PRINEVILLE, OR -- A Prineville building that was home to the Les Schwab headquarters for about half a century is being torn down, this week. The tire mogul started his business in 1952 and moved in to the Madras-Prineville Highway location in the late 50s. After that, Les Schwab Chief Marketing Officer Dale Thompson says, the company just kept growing. "The retread plant was moved out of that building and across the street, to where it is today – those blue buildings that you see along the highway. We kept remodeling and adding-on in the 80s; a third addition was added in the 90s, and we just kind of outgrew the space and made the move to Bend." 

That move to Bend's Juniper Ridge occurred about 10 years ago, "Those buildings have sat vacant since then," Thompson tells KBND News. "They’ve had no use, other than a training center where we have some bays. And, the buildings are in a condition and a shape where they’re not usable for us at this point." He adds, “It’s not developable as it is, and so we’re improving the site so it has some potential in the future.”