For the Commercial Rehabilitation of the Martin Building, 111 W. Hargett Street, Raleigh
The two-story brick-clad Art Moderne-inspired building known as the Martin Building on Hargett Street in Raleigh was constructed between 1950 and 1951 and is a contributing structure within the Fayetteville Street National Register Historic District. Martin’s, a men’s clothing store, occupied the building shortly after its construction, along with Tyson’s Art and Gift Shop and Wells J. McSherry, jeweler. The plainly detailed building and other similar two-story commercial buildings built in the area during the mid-twentieth century reflect the growing interest, both nationally and locally, in Modernism, the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging, fully industrialized world.
The building has a steel frame and, until recently, had an altered first-floor storefront. Original recessed glass-and-aluminum doors set into projecting stone-clad entrances remain in place at both ends of the facade. A metal canopy across the entire facade shelters the first floor and separates it from the second story, which retains its original metal-sash ribbon windows set into a veneer of red Roman brick laid in stretcher bond. Plain, cast-stone coping caps the building.
Working closely with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Maurer Architecture designed a historically sensitive addition to the Art-Moderne inspired building. The principal facade was restored to its original appearance, removing the stretcher-bond brick cladding that had converted the original storefront façade into one more suitable for newspaper offices. The row of nine fixed-pane windows that pierced the brick veneer was removed; and, new, large-pane windows, based on historic documentation, were installed in its place.
Work was completed according to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation; and, the Martin Building has been rehabilitated for continued use as newspaper office space. With an estimated private investment rehabilitation cost of $2,162,000.00, the project was supported by the use of federal and state income-producing historic rehabilitation tax credits. The Martin Building is the new home of McClatchy Interactive which serves as the interactive hub for The McClatchy Company, a leading newspaper and Internet publisher dedicated to the values of quality journalism, free expression and community service. It is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States.
The Board of Directors of Capital Area Preservation, Inc. is pleased to present a 2015 Anthemion Award to the News & Observer; McClatchy Interactive; Maurer Architecture; Lysaght & Associates; Atlantec Engineers, PA; Lee Street Construction for the Commercial Rehabilitation of the Martin Building, 111 W. Hargett Street, Raleigh.