Main Street McMinnville’s Design Committee has continued its quest to hold all of its meetings in buildings under restoration in downtown McMinnville.
A recent meeting was held at 115 N. Spring Street. The building is being restored to be used as the Law Offices of Ryan J.  Moore and J. Hilton Conger, with Moore as the owner.
“This restoration is very special because this building is one of three buildings built in the 1900s that have been minimally altered,” said Rachel Killebrew, chairperson of the Design Committee. “Ryan made sure everything was done right and according to the design guidelines.”
The buildings are brick with very distinct features and architectural ornamental features made with the brick. Also there are two round insets on the upper part of Moore’s building that contains recessed round metal medallions.
Architectural features of the buildings are unique to downtown. Killebrew says she is pleased Moore tried to keep those features intact.
“I am so happy Ryan has made sure the original features and architecture have been preserved while restoring the building and preparing it to serve a business,” she said. “We congratulate Ryan on this restoration and on his new career as a lawyer.”
Main Street McMinnville’s Design Committee works closely with downtown property owners to ensure restorations are in compliance with Historic District Guidelines. The organization also offers incentive programs when these goals are met.
For the building’s outside restoration, Moore applied and received both a facade grant and an awning grant.
“Main Street McMinnville’s facade grant enabled us to put these beautiful pieces into the building,” said Moore. “Currently, we are adding new millwork panels and panel molding. New windows will be installed soon, as well as a copper awning to give the building added curb appeal.”
For the entryway, a dilapidated door was replaced with a stain-grade mahogany divided-light, outswing door, which gives the business more room for the interior reception. A large, oil-rubbed bronze handle set was used and is architecturally correct for the early 1900s.
On the inside, multiple layers of architecturally correct crown molding were installed throughout and the mahogany doors provide an open feel.
“We completely redid the lighting package by strategically installing insulated can lights with baffles throughout the tin-tile ceiling,” said Moore. “My favorite color is turquoise, so we found a large chandelier with just the right amount of that color on it, placed an oriental rug below it with similar shades, and worked the room color around these two pieces.”
One change was made to the interior of the building. Ryan says he had one large bathroom divided to give more storage.
“We cut it in half,” he said. “We made a nice powder room with a furniture piece corner cabinet and added a large storage closet. We wanted to use every square inch of space in this office leaving nothing to waste. The floor plan turned out great.”
The new law office can be contacted at 474-RYAN. For more information about the Design Committee and restoration of downtown properties, call Main Street McMinnville at 506-5335 or Rachel Killebrew at 473-8616.