On the whole this is NOT a season of good news, though at last the debates are finished. The other day we noticed that something super-nice is happening downtown though…from the point of view of preservationists like us.
The building which housed the S&H green stamp store in the 70’s and 80’s is being restored! The Starkey-McCulley Building of 1867. Until recently these windows were totally covered…
Sometime in the 1960’s the brick was covered over with this sort of modeled stucco stuff which covered all the windows. The black and white design motif under the cornice beneath the windows is actually part of the original cast iron front of the building (the cast iron made by the Oregon Iron Works in Portland, and thought to be among the oldest examples still existing in Oregon…). The other half of the building was restored in the 1990’s by Robert Kraft and the second floor was a lovely residence apartment running the full depth of the building. Kraft carefully restored the exterior to its historic look.
the block was originally called the Starkey-McCulley Block…check the internet for images, none of which would download into this blog, darn it. And DO take a drive-by. The building is now owned by the Salem-Keizer Schools Foundation.
On The Way 
That green stamp word brought back memories of grandma saving those stamps in a little book. I’m always delighted to see old things being restored,lovely old building!!
Good news indeed! Though I used to save the stamps and redeem then at the store, for the life of me, I can’t remember where it was. And anymore, as I drive thru Salem, I have to keep my eyes on the traffic. Somehow I have missed this wonderful restoration. Thanks for the info!
What a beautiful building, so enhanced by all the fine details. I love it when buildings are restored rather than torn down. It happens all too seldom in our area these days. And even some of the fine old buildings that are repaired on the outside are made to look modern on the inside. Drives me nuts to see the incongruity.