Water Gardens Place

Water Gardens Place was constructed in 1925 for the Monnig Dry Goods Co., which also had a department store in Downtown that was founded in 1901.   Monnig's store was located on the now vacant block bounded by Houston, 5th, Throckmorton, & 4th where the Sundance Gateway is now located.  In 1925, the Monnig family hired Sanguinet, Staats, and Hedrick to design this building for their dry goods and wholesale company. The building housed Monnig's Wholesale operation until 1982. In 1983, it was remodeled into an office building. All of the brick on the north and south walls was removed and new brick, complete with a new window pattern, was installed on the north and south facades. The east and west facades that faced Commerce and Main Streets respectively were originally clad in buff brick. The brick was painted red to match the new north and south walls.  With this conversion, the entrance was also moved from Main Street to 15th Street. The interior was also altered at this time. The only parts of the original building that remains are the cast stone trim along the roof line and the cast stone base along Main Street.  The building was previously known as the Monnig Warehouse.