Renton Western Wear building nominated for historical status

Published 2:05 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Renton Western Wear building on Third Street South is being reviewed this week for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

The building is a former F.W. Woolworth’s building built in the mid-1950s and, according to the nomination documents is historically significant to Renton because of its role in helping downtown Renton grow and develop. It also is considered a “representative example” of the type of building used in the “waning years of the International Style.”

According to the documents, the International Style includes a rejection of historical styles, a machine aesthetic, a rejection of ornament and a simplification of form and unnecessary detail.

“The store represents a last gasp effort of Woolworth’s to change the retail face of downtowns in rural America before the shift occurred to suburban shopping centers,” the documents read.

Among the design techniques highlighted by the nomination papers are the use of glass only when necessary, the large awning, which also provided a platform for signage and a focus on the horizontal form of the building.

Construction of the store began in 1953 and it first opened the following March.

In 1955, the store expanded, with a portion used for a lunch counter and other parts being leased to a women’s fashion store.

The current building includes both the original construction and the expansion.

After Woolworth’s the building housed Renton Western Wear for 62 years until it closed in 2013.

Dave Brethauer and his wife purchased the building about 18 months ago and are working to get the historic certification. Brethauer said in an email that they have also changed their original renovation plans to accommodate a more “restorative” approach to the building.

“We are renovating the first floor to lease to new tenants and we will be moving our business, Memory Box, into the upstairs of the building – but we are working with the Historic Certification requirements to preserve the look of the building as we upgrade,” he said.

In a Committee of the Whole meeting in September, Community Development Project Manager John Collum said the building has also been authorized to receive funding as part of the Community Development Block Grant Facade Improvement Program. According to Collum, approximately $500,000 in work will be done to restore and improve the exterior of the building. Of that, about half will come from grant funding.

It will be one of the first and certainly the largest use of that funding thus far and Collum said it was important as the city hopes it will spur other property owners to do the same.

The Governor’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will meet to discuss the nomination at 9 a.m. Friday, in Dayton, Wash.