The Clemens Automobile Company Building is a historic building located in downtown

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, United States. It was completed in 1916 as an "automotive department store" operated by the Clemens Automobile Company. They sold cars here that were produced by

Willys-Overland Motors Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs) ...

from 1916 to 1923. There was a claim that this was the largest building in the city that was devoted to automobiles. with The first floor was used for the main sales room and offices, the second floor was used for used car sales and the service department, the fourth floor was used for a paint department, and the remaining three floors and the basement were used for storage. The Clemens family was involved in a variety of business enterprises and another one of their companies, the Standard Glass and Paint Company, was housed here from 1924 to 1979. The building was part of the Hotel Fort Des Moines until 2016, the two buildings were linked across the alley in 1985. The first and second floors housed Raccoon River Brewing Co. from May 1997 to March 2015. The building underwent a renovation in 2015 when it was converted to 44 apartments. At that time, the connection to the Hotel Fort Des Moines was sealed off. The first floor has been home to southern restaurant Bubba https://bubbadsm.com/ since July 2016. The building is a six-story brick structure with a reinforced concrete skeleton that rises above the ground. It is thought that the Des Moines architectural firm of Sawyer & Watrous designed the Neoclassical-style building, but that cannot be confirmed. Local contractor J.E. Lovejoy was in charge of construction. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2009.

References

Commercial buildings completed in 1916 National Register of Historic Places in Des Moines, Iowa Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Neoclassical architecture in Iowa Auto dealerships on the National Register of Historic Places Chicago school architecture in Iowa {{DesMoinesIA-stub