Multnomah County Courthouse

New life for the elderly Multnomah County Courthouse is emerging into focus as the courts prepare to move to a new tower in Portland later this year.  The old building, one of the last remnants of neo-classical revival architecture downtown with its massive Ionic columns, will remain substantially as it looks today.  However, the internal program will be much different from what was envisioned when a private developer bought it two years ago.

Early reports suggested that the courthouse would become a boutique hotel.  However, detailed plans being prepared by GBD Architects show ground-floor retail with offices on seven floors above.  The plans would retain four of the original double-story courtrooms and add a ballroom, restaurant and bar on the ground floor.  (Rowdy drunks would be disbarred?)

“Visitors to this building will get to experience its significant characteristics, rare materials and details,” a GBD report states.  Other original elements to be retained include the vestibule, first-floor lobby and the grand staircase leading from the main S.W. Fourth Avenue entrance.  Another charming nod to history is the proposed reopening of a long bricked-over pedestrian entrance on S.W Fifth Avenue, which still retains its decorative chevron and sconces. It is a credit to the owner, NBP Capitol, for saving the historic  internal fabric.  

Agustin Enriquez, a GBD, architect, told the Portland Landmarks Commission that the renovation plan “has been a super fun project to work on.”  But creating new uses for major historic buildings is never easy, and the Landmarks Commission, which is charged with approving exterior changes, has concerns about some proposed alterations. 

One as a request to take out some first-floor windows on the Salmon Street side to create vehicular access for bringing supplies and taking out garbage.  However, Salmon is identified as a pedestrian street, not to be interfered with by vehicles.  Approval is unlikely, but a portal for human use is still on the table.   

Another pedestrian entrance is proposed by GBD on the Main Street side near Fourth Avenue.  This ground-floor entrance would allow access by people with disabilities who couldn’t maneuver stairs in the historic vestibule.  Unbeknownst to many of us, the original building had an entrance to the sheriff’s office at that location; that historical provenance likely will be helpful in figuring out final details.

Then there is the matter of the building’s unusual two-story “penthouse,” that is slightly set back from the four facades of the first six stories.  These stucco-clad floors held cubby-hole offices and a holding jail.  The penthouse, which never was adorned with historical architectural detailing, originally was  shielded largely from view by a parapet that was removed decades ago. The first GBD plan called for installing wide, curtain-wall windows in some portions of the penthouse to increase available light.  Landmarks commissioners expressed more support for the original window scheme “punched”  through the stucco.

Historically, the courthouse was one of the last major buildings designed by the firm of William Whidden and Ion Lewis, who were Portland’s powerhouse firm for more than 20 years.  Their works include City Hall, several office buildings, the Arlington Club and many major residences.  The courthouse was built in two phases over five years, as one L-shaped wing rose while the pioneer-era courthouse it replaced as still in use.  Then the last of the pioneer building was dismantled so the second L-shape could be connected to the first in 1914.

As designed by Whidden & Lewis, the courthouse had an open central courtyard.  Three floors of the courtyard were filled in decades later.  Interestingly, the courtyard played a vital role in the plan to strengthen the building against earthquakes.  Supporting elevator cores are to be built on two sides of the opening, with bracing added below the floors to the cores.  While by no means a simple task, it can be done “without really having to gut the insides,” Enriquez said. 

Further review of the courthouse plan by the landmarks commission is expected soon after the pandemic quarantine end.