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Wednesday May 23rd
Oregon City Planning Department
The Planning Division is responsible for all long range and current planning as well as the implementation of the Oregon City Comprehensive Plan and associated Municipal Ordinances.
722 Main Street - Club-Roos Building

The is a two-story, rectangular building which sits on the southeast corner of Main and 8th Streets, facing west. It is characterized by large expanses of windows along the front (west) and side (north) elevations of the second floor (originally, the north elevation of the first floor also had a long bank of windows, now covered over or removed and filled in). The windows, separated by the structural posts covered with brick veneer which serve as pilasters, include a central fixed pane flanked by a casement window on each side, topped by a tripartite transom, which originally had a curvilinear mullion. The storefronts, which has been altered, have recessed entries surrounded by typical 1950s or 1960s fixed metal display windows. Coping tops the parapet wall. The removal of the original cornice has left a wide "frieze" that is used as a sign band. A canvas awning extends of the front storefronts and wraps around the northwest corner.

Statement of Significance: This building illustrates the transition from earlier commercial structures to a more modern appearance and construction method for commercial buildings at the beginning of the Motor Age. It was constructed in 1914 by Phillip Roos to replace his earlier saloon and provide meeting space for the recently formed Commercial Club. The Commercial Club met on the second floor; the saloon and a barber shop occupied the storefront spaces. Although the Commercial Club (which later became known as the Chamber of Commerce) occupied the space only until 1919, the building was alternately known as the Commercial Club and the Roos Building through the 1940s. In the 1920s, a barber shop and soft drinks shop occupied the ground floor and the upper floor provided office space. By the mid-1930s, George Nickles's Buster Brown Shoe Store was located at 724, a spot it continued to occupy for many years. The barber shop, located at 722, also continued to be at that location for many years (continually listed at this address from the 1916 through the 1953 directories). George Nickles purchased the building in 1950. During the 1970s, the building underwent some alterations which resulted in the covering of the exterior with some type of paneling (intact during the 1983 survey) that has since been removed on the upper floor. Although the building has had some changes, the building still clearly conveys its historic appearance, thanks to the recent restoration of the upper floor facades. It could be considered eligible as a contributing resource in a historic district.