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History
The Atrium joins two historic buildings at the corner of Tenth and Walnut: a two-story building built around 1923 for Parker Funeral Service, and a larger one-story garage built around 1926 to serve Columbia’s booming automobile business.
The garage stands on the site of the Powers Hotel, a three-story inn and well-known “town and gown” gathering place that burned in 1913. Over the decades the corner sold gas, repaired cars and housed dealerships, including the McKay Chevrolet Company in the 1930s.
The Project
We were drawn to the prominent corner and the storied history of the site. By the time the funeral home moved to East Ash Street in 2016, most of the garage windows had been bricked in and the old gas station canopy was long gone. Our rehab reversed many of those changes while updating the building for a new life as an event center.
It wasn’t simple: the two buildings sat at different floor elevations, the garage had multiple service door openings, and the structure needed upgrades to host large groups. Today the building is home to an event space, a catering company, a full bar, a professional kitchen, a bridal suite and a photography studio.
In 2023, the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission named the building a Most Notable Historic Property.
Chevrolet on the Corner
Before it hosted weddings, this building sold cars. In these 1935 photos, a towering Chevrolet sign rises over the garage, gas pumps line the drive and “It’s Here” banners fill the showroom windows, announcing the latest models.
Built around 1926 for the Robnett and McHarg Motor Company, the garage sold gas, repaired cars and sold General Motors trucks and Marmon and Willys-Overland cars. A drive-through gas station once sat right at the corner under a large canopy, which is why the front wall is angled. That spot is now The Atrium’s patio.
A Century at Tenth & Walnut
- 1886
Furniture and caskets
Moss P. Parker opens the Parker Furniture and Undertaking Company. The pairing was common then, since furniture makers also built caskets. The business later occupies the three-story building just south, at 16 N. Tenth.
- 1913
The Powers Hotel burns
The corner’s three-story Powers Hotel, a popular inn and well-known “town and gown” gathering place, is destroyed by fire.
- ca. 1923
The funeral home
After owner David A. Robnett’s death in 1921, the furniture and undertaking divisions split. Longtime employee Tom McHarg takes the undertaking business and builds the two-story section of today’s building for Parker Funeral Service.
- ca. 1926
The garage
The big one-story garage goes up on the hotel site for the Robnett and McHarg Motor Company, with a canopy-covered, drive-through gas station at the corner.
- 1935
McKay Chevrolet
The McKay Chevrolet Company sells cars and trucks from the garage. Car dealerships and repair shops fill the space into the mid-1900s.
- Late 1960s
Parking for Parker’s
The funeral home takes over the garage for parking. Over time, most of its windows are bricked in and the gas station canopy disappears.
- 2015–16
Parker’s moves on
Reid Millard buys Parker’s in 2015, and in October 2016 operations move from downtown to East Ash Street as Parker-Millard Funeral Service & Crematory, still the oldest funeral home in Columbia.
- 2019
The Atrium opens
Alley A Realty completes the rehab, reopening bricked-in windows and turning the funeral home and garage into one of downtown’s signature event spaces.
- 2023
Most Notable
The Columbia Historic Preservation Commission names 10th and Walnut a Most Notable Historic Property.
The Undertaker Next Door
For more than 90 years, the two-story half of The Atrium was Parker Funeral Service, one of Columbia’s longest-running businesses. Founded in 1886, the company outlived the furniture trade it started in, added a crematory in 1981 and passed through several generations of owners before moving to a new home on East Ash Street in 2016.
That long run explains a lot about the building we inherited: a garage used for parking, windows filled with brick and a corner that had quietly lost its storefront character.
Solving the Puzzle
- Two buildings, two levelsThe funeral home and the garage sat at different floor elevations that had to become one flowing space.
- Garage doors everywhereMultiple old service openings were reworked into windows and entries.
- Built for a crowdStructural upgrades let a 1920s repair garage safely host large events.
- Undoing the bricksBricked-in window openings were reopened to flood the space with light again.
The Atrium Event Center
Event space, a catering company, a full bar, a professional kitchen, a bridal suite and a photography studio, all under one historic roof. Tap any photo to see it larger.
Interior photos by Stephen Bybee for the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission, 2023.
2023 Most Notable Historic Property
Honored by the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission during the 25th anniversary year of its Most Notable Historic Property program.
The building is now an anchor of the downtown Columbia business and event space landscape, and is an enduring testimony to the positive outcome of a successful historic preservation.
Special ThanksTo Stephen Bybee and Deb Sheals for gathering much of this historic research, and to the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission.
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