Hale Building
Ceol Irish Pub/Truckee Bagel Co.
The transformation of South Virginia Street from a quiet residential neighborhood into a thriving business district was well underway by 1946, when Edward F. Hale financed the construction of a modest brick commercial building next door to the fire station at California Avenue. Hale was a heavy equipment distributor from Hayward, California who had long counted a number of Reno businesses among his clients. When the war ended, the pent-up demand for new household appliances spurred him to open a retail store in Reno, and the double occupancy building allowed him to earn money from an additional tenant on the north side.
When the building opened in December 1946, that tenant was the Modern Music Center, founded by local musicians and music teachers Earle Hultberg and Robert O'Briant. The forerunner of Maytan Music, the center offered musical instruments, sheet music and accessories, professional instruction, and five sound-proof studios for practice and recording. In 1953, it moved to larger quarters, the old Martha Wingfield House at 735 South Center Street. By then, Hale had gone out of business, and Farmers Insurance had moved in next door.
Replacing the music store was Modern Radio and TV, operated by Jerry Cobb. Cobb was an early radio pioneer, a proponent of applying "Frequency Modulation" technology to radio broadcasting. He had petitioned without success to operate an FM station out of his private home, and in 1953, founded KNEV, Nevada's first successful FM station, in a studio behind his television and radio sales room. The station's proximity to the firehouse came in handy, as the telephone pole housing the station's antennas occasionally caught fire, prompting brief breaks in transmission to extinguish the flames.
KNEV moved to Kietzke Lane in 1964, and the building went through a number of tenants. The north side housed a series of restaurants, from Festina's (known for its pizza pie) to the Asian-inspired Imperial Restaurant (where a scene from the 1973 Walter Matthau movie Charley Varrick was filmed), to Starbucks Coffee, and eventually the Truckee Bagel Company. On the south side, a series of retail stores culminated in the establishment of Ceol Irish Pub in 2008.
Busy commercial corridor, ca. 1955: For many years, Farmer's Insurance operated next door to Modern Radio & TV, with KNEV-FM in the building's rear. On the left is the edge of the neighboring Fire Station, and on the right, the 1923 Osen Motor Company building. Image courtesy of Neal Cobb and Jerry Fenwick
Edward F. Hale Co. ad: The building's owner, Edward F. Hale, operated a household appliance store at 540 South Virginia Street until he ran into money troubles and decided to liquidate the Reno branch of his company. This ad from December 6, 1946 lists some of the new appliances then available. Image courtesy of Reno Evening Gazette
"Nevada's Complete Music Store": Robert O'Briant had been offering private instruction in all band instruments when he partnered with musician Earle Hultberg to open the Modern Music Center in 1946, as announced in this newspaper ad. Image courtesy of Reno Evening Gazette
Modern Radio and Television, 1953: Jerry Cobb launched KNEV-FM in the back of his retail store, which pushed the sale of consoles containing the FM radios that could receive its signal. Image courtesy of Reno Evening Gazette
Sanborn Map, 1949: A Sanborn fire insurance map from 1949 shows the fire station that used to stand just to the north of the Hale Building. Both faced Virginia Street, located on the map's left side.
Coffee Shop & Irish Pub: In recent years, the building has moved away from retail toward businesses that encourage people to sit and linger. The arrival of the Starbucks Coffee Company was a turning point in the establishment of the burgeoning Midtown district. ~ Creator: Jerry Fenwick
Neal Cobb, 2015: Neal Cobb stands across from the Hale Building, where his father, Jerry Cobb, ran Modern Radio & TV out of the north storefront while operating KNEV-FM behind it. ~ Creator: Patrick Cummings
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Neal Cobb discussing KNEV-FM
Neal Cobb explains what led his father, Jerry, to found KNEV-FM in the back of 538 South Virginia Street, in 1953, and some of the challenges the station faced.
View File Record
Alicia Barber, "Hale Building," Reno Historical, accessed January 28, 2020, http://renohistorical.org/items/show/125.