Commercial Locksmith in Salem, OR

Downtown's commercial buildings

Most of downtown's commercial core sits inside the Salem Downtown State Street–Commercial Street Historic District, roughly 44 acres on the National Register since 2001. Its buildings range from about 1867 to about 1950 and mix Italianate, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque and plain commercial styles. The Elsinore Theatre and the Capitol Center, built in 1927 as the First National Bank Building, are also downtown.

Hardware in a building that age can reflect several eras. The front door, a rear door and an upstairs door may each take a different lock, closer or exit device, so a survey of every opening should come before any plan.

Salem's code names the downtown district among its historic districts (SRC 230.200), so check with the City of Salem before a door comes off a building there. This is general information, not legal advice.

Turnover, keys and access

Keys in a commercial building tend to pass through more hands than house keys do:

• Tenant changes. A new tenant in a storefront or upstairs suite cannot know who kept a key. Rekeying the suite's cylinders at move-in is a common answer.
• Staff leaving. A key that was never handed back is a reason to rekey the doors it opens. A simple log of who holds which key keeps that list short.
• Master key systems. Where an owner needs one key for every suite and each tenant needs only their own, a master key system can be planned around the doors that exist.

Details for a commercial request

List the business name, the building and the nearest cross streets. Describe each door: storefront, rear or alley, upstairs, suite or interior. Say how many keys are out, who owns the building and whether the owner must approve lock changes. Photos of each lock help. A business in West Salem, across the river in Polk County, should say so. The Salem page has the downtown district's boundaries.