Cropped Fresno Republican Printery building photo by Wikipedia user Nweil under Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

One of Downtown Fresno’s more notable vacant buildings has a new owner this week, with a purpose geared more toward the history books.

The Fresno County Historical Society announced it has purchased the historic Fresno Republican Printery building at 2130 Kern St. for $1.05 million.

Built in 1919, the 12,000-square-foot property has had a number of uses including newspaper printing house, hotel and later the private Downtown Club operated for more than 30 years and closed in 2013.

A few other eateries shifted through the space since then, including the most recent effort by the building’s owners in 2017.

The Fresno County Historical Society came upon the property in a search for a place to store its archives. There is even room in the building for a gallery and rotating exhibits, said Elizabeth Laval, president of the Fresno City and County Historical Society.

“Affordable and in pretty good condition, with sufficient space to accommodate the current materials as well as all that is to come for several decades, the edifice even happens to be on the National Register of Historic Places! And it was constructed in 1919 – the same year the FCHS was founded. Some special synchronicity is going on here for sure,” Laval wrote in the Oct. 1  newsletter.

The Historical Society shared the news via social media and its newsletter on Monday. The purchase price was not revealed at that time, but Laval said “thanks to the extraordinary generosity of several incredible individuals,” the organization will own the building mortgage-free.