6 million renovation is funded by the Housing and Urban Development Community Block Grant and revenue from the city's issuace of bonds.

The architectural style of the Stegman Building is early 20th century commercial with neo-classical revival gestures at the cornice and original ground level arched entrance to the second floor. The original structure's ground floor contained three storerooms, each 40 feet wide. Part of the second floor was occupied by the Elks Club as lodge room. Club spaces included: ladies rest room, men’s cloak room, parlor, writing and club room, and a spacious ballroom. Lodge rooms looked onto a garden planted with palms, ferns, and shrubs in the center. In addition, a telephone exchange was located on second floor. Mr. Stegman occupied a 5-room suite as his living quarters. Andrew Goldammer drew the plans and constructed the building for $35,000.