Montgomery Ward Then and Now

139 N Sierra Street – Reno, Nevada

In the 1870s, the west side of Sierra Street between Front and Second included a school and a couple churches with four frame dwellings in the middle of the block. One of those was owned by prominent rancher, James J Poor, and his wife, Mary.

Pictured here in front of the Poor home are Mrs. Novacovich, Mary (Poor) Bell, Mary “Grandma” (Waterman) Poor, and Clara (Poor) Powning along with a couple unidentified children, circa 1880.

As the neighborhood gradually shifted to more of a commercial district, the combined local Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekah lodges purchased the former Poor family property and a neighboring lot. Construction plans were announced in the Spring of 1928 for a two-story Odd Fellows building designed by the firm of George A Ferris and Son.

However, plans changed when Montgomery Ward expressed interest in leasing space for their first Nevada store.

Plans were revised to add a third story so Montgomery Ward could use the main floor and mezzanine level plus the basement. This gave the store approximately 23,000 square feet.

A temporary location opened at 231 W Second Street on June 30, 1928 as they awaited completion of the IOOF Lodge. Brickwork began in August and then drillers encountered a big water problem. The hydraulic elevator went all the way to the basement and in those days, that meant a shaft had to be drilled into the ground below for the plunger. There just happened to be an underground stream right where they were drilling. Due to the high quality, this stream was initially used for all of the building’s water.

Montgomery Ward received keys to the building on November 19, 1928. A reception was held the evening of November 23 with music provided by Ray Hackett’s Dance Orchestra. Brand-new radio station KOH broadcast live from the store, which officially opened for business November 24.

The third floor IOOF hall opened with a New Year’s Eve ball on December 31. Unity Lodge No. 6 was the first to hold a meeting in the new building on January 1, 1929.

Other early building tenants included chiropractor R. A. Crider, Union Building and Loan Association, and Carter & Cameron Real Estate. Jean Rauzy opened a beauty shop on the second floor around 1932. Montgomery Ward expanded southward into the former Reno Furniture Co. building in the late 1930s. At that time, the street address for the store was listed as 127-139 N Sierra. Those numbers changed with the weather.

During World War II, President Franklin D Roosevelt tested the boundaries of his wartime production powers. Ward CEO Sewell L Avery resisted government intervention in union negotiations back in 1942. The situation escalated with the corporate headquarters in Chicago being seized and Avery forcibly removed from the building by soldiers in April of 1944.

Lawfare has a great summary of the events which continued into 1945 and were ultimately rendered irrelevant due to the end of the war.

When the Truckee River flooded in November of 1950, the main store and south annex were faced with a major cleanup right at the beginning of the holiday season.

The south portion of the building is shown here in June of 1951. Pictured on the second floor is the Law Office of Arthur F Lasher.

The Truckee flooded again in December of 1955.

This time, Renoites had to deal with snow in addition to the flood mud.

For several years, it seemed like the building endured one disaster after another. The building itself was spared damage from the gas explosions at First and Sierra on February 5, 1957 but it did lose quite a bit of glass. Due to its proximity to the blasts (shaded area below,) Montgomery Ward was in the restricted zone and operations were halted until the area was safe.

In September of 1964, Montgomery Ward announced plans to move to the new Silverada Shopping Center at Oddie and Silverada Boulevards, pending zoning approval. A groundbreaking ceremony for the shopping center was held in May of 1966. The Sierra store closed on February 4, 1967 in preparation for the new location’s opening a couple weeks later.

Aside from the occasional church rummage sale, the main floor retail space sat vacant for a few years. Upper floors continued to be occupied by IOOF Grand Lodge No. 6, Canton Nevada Lodge No. 1, and Reno Assembly No. 1 (Rainbow Girls). Commercial tenants included attorney John R Clarke and Retailers Credit Association.

Warren Nelson and Bill Thornton, partners in the Cal-Neva, acquired the building around 1974. Plans were announced that March for the Reno Youth Factory, a childcare and recreation center for people aged 2-20 years, which would occupy three levels.

Renoites got a sneak peek at what would become Sierra Square in December of 1974 with a Christmas Crafts Festival. The vision for this project was something like San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square with approximately 25 “boutique-type shopping stores.” A wine cellar and gambling museum were also floated as possibilities.

The Greater Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce moved to the third floor in August of 1975 with a hospitality room on the main floor. Their offices were decorated in a “semi-Victorian” style. Frank More Shoes opened in their new Sierra Square location in March of 1976.

They were joined by Serendipity Hair Shop.

Kinsey’s Camera Shack moved to Sierra Square in the Fall of 1976.

Ears were pierced by a Registered Nurse at the Jewel Case.

The Sierra Square School of Dealing, which was operated by Club Cal-Neva, began classes in January of 1978.

In November of 1979, plans were announced for a new Reno-Tahoe Visitors Center in the former Sierra Square. The four retail tenants on the main level would be allowed to remain, as would the Chamber. They would be temporarily joined by the Sierra Arts Foundation. A grand opening was held in June of 1980. At that time, it was mentioned that the building had been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Although the former IOOF building seemed to be well-utilized, plans to replace it with a parking garage were announced in May of 1991. A special use permit was granted for the Parking Gallery in January of 1992. This garage would have six levels of covered parking along with an uncovered deck on the seventh floor. It would occupy the lots from the former Montgomery Ward all the way south to First Street. The main level would include several retail spaces. Building owners held an auction of historic items on April 17, 1992.

The building was demolished later that spring and workers broke ground on the new garage in June of 1992. At one point, the entire main floor was intended to house a grocery store but it was quickly determined that a loading dock couldn’t be installed and the garage couldn’t accommodate large trucks. The Parking Gallery opened on May 10, 1993 with its first-floor spaces called Factory Stores at the Parking Gallery. Outlets included Mikasa, Anne Klein, Adolfo II, and Carole Little. It’s difficult to make out the details but each covered level at the front of the garage had a car on display from Reno’s National Automobile Museum for several years.

The downtown post office opened in the Parking Gallery on December 31, 2012 and still occupies the space. The other tenant in the portion of the building where Montgomery Ward once stood is Bumblebee Blooms.

This is how the former site of Montgomery Ward looks today:

People often mistakenly believe that being listed on a historic register will save a building from demolition. The existence of the Parking Gallery proves this is not the case. I parked in the garage when I visited to take photos. It was much cleaner than some of the casino garages I’ve used in Reno but it was definitely empty. I thought I would have difficulty finding a space due to Hot August Nights but there were floors with only a handful of filled spaces. When I exited, the scanner wouldn’t read my ticket and the attendant had to process my payment manually. I was told, “It’s always something with this garage.”

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