Given the challenges many faced by historic buildings in
Portland, it is refreshing to see work on two important restorations steaming
ahead, two years after their plans were approved by the Portland Historic
Landmarks Commission.
One is the Troy Laundry building, at 1025 SE Pine St., a
rare industrial project dating to 1913 designed by Portland architect Ellis
Lawrence. Lawrence at the time was in
the early stages of became a busy, productive and prominent architectural
career.
The other is the New Fliedner building, at SW 10th Ave and
Washington St., which is downtown Portland’s best example of a Zig Zag Moderne design
on its two public facades. The building
as we see it today was designed by Richard Sundeleaf, although the structure
itself dated to 1906. Until Sundeleaf’s
colorful makeover, it had been the home of the Eastern Outfitting Co., one of
Portland’s major apparel retailers of the era.
Astute followers of Building on History will recall that
both these renovation projects were described here as they went through
historic design review by the landmarks commission in June and August of 2020,
respectively. Months passed while final
plans, financing and building permits were achieved.
The half-block Troy Laundry building was the culmination in
Portland of the efforts of James F. Tait, a Scottish immigrant, who opened a
laundry service in 1889. As years passed
and his business grew, Troy Laundry amassed as many 10,000 individual and business
clients in the era before the presence household washing machines became, well,
automatic.
Tait also expanded to
Seattle, and is believed to have operated the largest commercial laundry
business on the West Coast. He was an early adopter of the 8-hour working day and provided a lunchroom for employees. +-
Laundry operations folded, so to speak, in 1980. The renovation will retain the historic
characteristics of the public facades and the interior will be converted to a
private athletic club. The restoration
is paired with construction of a 6-story residential building with 132 units
and ground-floor retail abutting Troy Laundry on the north.
If all goes well, the 5-story, quarter-block New Fliedner
building will be returned to its earlier status as an office building with
ground-floor retail. The office entrance
will be through the stylishly-decorative portal on Washington Street.
The building’s Zig Zag Moderne styling is a variety of Art
Deco. It varies from other Art Deco structures
with its frequent cross-hatched designs at the main entry, at the cornice and
on banding above the first floor. Zig
Zag lacks the rounded building edges intended to give Art Deco buildings an
aerodynamic feel. When finished, it
should be a colorful and eye-catching sight.
The New Fliedner was going through design stages at the
start of the COVID pandemics. The
pandemic’s negative effect on retail and downtown office spaces has been dramatic. Given the investment and attention to detail
in the restoration, one hopes that the New Fliedner can still have a long and successful presence.
-----Fred Leeson
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to fredleeson@hotmail.com
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