If you’ve lived in Winston-Salem for a while and traveled along Cloverdale Avenue in the Ardmore Neighborhood, you are probably familiar with the Cloverdale Apartments.
The two-story, brick apartments contained 160 units and stretched along Cloverdale Avenue from Melrose Street to Magnolia Street, bordered by Queen Street on the other side.
The aerial photo shown above was taken about 1941, with Cloverdale Avenue at the right. The area now occupied by the apartments was covered in trees.
The apartments were constructed in 1948 by Wilson-Covington and helped provide housing for the burst of post-war, young, married couples that settled in Winston-Salem.
Over the years the apartments held up well and provided housing for many singles and couples and families. But anyone who has tried to upfit an older building with electricity and wiring for the latest technology requirements will testify that the process is expensive. And, living styles have changed as to the space and layout that is desired in a home.
So the time has come for an update to this property and its great location. The tenants were notified of the coming demolition and the property was vacated last spring.
The buildings were outlined for demolition and the trees were marked for keeping. Demolition began on Monday, February 8th, 2021.
The two images shown above were taken at the corner of Cloverdale Avenue and Melrose Street on February 7th and February 14th, respectively.
And the same is true about the two images shown above.
Here are more photos of the demolition that were taken on February 24, 2021.
Demolition will take about 60 days, then the site will be graded and readied for construction. New apartments, numbering 220 units, will be built on the site. The projected time for the new apartments to be completed is the spring of 2022. The new apartments will have all the amenities found in modern housing. The complex will feature a clubhouse and a swimming pool, a fitness center, and a yoga studio. The name of the complex has not been announced.
Black and white photos courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection. Color images courtesy of Molly Grogan Rawls.
Stay tuned for the next post on March 10th: Can You Identify? (A young man and a school).
