THE EARLY YEARS
For many Auburn residents, the building at 109 East 5th Street was once known as the home of Dailey Motor Sales, a Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth dealership operated by the Helmkamp family. At the time, downtown Auburn was deeply connected to automotive culture, and this building served as both a showroom and service station for generations of local drivers.
Long before Carve Market existed, people visited this building to purchase vehicles, schedule service, and gather around one of Auburn’s busiest downtown businesses.
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RESTORATION PROCESS
Before becoming Carve Market, the building was most recently known as Antiques on 5th, an antique store that transformed the open structure into a series of smaller vendor booths and enclosed rooms. Layers of drop ceilings were installed throughout the building, concealing much of the original architecture that had existed for decades above.
Hidden above the lowered ceilings sat the building’s original Quonset-style roof structure, exposed rafters, and wood ceiling decking. Rather than covering those elements back up, the decision was made to preserve and restore the original character of the building wherever possible.
What began as a renovation slowly became a project centered around uncovering and restoring the building’s original identity. Today, many of those restored structural elements remain visible throughout Carve Market, allowing the history of the building itself to continue being part of downtown Auburn’s story.