JC Penney Building

February 2011 | Albany, OR

  • Facade of the JC Penney Building, following the restoration.
  • JC Penney Building after restoration, viewed from the street.
  • JC Penney Building after restoration, viewed from the sidewalk.
  • Interior staircase in the JC Penney Building.
  • Historic photo of the JC Penney Building during a parade though downtown Albany in the 1920's.
  • An interior view of the building as it was originally built, including the grand staircase, and a large skylight.

The Wallace Building was built in 1915 to house a JC Penney department store, and is a prominent building in Albany’s historic downtown. This purpose of this project was to restore the facade to its original character, while remodeling the interior to allow for several tenants to use the space, including a large restaurant, a salon and several offices.

For this project we applied to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places, witch provided the client with several opportunities for tax benefits to help finance the project. This made it possible for us to do a very thorough restoration of facade as well as restoring several of the interior features, such as the main grand staircase, that had been lost in previous remodels. The project also included a full seismic upgrade and brought the building into compliance with current accessibility and energy codes.