It’s official: The Renton Western Wear building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in the mid-1950s as an F. W. Woolworth’s, the store is considered a “representative example” of the type of building used in the “waning years of the International Style.”

According to the documents, the International Style includes a rejection of historical styles, a machine aesthetic, a rejection of ornament and a simplification of form and unnecessary detail.

“The store represents a last gasp effort of Woolworth’s to change the retail face of downtowns in rural America before the shift occurred to suburban shopping centers,” the documents read.

It is historically significant to Renton because of its role in helping downtown Renton grow and develop.

Among the design techniques highlighted by the nomination papers are the use of glass only when necessary, the large awning, which also provided a platform for signage and a focus on the horizontal form of the building.

Construction of the store began in 1953 and it first opened the following March.

In 1955, the store expanded, with a portion used for a lunch counter and other parts being leased to a women’s fashion store.

The current building includes both the original construction and the expansion.

After Woolworth’s the building housed Renton Western Wear for several decades until it closed in 2013.

In a Committee of the Whole meeting in September, Community Development Project Manager John Collum said the building has also been authorized to receive funding as part of the Community Development Block Grant Facade Improvement Program. According to Collum, approximately $500,000 in work will be done to restore and improve the exterior of the building. Of that, about half will come from grant funding.

The store becomes the second National Register of Historic Places listed property in the city and the first Woolworth store in the state to make the register. The city’s other historic property is the Pacific Coast Company House No. 75 on 138th Street. It was added in 1979.

CORRECTION: This article has been corrected. Due to confusion between the number of years Renton Western Wear was open and how long it had been in the Third Avenue location, we incorrectly reported how long the store had been located in the building. We apologize for the error.