User:SouthPaw1966/sandbox/Rumbaugh's Department Store - Everett, WA

Rumbaugh’s Department Store

• 1928 –Designed by architect C.A. Merriam, who also designed the Granada Theater and the new Everett Theater.  Portland’s Doyle & Merriam, were regional specialists in the design of larger store buildings.  The design though was different and showed the influence of the early Art Deco emphasis on verticality. The slender terra cotta pilasters extending the height of the building particularly emphasized the vertical lines and gave the building a jagged staccato silhouette that was popular at the time. The entryways on California and Wetmore were covered with large marquees.

• 1928-1929 - The six-story structure was built for Marion J. Rumbaugh and his sons using the most modem type of structural steel and building block construction. The builder, A.D. Balenger, was a prominent Everett builder, who had built Everett’s Medical and Dental building, Central building, and South Junior High.  Like Balenger's other buildings the exterior was of a cream-colored brick with ornamental cream taupe terra cotta. 

• 1929, April 18 - “A Greater Store for a Greater Everett” proclaimed the Herald on, in an 8-page supplement announcing Rumbaugh’s opening.

• 1929, April 19 - The grand opening gala event for the department store was held. Rumbaugh, a successful wheat rancher, owned or built five hotels and fifteen stores in Eastern Washington.

• 1929 - Rumbaugh's was the largest department store in Snohomish County and displayed what were the latest innovations in merchandising. Particular emphasis was placed on the store being a "well-lighted" place. The open windows that permitted daylight on each floor were noted as the newest idea in merchandise display. Each of the sixteen large show windows was fully lighted and even the basement was called "the brightest spot in Everett" with over 70 lightbulbs. The tall ceiling and open space of the main floor were meant to invite customers to explore and the broad terrazzo staircase with an ornamental iron rail was to usher people to the upper floors. The 2nd Floor featured a beauty salon using the” latest technologies and processes”, the 3rd Floor featured 200 seat auditorium for public use with a stage 10 x 25 feet, a lending library in the book department, and a post office sub-station. Rumbaugh Department Store provided an impressive finale for Everett's building boom in the 1920s, opening just six months before the Wall Street Crash that began the Great Depression, it then became Rumbaugh-McLain Department Store.

• 1949 – Purchased by Bon Marche.
• 1966 – A five level, 400 stall parking garage constructed across Wetmore Avenue and connected by Skybridge to the department store’s 2nd Floor.
• 1967-1968 - the building survived a major fire in 1967, followed by 1968 “beautification project” which removed the original brick, replaced it with new light tone brick, and added contrasting vertical screen panels of gold-colored anodized aluminum.
• 1953, November – Following the closure of adjacent Balboa Theatre, the Bon Marche expanded into the space with their Men’s Department.
• 1981 - Allied Stores acquired the 24-year-old retail conglomerate Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc. for $228 million. With that transaction they acquired 178 department stores and 48 specialty shops in 28 states.
• 1986 - Store chain acquired by Canadian entrepreneur Robert Campeau.
• 1988 - Merger with Federated Department Stores.
• 1990 – Federated went bankrupt after its hostile takeover of Allied Stores.
• 1992 – Federated emerged from bankruptcy after the ouster of Campeau as a new public company.
• 1994 - Federated took over Macy's while that company was still emerging from its own bankruptcy in 1992.
• 1993 – Building sold to Port Gardner Partners.
• 1993-1994 –Extensive renovation, including seismic retrofit, HVAC, and exterior restoration to restore the basic historic character of the building. The open windows that were considered so important when the building was built have been uncovered and again distinguish the building. Although the use has been changed, the basic open space of the department store and the streetscape of an open storefront have been retained. The arched cornice and terra cotta decoration has not been restored but rather replaced with slender aluminum piers and cornice. This treatment again accents the vertical lines of the building and is in keeping with the Art Deco influence. The terrazzo floor has been retained and although the stairway had to be enclosed to meet fire code the decorative railing and stairway were retained.
• 1994, September 12 – Everett Historical Commission reviewed the application for Everett Register. The Commission unanimously agreed to recommend to City Council that the Port Gardner Building be placed on the Everett Register of Historic Places.
• 1994, October 19 – Everett City Council unanimously accepted the Everett Historical Commission's recommendation to place the Port Gardner Building on the Everett Register of Historic Places.
• 1994-2007 – The basement became occupied by Gold’s Gym in 1994
• 1996-2000 - Henry Cogswell College, a former private institution of higher learning moved from South Kirkland to Everett in 1996, leasing space in a former Bon Marché department store.  In 2000, the college renovated and moved into the historic Federal Building in downtown Everett.  The institution closed on September 1, 2006, due to a decline in enrollment and substantial defect
• 2007-2008 - Trinity Lutheran College purchased and remodeled the building and moved its campus from. The campus included the Campus Center, the adjacent Port Gardner parking garage, and two nearby student apartment buildings.  The Campus Center’s five floors were devoted to classrooms, administrative offices, faculty offices, library, a student store, and a commons area with a commercial kitchen for food service.
• 2008-2016 - Trinity offered bachelor’s degrees in 10 majors and 17 minors, as well as a two-year Associate of Biblical Studies, one-year Certificates in Professional Studies, and a one-year Certificate in Biblical Studies. Trinity maintained its distinctiveness as a biblically-centered institution by requiring all bachelor’s students to complete the Trinity Crux Curriculum, which includes biblical studies, spiritual formation, and service learning.
• 2016, January – Trinity Board of Directors announced that academic instruction would cease.
• 2016, May 7 - final commencement graduating over 70 students, one of its largest classes in years.
• 2016, October – a local investment group purchased the building from Trinity Lutheran College and leased the entire main building to Funko LLC.
• 2016, October - June 2017 – Funko LLC extensively renovated the building to accommodate their new World HQ and flagship store which opened to the public August 19, 2017.

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