A virtual celebration of the renovation of the Enda M. Griffin Building in downtown Des Moines will be held at 4 p.m. June 13. The celebration, sponsored by the Iowa Architectural Foundation, includes a virtual tour of the building that in 1948 was the site of a civil rights sit-in protest. Employees of Katz Drug Store, which had been located in the building at 319 Seventh St., refused to serve Griffin, a black woman, and two others. The protest on July 9, 1948, was led by Griffin and led to a 1949 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal in Iowa to deny service to people based on their race. The 135-year-old building was originally called the Flynn Building. It was renamed the Edna M. Griffin Building in 1998. In 2016, a group of investors bought the building and recently completed renovating it to include ground-level retail space now occupied by a walk-up Kum & Go convenience store, offices and apartments. To celebrate the building’s rehabilitation, architect Andy Lorentzen of RDG will take viewers of the virtual event on a tour of the building. Included will be a virtual gallery of historic images and video of Griffin’s accomplishments. For more information about the event or to register, click here.