South Salem landmark still is standing
Site once known as Buck's Liberty Market serves as Mail Depot
| Dennis Miller, owner of the old Buck's Liberty Market that is now home to the Mail Depot, has expanded and added a second floor to the South Salem landmark. / Dee Moore | Statesman Journal freelancer |
Built in the late 1930s, the site of Buck's Liberty Market, 4742 Liberty Road S., has been many things to many people over the years.
Originally surrounded by fields when South Salem was still farm land, it was a landmark on the trip to and from the cannery for employees.
It now serves as the Mail Depot.
"It was called Liberty Market and carried a variety of foods. It had a meat counter, and it was know for its penny candy," said Dennis Miller, the building's owner and general contractor. He and his wife, Vicki, own and run the postal store.
"According to the original deed, 1939 was when it was built," he said.
The store was the only grocers in the area for the locals, so it became the focal point of the community and a gathering place, he said.
Miller often has area residents come in and reminisce about the good old days when they were children in the 1940s and 50s and patronized the store's soda fountain.
The building had staying power, and Miller saw the structure's potential from the start. But, perhaps there was a bit of sentimentality in his assessment as well.
"I am one of those people who hates to see things destroyed," he said.
Once a 3,200-square-foot red rectangle that resembled a barn, the structure has grown to much larger proportions and in its current state is cream, construction white, lumber brown and concrete grey.
It has expanded outward by 22 square feet and upward by 3,000 square feet. The new second floor sits astride the old building, and the new addition includes five offices. These, added to the two office spaces on the main floor and two in the basement, will expand the old store's viability and use.
Miller has turned part of the basement into underground parking and added a loading dock for postal vehicles and deliveries.
According to Miller, folks who drop by to see what's going on usually have one or two things to say about the changes; "The old country store is gone" or "I love your building."
"When we leased this space, we changed the name of our business to the Mail Depot," Miller said. The store had reminded him of a turn-of-the-century train station. He has taken this vision and run with it.
"It will take on the flavor of a train station," Miller said. When completed, the structure will be outfitted with fixtures to accentuate this resemblance and will be christened Liberty Station. Barring any obstacled, he hopes to have the project completed and open for leasing the first week of November.
Miller would like to see the building become a gathering place once again, a neighborhood fixture, he said. It could be a place where locals stop in to pick up and drop off mail, do business, buy coffee and stop to chat a bit, just like the old days.
Copyright Statesman-Journal 2010
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100929/COMMUNITIES/1081
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101010/NEWS/108160002
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