Taintor and Code Building

This section of Park River’s downtown is anchored by the dominating two-story Taintor and Code commercial building. The ground story is used for commercial purposes and an auditorium occupies the building’s upper floor. Decorative brickwork establishes the arched and corbeled cornice, above which are a sandstone balustrade and finials. The adjacent Hewseth Building, a single-story commercial structure, was built at the same time. Still in use, the Lyric Theater (1915, 1936; 416 Briggs) presents restrained Art Moderne motifs, with a streamlined wraparound canopy and balustrade. Across the street The Security Building (1901) is another fine example of brickwork, here with a blind arcade and pilasters, and fan motifs are above the windows. The commercial buildings on this 400 block were built after an extensive fire in 1901 that destroyed all but two of the downtown buildings. Stylistically, many of the buildings in the downtown area are similar, reflecting the relatively short time period of their reconstruction after the 1901 fire. Unlike many other communities of its size, Park River’s downtown has retained a healthy vitality through business renewal and by maintaining the architectural integrity of downtown buildings through continued use.