The entablature at the top reads:
19 Kirkendall 19
From the National Register application:
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"Strand Theatre Status: Contributing
Address: 705-707 N COMMERCIAL ST
Date of Construction: 1915 (Estimated)
Parcel ID: 192-10-0-30-29-005.00-0
Historic Function: Commerce/Trade - Specialty Store
Current Function: Commerce/Trade
Architectural Classification: Commercial Style
Description:
This brick two-part commercial block occupies a double-width lot. The building is four bays wide. Upper-story fenestration defines the bays, which each contain the original Chicago style wood windows (central fixed picture window flanked on each side by a narrow, one-over-one double-hung window) with three-part transoms above. A non-historic aluminum-framed storefront occupies the first story and includes a central recessed entrance and a covered transom.
Historic character-defining features include: the dark grey brick facing; the raised central panel of the parapet wall with decorative stone shield and scrolls; the stone embellishment throughout the upper façade wall, found in the form of parapet coping, a projecting cornice molding with fascia band below, windowsills, and as a large enframement around all four upper-story windows; and the soldier brick window surrounds.
History:
This block remained minimally developed until the early twentieth century. In 1884, there was a roller skating rink on the north end, the E. F. Sprague Planing Mill and Steam Carpentry Shop on the south end, and a second-hand store in the middle. The roller skating rink was converted to the "Great Western Horse and Mule Market" between 1888 and 1893. It was later converted to a livery stable, a use it maintained until the years between 1911 and 1923. Although the demolition of the planing mill between 1884 and 1888 opened the block up for commercial development, it did not take its current form until the 1920s. A one-story paint shop was built here between 1884 and 1888. The building was gone and another one-story built to the north by 1893. By 1899, a one-story plumbing shop had been built on the south half of the parcel. The building had a tin front. Both of these buildings were gone by 1911. Between 1911 and 1923, the current building, which housed the Strand (movie) Theatre, was built. The building had storefronts on the street-facing facade, a stage on the east end’s upper level, and a 972-person-capacity auditorium. The Strand Theatre was still operating at this locoation in 1946.
Integrity:
Although the storefront has been modified, the building retains a high degree of integrity, with character-defining features including original Chicago-Style windows on the upper façade. It is, therefore, classified as a contributor to the district."