Woodlark Building

The building was constructed as the new headquarters for the Portland-based retail and wholesale pharmaceutical companies owned by Louis G. Clarke (1855–1943) and William W. Woodward (1863–1940), and its nameoriginally written as "Wood-Lark" Buildingwas formed by combining parts of the two men's names. (The partners had employed the same practice when naming the 1907 building which previously served as their headquarters, the Cla-Wood Building, or Clawood Building, at Northwest 9th and Hoyt. That building was listed on the National Register in 1989, as the Clarke–Woodward Drug Company Building, but was later demolished and was delisted in 2000.) The retail operation had been established in 1880 and formally incorporated in 1900 as Woodard, Clarke & Company, from a partnership between Louis Clarke and Charles H. Woodard, who retired from the business in 1904. In 1906, Clarke formed a new partnership with William Woodward, who had already been working for the company since 1882, to establish a wholesale drug business. The close similarity of the last names of Clarke's two successive partners has fostered confusion at times, compounded by the fact that the retail business continued to use the name Woodard, Clarke & Co. long after Charles Woodard's retirement, while the younger wholesale business carried the name Clarke-Woodward Company, using William Woodward's name, and the two jointly owned companies operated concurrently. Construction of the building began in November 1911 and was completed in mid-1912. ==Description and original use==

The building is located at the northeast corner of Southwest Alder Street and 9th Avenue (West Park Street at the time). Until 1924, it served as the companies' headquarters. A retail Woodard, Clarke & Company drugstore occupied the ground floor, basement and mezzanine levels, and the upper floors were used for Clarke-Woodward's wholesale operations. It has nine floors above ground and is tall. Designed by Portland-based Doyle, Patterson & Beach, the Woodlark Building uses Late 19th and Early 20th Century Commercial style, also featuring "strong Beaux-Arts influence in the elaborate cornice and other detailing." ==Usage after 1924==

In 1924, Clarke and Woodward sold their drug business to the Blumauer-Frank Drug Company and the wholesale drug business moved out of the building, but they retained ownership of the structure. The building's upper floors were converted into leasable office space. Other changes made at that time included a redesign and relocation of the building's main entry point, from West Park Street (now SW 9th Avenue) to a new entrance on Alder Street, at the building's southeast corner. The redesign was carried out by architect Emil Schacht and included a terracotta arch. From 1951 to 1973, the building housed a finishing school The Woodlark Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2014. It closed in October 2016 with the start of work to convert the building into a hotel. ==Conversion into hotel==

In April 2014, the building was acquired by Arthur Mutal, a Portland real estate developer, at a cost of $8.65 million. In January 2015, it was announced that the Woodlark Building was to be joined to the adjacent Cornelius Hotel, a former hotel now slated to be renovated, and converted for use as a hotel. The hotel, named Woodlark House of Welcome, opened on December 15, 2018. Good Coffee has operated in the hotel. ==See also==