Saving Places News Article: After the Fire: The Restoration of Malmgren Garage By George Kramer
- info052075
- Jul 16, 2025
- 2 min read
This story is by a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Advisors Program. The program began in 1966 and has engaged over 500 preservationists from around the country who have volunteered their time and expertise to the organization. We asked Advisors to share what they are seeing in their communities in order to learn about the impact of historic preservation across the country.
On September 8, 2020, the Almeda Fire ripped through the Bear Creek Valley in southern Oregon, destroying more than 2,500 homes and buildings between Ashland and Medford. In Talent, Oregon, (2020 population 6,282) the fire destroyed two entire blocks in the small downtown. The Malmgren Garage was the only building to remain on the east side of Talent Avenue. The rehabilitation of the garage as a cornerstone of downtown Talent after the fire would not have happened without the financial assistance of state and federal preservation programs.
An Iconic Parapet Comes Through the Fire
Built in 1924 by Dr. Theodore Malmgren as an investment, the garage provided service to automobiles on the Pacific Highway, the “Road of Three Nations,” spanning the western United States and connecting Tijuana, Mexico to Vancouver, British Columbia. After the highway was straightened in the mid-1930s and realigned to a new right-of-way, bypassing downtown, the garage was rented and used as a feed store, a lumber yard, and a cheese factory before being purchased by Bill and Bonnie Morgan, owners of Southern Oregon Pottery Supply. After Bill’s death and Bonnie’s retirement, the building was again rented to a series of tenants.
Built of concrete, and recognizable by its character-defining stepped parapet, the Malmgren Garage’s iconic shape, was a landmark even when engulfed in flames. “It was hard to get my bearings, to know what I was seeing... until I saw the outline of the Malmgren building standing out against the flames,” said Talent’s Mayor, Darby Ayers-Flood, recalling the chaos of September 2020.
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