Perspectives on Preservation

 

During a recent visit downtown, Jim Paynter, a dedicated reader of Building on History, captured an interesting that tells us much about the importance of preservation.  Thanks to his permission, you can enjoy the picture above.

 In the foreground is the Skidmore Fountain, a gift of the 19^th Century entrepreneur and Portland City Council member, Stephen Skidmore.  Its classical composition, no longer embraced by the modern art world, reminds us that people came before us who also had vivid artistic sense that we can still enjoy.

 Behind the Skidmore Fountain sits the cast iron colonnade that once was the ground floor face of the New Market Theater’s north wing.  The north wing was erected in 1874 and torn down in 1952.  Fortunately, the cast iron was saved, and a wonderful preservationist, William J. Hawkins III and his dedicated Portland Friends of Cast Iron Architecture, lobbied to have reinstalled at its original location on SW First Avenue.  Mission accomplished in 1983.

Like the Skidmore Fountain, the colonnade reminds us of elegant architecture in an age long gone.  It showcases a wonderful, lasting building material no longer used in contemporary architecture.  It reminds us again that people who care about our history and want it saved, like Bill Hawkins, can achieve victories, though their roads may be twisted and difficult.

In the background, of course, is Big Pink, the 42-story tower completed for U.S. National Bank in 1983.  It celebrates the victory of modern technology and building practices that allow us literally to reach into the skies.  Big and modern as it is, Big Pink is on its way to becoming a relic, too, given how the digital age has shrunken the number of employees who are required to show up at the office.

The beauty of Jim Paynter’s photographs is that it celebrates the beauties of the past while honoring the present as we currently know it.  People were here before us, and if we’re careful, we can enrich our lives by respecting their art and craft.  People will come after us, too, and perhaps there will be folks among them who battle to save Big Pink from whatever ravages of time await it.

----Fred Leeson

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Transformation Complete

 

Exactly a year and a half ago, a couple residing in Northeast Portland’s Alameda neighborhood agreed to pay $500,000 for an eyesore residence that had been the lifetime home of two elderly brothers who simply couldn’t seem to part with anything.

 The yard of their unusual trapezoidal lot was littered with seven junker cars.  Inside, the decades-long accumulation of “stuff” restricted access throughout the two-story house and basement to narrow pathways.

 The buyers, Michael and Jaylen Schmitt, wanted to save the house built in 1926 and preserve the ambiance of their neighborhood filled with well-kept homes dating to the 1920s era.  They feared that a developer might swoop in and replace the derelict house with a McMansion or some larger structure incompatible with the neighborhood.

 

Cleaning up the property took several months.  The Schmitts worked with architects and an interior designer to completely renovate the house with historic touches reflecting its past while fully upgrading its kitchen, bathrooms and utility systems to 21^st Century standards.  You can see numerous pictures here:  

4072 NE 24th Ave, Portland, OR 97212 | For Sale ($1,575,000) | MLS# 263171720 | Redfin

The Schmitts entered the project with no ambition or expectations about earning big bucks.  On the other hand, they hoped not to fall into the red, if possible.  Based on the extensive renovations, the asking price may well be close to the breakeven point.

The asking price appears to be a little higher than the values of many other older homes on nearby streets.  But it also is only a block away from the huge Autzen mansion originally built for the lumber entrepreneur whose name now graces the football stadium at the University of Oregon.

 Whatever the financial outcome proves to be, it is a remarkable story of residents willing to take a major risk to preserve the ambiance of a neighborhood they deeply appreciate.

------Fred Leeson

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The Future (?) of Skyscrapers

 

Big Pink (nee U.S. National Bank Tower)

In the history of urban development, Portland faces a problem perhaps never before considered:  What to do with skyscrapers nobody wants?

 At issue are 72 stories in two downtown skyscrapers, the former U.S. National Bank tower (42 stories) and PacWest Center (30 stories) which made big news when they opened in 1983 and 1984, respectively.

 Now both are for sale.  With office vacancy rates running at 30 percent or higher and many employees happily ensconced working from home, it is hard to imagine these towers ever being filled again with office workers.  The high-end owners who are throwing in the towels likely are headed for major “haircuts,” the investment trade jargon for losses. 

Aside from the financial losses, what lies ahead for these towers?  Demolition seems unlikely, given the huge costs involved.  Can they be remodeled into something else, with other uses besides office space?

 The topic is attracting attention in the construction trades, where housing often is listed as the primary need in repurposing old buildings.  Yet the obstacles are daunting, including earthquake bracing, operable windows for fresh air, and redesigned plumbing and electrical access.  Yet the problems are not always insurmountable.  Downtown Portland’s best example is the Woodlark Hotel, created by joining the 9-story Woodlark office building from 1912 and the seven story Cornelius Hotel from 1908.

Carl Kloos, a Portland structural engineer, said seismic requirements were met in part in the Woodlark project by tying together the common walls between the historic buildings.

 

Woodlark (left) and Cornelius Revived Together

In a talk with the Carbon Leadership Forum, Kloos said the city of Los Angeles started taking steps to encourage older buildings being rehabbed into housing.  Since 1999, he said Los Angeles has added 12,000 housing units in buildings converted from other uses.

 In 2025, Los Angeles revamped its development rules by adding new incentives for adaptive conversions.  Incentives include an extra story allowed above zoning or height limits for fitness facilities or lounges open to all residents; up to two additional stories dedicated to affordable housing; no minimum unit sizes; and square footages lost to lightwells or courtyards can be added on adjacent properties.

 Kloos said the beauty of the Los Angeles rules is they show developers what the city really wants instead of what it merely will tolerate.  “Why isn’t somebody doing something like that here?” he asked.  His message clearly caught the attention of Portland preservation advocates, who see adaptive reuse of historic buildings as a vital means of saving valued historic architecture that otherwise could be demolished.

 As for what happens to the former U.S. Bank Tower and PacWest Center – we must not hold our breaths.  Architecture buffs will remember that the pink granite on the U.S. Bank Tower was recommended by Pietro Belluschi, who served as a consultant late in his storied career.  The tower quickly earned Big Pink as a nickname. Now maybe its new nickname will be “White Elephant.”

----Fred Leeson

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Coming and Going in the East Portland Historic District

 

Two changes are afoot – one positive, one not – in the Grand Avenue East Portland National Historic District.

On the plus side, Mother Foucault’s Bookshop has moved into the long-vacant building at 711 SE Grand Ave., a three-story building erected in 1892.  The building shares the block with two other buildings built in 1883 and 1896, respectively, by Nathaniel K. West, a dry goods merchant who served as president of the East Portland City Council when East Portland was a separate city.

The oldest building of the three, at 701 SE Grand, now houses the Architectural Heritage Center.  The “newest” building at the southern end is a tavern.  Though the buildings look they might share common walls, there are narrow spaces behind the front facades that separate them. When they were built, they backed up to the marshy banks of the Willamette River.

Mother Foucault concentrates in used, vintage and rare books.  With the Architectural Heritage center next door and the new Literary Arts store across the street, the nexus creates an interesting cultural connection for people interested in books, historical lectures, author presentations, and architectural displays and research all within a couple hundred feet.

 

On the downside, owners of Next Adventure, a major retailer of used sporting goods, have to enter retirement by liquidating the big store at 436 SE Grand.  The store has been a fixture in the historic district for 30 years.

The four-story building was erected in 1911, with four retail storefronts on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors.  It is owned today by REACH Community Development, a nonprofit that develops and manages affordable housing.  The housing on the upper floors assures continued viability for the building, although filling the retail spaces below will be a major challenge.

Internet shopping and the pandemic seriously damaged retail shopping both in downtown Portland and neighborhood commercial districts.

 The space housing Mother Foucault contained a hair styling shop for several years before the pandemic.  The upper floors housed offices of Mia Birk, a bicycle transportation consultant.  Public records show that her firm still owns the building though she no longer works in it.

Mother Foucault is no stranger to the neighborhood.  It formerly operated at 538 SE Morrison in the Clifford Apartments.  It was forced to move when the apartment owner started renovating the building.

-----Fred Leeson

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Honoring the McMenamins

 

AHC Director Heather Flint Chatto and Connors McMenamin

Whenever a historic building falls into jeopardy in the Pacific Northwest, we often hear: “Maybe the McMenamins will buy it.”

 For 40 years, the company headed by brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin of Portland has established a remarkable record of transforming historic buildings with vibrant, often multiple new uses, while capturing the buildings’ origins with artifacts and historic mementos.

In a better world, other creative entrepreneurs would follow the McMenamins formula by finding vital new uses for historic structures.  With now more than 50 venues (not all of them “old”) in Oregon and Washington, the company has proved its magic on vacant schools, theaters, fraternal lodges, hotels, a county poor form and even a funeral home.

 Despite their success, the two brothers do not seek public attention.  When the Architectural Heritage Center honored them with a preservation away this month, Connors McMenamin represented his father and uncle at the ceremony.

 The younger McMenamin said his elders were impressed by early travels in Europe, when they noted that pubs often offered entertainment for whole families, not just for those imbibing alcohol.  That spirit is carried at the McMenamin venues, where, given available spaces, visitors can hear music, see movies, attend history presentations, eat meals, enjoy spas and in many cases rent hotel rooms. And have a beer.

Aside from respecting history in their buildings, the McMenamin brothers also helped make history in 1985.  They testified successfully in favor of a state law that would allow breweries to sell beer at the same locations – thus creating Oregon’s brew-pub industry.

 Connors McMenamin said the next generation intends to carry on with the business and to take advantage of opportunities to let old buildings continue to tell their stories.  And to provide visitors with recreational opportunities beyond eating and drinking.  Along the way, perhaps their successes will encourage other entrepreneurs to find successful new uses for interesting buildings that otherwise face demolition.

 The Architectural Heritage Center’s preservation award is named in honor of William J. Hawkins III, an architect and Portland historian whose work includes restoration of the Kamm House and restoration of the commercial building that now houses the AHC at 701 SE Grand Ave.  Hawkins, a proactive preservation supporter, finished the AHC rehabilitation 20 years ago.

---Fred Leeson

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Celebrating 75 years at the landmark Zion Lutheran Church

 

Regardless of religious views, Portland architecture enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the inside and the acoustics of a landmark church during a celebration of its 75^th anniversary on May 3.

Zion Lutheran Church, at 1015 SW 18^th Ave., is the first Mid-Century Modern church in Portland – and probably anywhere in Oregon – designed by the city’s most famous architect, Pietro Belluschi.  Its opening in May, 1950, drew 7,000 visitors on its first day, many attracted by newspaper construction photographs of its unusual design.

Festivities of the anniversary will include an organ recital by Zion’s organist, Floy Berentsen, and remarks by Belluschi’s son, Anthony, a retired architect who admires and celebrates his father’s work.  To Zion’s credit, the church has been well-respected and maintained over the decades by the congregation.  Like many other Belluschi works, Zion Lutheran is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“With his expertise, talent and Italian charm, Pietro was able to convince congregations to embrace the elegant simplicity of Mid-Century Modern design while still integrating the familiar symbols of their traditions and beliefs” Anthony wrote in a history provided by the church.  Interestingly, the church turned down Belluschi’s original idea for a flat roof, but Belluschi soon accomplished that end by putting a flat roof on the Central Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland.

Bronze doors with angels ascending

The most graceful of Belluschi’s traditional symbols at Zion Lutheran are the elegant gothic arches that frame the sanctuary.  They are composed of glue laminated beams, a rather new technology of the post-war era. 

The late Ruth Hyde, a Zion historian and long-time church office manager, wrote in some detail about the church’s design.  “The use of space, light, color, scale, and simple materials in the nave and chancel has created a sanctuary which facilitates the worship of Zion congregation. The sanctuary has the power also to surprise and awaken a response in the unsuspecting visitor seeing it for the first time. For many it inspires a sense of awe.”

As designer of some 42 houses of worship in his lengthy career, Pietro Belluschi was well-aware of the importance of acoustics.  In 1984, 10 years before his death, he said, “An architect knows that the size and shape of a hall can determine the quality of sound received. The spoken word, the singing, and the music, particularly organ music, have different wave lengths and intensities and require different means of enhancing their quality, so portions of the church must absorb sound; others must reflect it; and speaking voices must be aided through electronic means.”

 The 75^th anniversary celebration is bound to be a beautiful event – in many ways.

---Fred Leeson

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Trying to Save Architectural History at PSU

 

Blackstone Apartments

Lacking formal means of protesting the demolition of two historic buildings on the Portland State University campus, preservation activists are trying to appeal using old fashioned ways – writing letters and using personal connections to build support.

 PSU plans to demolish the Blackstone Apartments and the Martha Washington, two buildings that have been used many years for student housing, sometime after early July.  Both buildings have interesting historical pedigrees, but neither has been declared a city landmark.  Lacking such designation, there is no formal public hearing to oppose the demolitions.

 “We shouldn’t be tearing down housing in a housing crisis,” said Heather Flint-Chatto, executive director of the Architectural Heritage Center.  The environmental impacts of demolition and new construction also favor preserving the old buildings.

“This reckless move threatens PSU’s architectural heritage and the integrity of the Portland Park Blocks,” according to an AHC web page aimed at encouraging support for saving the two buildings.  SAVE HISTORIC PSU HOUSING — Architectural Heritage Center

 PSU has demolished a few other old residence halls in recent years, without adding any new units.  The university has an $80 million plan for new housing, but its development could be many years away.

 

Montgomery Hall/nee Martha Washington

Is there a better idea?

 “From both a sustainability and economic point of view, the Blackstone and Washington apartments could be redeveloped with the funding provided through a lend-lease approach,” says Henry Kunowski, an architectural historian and planning consultant.  Under that concept, PSU would grant a lease of up to 30 years to a developer or development team that would rehabilitate the buildings and collect the revenue.  At the end of the lease, the buildings would revert to PSU.

Both buildings suffer from deferred maintenance and internal repairs would be essential.

 The Blackstone, built in 1931 by prominent developer Harry Mittleman, faces directly on the South Park Blocks.  PSU earlier demolished the Parkway Manor that also faced the historic park, leaving a sad hole in the urban fabric.  The Blackstone was designed by Elmer Feig.  His use of Egyptian symbols on the façade reflects national interest in the discovery of the ancient tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The Martha Washington was built in 1916 by the Portland Women’s Union, a gathering of reasonably affluent “society” women in the early 20^th Century who built the home for young women new to Portland who needed safe, stable housing.  It was designed by A.E. Doyle, Portland’s leading architect at the time.

 The Women’s Union later moved to another building and Doyle’s building, subsequently renamed Montgomery Hall, became student housing in 1970.   An interesting video history of the Women’s Union and its three housing locations is available here:

The Martha Washington Hotel & The Women Who Built Her

-----Fred Leeson

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Whither Downtown Portland?

Ladd carriage house: Coming back anytime soon?

Like other urban centers, downtown Portland suffers today from vacant storefronts, vacant offices and boarded-up windows.  Starting in 2020, the COVID pandemic changed office practices and heavily crippled traditional downtown retail and nightlife.

Urbanists realize that major downtowns will not recover to being their former selves.  So, what are the options for improvement?  A Portland City Club panel with experts from San Francisco and Denver said cities’ priorities are largely similar: clean, safe streets; night-time and cultural activities; mixed uses with more housing; activated public spaces and pedestrian-friendly streets.

But they agreed every city has to find its own solutions; what works in one city might not in another.

Sarah Dennis-Phillips, director of economic and workforce development in San Francisco, offered a few interesting possibilities that Portland might consider.  She said a change in law allows bars to provide sidewalk drinking spaces which are proving popular.  She also said the city is working with landlords who are willing to offer up to six months of free ground-floor rent for new commercial businesses.

While concerts and cultural events can draw people downtown, Dennis-Phillips said cultural institutions themselves are facing financial challenges, presumably stemming from the Trump
Administration and many unrelated individual factors. 

“We have a good sense of what works and what people want,” she said.  But she said a key factor is figuring out how to maintain amenities without requiring on-going subsidies.

Like many cities, Portland’s downtown suffers from an office vacancy rate of approximately 30 percent.  Many of those offices will not be refilled, given the popularity of working from home learned during the pandemic.  Since 2022, Dennis-Phillips said, “The world has changed for good.”  While converting offices to housing is often suggested, she said realistic opportunities have proven rare.

Portland’s interesting supply of historic buildings potentially should assist in revitalizing downtown.  The most obvious candidate is the shuttered Ladd carriage house, which offers a turn-key opportunity for reopening an attractive fully-equipped bar and restaurant.

More problematic is the old Multnomah County Courthouse, once approved for being converted to office spaces and public events, and the magnificent Roman-style temple that once housed U.S. National Bank. Someday, one assumes that creative thinkers will find attractive uses for these engaging buildings that will help reenergize downtown Portland.

----Fred Leeson

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Good News Pending at Central Lutheran Church

 

A landmark building and Northeast Portland’s Irvington neighborhood could be in store for invigorating news given that the Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra hopes to buy the vacant Central Lutheran Church.

 The notable church, designed by architect Pietro Belluschi in 1950, offers office space, practice and teaching rooms and a spacious sanctuary that could seat more than 200 people for musical events.  The site also includes 12 parking spaces and easy access to a larger lot across the street that the Zeller Chapel of the Roses often allows to be used for community events.

Details of the potential sale are not yet known.  The non-profit youth philharmonic needs to work through some change-of-use issues with the City of Portland before a deal can be finalized. The timing could take a few months.

 The church is one of several in Portland designed by Belluschi comparatively early in his brilliant architectural career.  It ranks as perhaps the most interesting in that it steers completely away from easily-recognized religious architectural forms.  The bell tower, for example, is an open tower composed only of essential wooden beams.

A canopy over the main entrance on NE 21st Avenue is a gently arched roof held up by simple wooden pillars, reflecting a traditional Japanese feel that Belluschi had studied.  While lacking traditional stained glass windows, the sanctuary is bathed in light entering through red and blue glass panels framed within narrow wooden channels on the western façade. 

(State Historic Preservation Office image)

 Belluschi’s son, Anthony, a retired architect who greatly admires his father’s work, has embraced the youth philharmonic’s concept with enthusiasm.  Finding a new use for a historic building sometimes offers the best opportunity for saving it.  Short of some other church buying it, creating a home for the youth philharmonic orchestra would be an exceptional outcome.

 Tenancy by the youth philharmonic would benefit the Irvington neighborhood by providing an active use for a site has been vacant for a few years.  Central Lutheran halted regular services with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and concluded that it was unable to maintain the building financially after the pandemic ended.  The church has been for sale since late 2023.

 In an interesting historical twist, the youth philharmonic organization was started a century ago in Irvington School by the school’s music teacher, Mary V. Dodge.  Today the orchestra provides lessons and performance opportunities for some 300 students from over 100 schools in the Portland region.  Their ages range from 9 to 20.

A friend asked me:  Will the crosses be saved?  Any exterior changes would have to be reviewed by the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission, and then, if appealed, by the City Council.  Another solution: Let the orchestra play occasional religion-inspired music.

 ----Fred Leeson

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A West Hills Gem Earns a National Honor

 

It comes as no surprise that Portland’s newest addition to the National Register of Historic Places was designed by the city’s most famous architect, Pietro Belluschi.  What adds to its historic gloss was an unusual twist that made the house his own residence for his final 21 years.

Belluschi in 1947 designed a single story, 2,500-square foot home at the end of a narrow dead in  Northwest Portland’s Hillside neighborhood for Portland psychiatrist D.C. Burkes and his wife, Genevieve.  Its flat roof, massive windows and clean, unadorned structure exemplified the new International Style, combined with Belluschi’s appreciation and love for Oregon’s native woods.

As the picture above suggests, the exterior at the entrance was not imposing.  One had to go inside to be swept up by the bright natural light, amazing views, honest use of materials and comfortable human scale that always seemed to be common in Belluschi’s work.

Looking through from back to front (Brian Libby photo)

During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Belluschi had a hand in some 1,000 different buildings, ranging from houses, to churches, office towers and even a small shopping center.  Portland is blessed to be home of several.

 From 1951 to 1965, Belluschi served as Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning in Boston, while also keeping busy as an architect and consultant.  Meanwhile, the Burkes couple no doubt relished living in their house with expansive views of downtown and wooden louvers under the east-facing windows that allowed cool air to swoosh up the hillside and cool the house in hot weather. 

 Other unusual features included bedroom ceilings of woven wood strips and a fishpond that traversed under the outer wall from the front entrance into the living room.  (A screen subsequently was installed to keep out four-footed creatures that managed to swim their way inside unannounced.)

Eastern facade with louvers under windows (Brian Libby photo)

After the death of her husband, Genevieve Burkes reached out to Belluschi who had returned to Portland from Boston.  She said planned to sell the house, and if he was interested in buying it, she would sell it to him for the same price she and her husband paid in 1948.

Talk about a bargain! Belluschi was quick to accept. It served as his residence until his death in 1994.

Turns out Belluschi also gave serious thought to expanding the house by adding a second story.  His son Anthony, an architect who had practiced extensively in Chicago, talked him out of it.  Anthony Belluschi said a second story would harm the proportions of the house both inside and out.  Instead, Anthony Belluschi later added a single-story addition in the back yard. Anthony and his wife, Marti, are the current owners.

Readers not familiar with Belluschi’s work in Portland can see the Equitable/Commonwealth Building at 421 SW 6th Ave.; the former Oregonian Building at 1320 SW Broadway; the Portland Art Museum Belluschi Building, 1219 SW Park Ave; and St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Zion Lutheran Church and Central Lutheran Church. 

A visitor needs to see the inside of the Burkes-Belluschi House to appreciate its design, which represents a complete architectural break from the traditional imposing houses and mansions in the same neighborhood.    Fortunately, Restore Oregon, a statewide historic preservation organization plans to tour the house on May 10.  Details will become available at restoreoregon.org.

 ---Fred Leeson

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Progress Update on Historic Statues

Lincoln as he once stood in the South Park Blocks 

After a few years of near silence about several Portland monuments toppled or damaged during political protests dating to 2020, encouraging news is beginning to unfold after discussions with citizens, historians and artists.

 A progress report delivered to the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on Feb. 24 suggests that sculptures of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt could be returned to their South Park Block homes sometime this year.

 Darion Jones, assistant director of the city Office of Arts & Culture reported on the following statues:

--Abraham Lincoln: Repair work was started last November to repair damage when the statue was felled.  The bronze alloy in the statue’s base turned out to be brittle and must be replaced before the statue can be returned.  Jones said a return date has yet to be determined, but it could be within a couple months.

--Teddy Roosevelt: Conservation work expected to take 18 months could be finished by year’s end.  Historians recommended by the Oregon Historical Society will write interpretive and historical commentaries to accompany Lincoln and Roosevelt.

--George Washington: This statue was toppled from private property.  Jones said it requires fewer repairs and a new site for it has yet to be determined.  Siting will involve community discussions, he said. The Washington statue also will have interpretive historical information added, wherever it eventually lands.

--Promised Land: This sculpture showing a pioneer couple and a son is being deaccessioned by the city because of its failure to include any other historical communities that inhabited Oregon.  The inclusion of weapons and the son holding a Bible suggests a religious preordination for taking over the state.  Jones said the city of John Day has expressed interest in the statue and that it likely will be sent there.

 --Harvey Scott: This statue will not be returned to its former location in Mt. Tabor Park.  The pioneering newspaper editor wrote disparagingly about Blacks and the city plans to deaccession the statue.  Jones said the process is more complicated because it was located in a national historic district, so additional procedures will be required.

--York: After Scott was toppled, a so-called anonymous “guerilla” bust of York, a Black slave who played important roles in the Lewis & Clark Expedition, was placed on the pedestal that formerly held Harvey Scott.  The York statue subsequently was destroyed beyond repair.  Jones noted that there is substantial interest in recreating the York statue and finding a suitable location for it.  One suggestion has been in Northwest Portland where a street already bears his name.

Figuring out what historical figures deserve to be honored and where "has been very complicated, very emotional for the city," said Kimberly Moreland, a landmarks commissioner.

 Community meetings and planning for the statues has been funded by a $350,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, Jones said.  He added that $100,000 also has been identified in city funding for repairs and installations.  If that amount is insufficient, Jones said public funding right be necessary given a major budget shortfall the city currently faces.

 The landmarks commission meeting did not address return of the David P. Thompson elk statue and fountain.  A city website said the statue and fountain should be reinstalled sometime this year, but no definite date is listed.

 ---Fred Leeson

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