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Sunday May 19th
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.
818 Main Street - Safeway Store #1

This is a small, one-story brick building which sits mid-block on Main Street, facing west. It has a slightly recessed storefront, set back from the corners of the building approximately one foot. The double door is off-center with one large display window to the north and two large display windows to the south. A shallow canopy, with an undulating decorative metal piping along the front of the top edge, extends from the building above the transom windows, which have either been removed or covered over and are obscured by the current canvas awning over the storefront. The top of the parapet wall originally had what appeared to be half-circular clay tiles for capping, which created a modest decorative effect. A simple houndstooth brick corner marks the cornice line. The building currently has a mural painted across the front of the building above the awning. Statement of Significance: This small, unassuming building was constructed in 1928 as the Safeway Store, which operated at this site until the 1940s. Thomas Gregory purchased the building at that time and operated his own grocery store in the building for a number of years. The 1953 directory indicates that Gambles Western Auto Supply Company occupied that site at that time. At the time of the 1983 survey, Radke's paint store was located here. It currently houses Madco Draperies. The building, although currently not eligible as a contributing resource in a historic district, has retained most of the essential elements from its historic period. Restoring elements of the building to improve its integrity might allow for its reclassification as a contributing resource in a historic district.