Today...there's a parking lot for the library and city hall -- where Alexander's and Wright's used to be.

The wall behind the beautiful mural was scorched by the fire. The building was Gerlach's Drug store at the time.   A note received from Janet Gerlach (SHS Class of 61):  My father (just turned 95 yesterday) owned the store until 1971.

Here's a shot by Christina of the Springfield Museum (PP&L building) as it looks today... Looks like the old Springfield Pharmacy across the corner is now a meat market.

 

 Here's some information from a couple of news articles on the fire . . . . Thanks Chris!

 

Yes, that's right.  The historic name is the Pacific Power and Light building, built in 1908.  A book on the history of Springfield says that the building "stands as a testimony to the coming of electric power to Springfield, Oregon.  It is believed that it first served the Booth-Kelly mills."   A picture in the book shows that Burleson Floor Covering was located in the front part of the building in 1980. 

 

The fire, by the way, was in early March 1977.  At the time of the fire, the Emporium was using the building as an office and goods receiving center -- not retail.   The five-alarm fire started in the early hours on  Saturday, March 5.  Flames shot up 80 to 100 feet in the air and took almost three hours to bring under control.  Nearly 70 firemen and 14 fire trucks fought the blaze, including three trucks from the Eugene Fire Dept.  Estimated damage to the nearly block-long structure was $760,000.  The east part of the building was owned by Mrs. Alexander (she had remarried and moved to California). 

 

(Alexander's became the Emporium in 1972.. In early 1975 the Emporium moved into the Springfield Mall on Olympia Street.) 

Other businesses that received scorched walls, heat cracked windows and some minor smoke and water damage included Burleson's Floor Covering, Gerlach's Drug Store and Chuck Rickey Jewelers.  In the alley behind the buildings, flames shot out of burned out doorways and cinders and ashes drifted over to a roof of Spring Village.  A fireman stationed on the roof directed his hose toward the fire and managed to keep it from reaching the shopping center. 

 

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Today the "new" library, which opened in 1981, is at 5th & North A in a building which first was a shopping center.   After the big downtown fire when the Emporium  (Alexander's in the 1960s) building burned down, a local businessman built an elevated shopping center, Spring Village, which didn’t attract shoppers.

Since the city needed a new city hall, the City Council decided to purchase and remodel Spring Village into a combined city hall and library complex.   Times were tough and this was considered an economical move -- less costly than building from scratch.  We were really lucky to get the new library -- it took Eugene almost 20 more years to get the funds approved for their new library.   In 1979, the children's librarian at the "old" library asked me to head up a group of library users to form a Friends of the Springfield Library.  I served as president and on the board for several years.  The Friends of the Library continues to raise funds, sell old books and recruit volunteers.  . Christina